Who Is Sealed, Why, and When?
You are making a very strong conclusion from the word
“sealed,” but there is an important question that must be answered first:
Who is sealed, why are they sealed, and when are they sealed?
The seal of God certainly means that something belongs to God and is under His authority. But the existence of a seal does not automatically prove that a person can never afterward reject God. Look at what Jesus Himself said. Jesus said His sheep are those who
hear His voice and follow Him:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” (
John 10:27-28 NKJV) Notice the description:
they hear His voice and they follow Him.
esus gave an even stronger warning when He described Himself as the vine and His disciples as branches:
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (
John 15:2 NKJV)
So we have to ask:
If being “in Christ” automatically meant that falling away was impossible, why would Jesus warn His own disciples about failing to abide in Him?
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (
Matthew 24:13 NKJV)
So the biblical picture is not simply:
Believe once → automatically sealed forever → nothing can ever change.
The pattern as it appears in scripture is:
Hear Christ → believe → repent → obey → receive the Holy Spirit → abide in Christ → bear fruit → endure to the end.
And this is important:
the Holy Spirit is God's guarantee, but a guarantee is not permission to abandon Christ.
The very fact that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth should make us take Jesus' warnings seriously. Jesus said:
If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (
John 14:15 NKJV)
He also said:
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (
John 15:10 NKJV)
Please consider . The example of the Roman seal on Jesus' tomb does not prove the doctrine being claimed.
Matthew 27:66 simply says:
“So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.” (
Matthew 27:66 NKJV)
The passage does not say that the seal could only be broken by the Roman emperor or that nobody else could ever break it. And, most importantly,
the stone was not the thing that prevented God from raising Jesus. So the analogy cannot establish eternal security.
The better question is:
What did Jesus say about His own disciples?
Jesus repeatedly told His followers to
abide,
keep His commandments,
bear fruit,
watch,
endure, and
overcome.
He even gave this warning:
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (
Revelation 2:5 NKJV)
And to another church:
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (
Revelation 2:10 NKJV)
So I would not say that God is weak, that His guarantee can fail, or that God cannot preserve those who belong to Him.
Rather, I would say this:
God is faithful. His promise is sure. But Jesus never taught that a person may abandon Him, stop abiding in Him, reject His commandments, and still claim salvation because they were once sealed. do you think any king of desobedience to GOD commands will be permitted in heaven? surely Not!
The question is not whether God can keep His promise.
The question is whether we will remain faithful in Christ and love him with all our might and endure to the end.
And on that question, perhaps we should listen first to the One who will judge us:
But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (
Luke 6:46 NKJV)
That is Jesus speaking. And His words deserve to be heard before we build our doctrine from anyone else's writings.
Thank you for your eloquent post. The Lord Jesus told His followers to abide in Him, keep His commandments, bear fruit, watch, endure and overcome as you mentioned.
(KJV John 15:5-6) "I am the vine, ye
are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned."
(KJV John 14:21) "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
(KJV Mark 13:35-37) "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."
(KJV Matthew 24:13) "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
(KJV 1 John 2:14) "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him
that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."
(KJV 1 Corinthians 6:9-10) "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdomof God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
(KJV Galatians 5:19-21) "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told
you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
