Relative to the sealing of one who has converted to the Biblical God, His seal declares His ownership of the convert and His control over the convert’s “walk” (thoughts, words and deeds) throughout the remainder of this life.  Such a seal guarantees the convert’s salvation, rebirth and entrance into the Kingdom of God upon Christ’s Second Advent.  Anciently, a seal was a wooden board approximately two feet long bearing either a raised or engraved form which was pressed into a pile of wheat, etc. to show that the owner of the seal had purchased the grain and had taken ownership of it.  In the human sense, bearing God’s spiritual seal reveals that one belongs to Him.  The questions to be answered by this series are: IS THE CONVERT SEALED BY GOD? CAN HIS SEAL BE BROKEN? IF SO, HOW AND BY WHOM?  And equally important, WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ONE WHO HAS BEEN CONVERTED AND THEREFORE SEALED?  THE CONVERT’S CHARACTERISTICS (THOUGHTS, WORDS AND DEEDS RELATIVE TO GOD’S LAW–1 JN. 3:4) ARE PROOF OF HIS HAVING BEEN SEALED.

The Lord has much to say relative to those questions.  The “headline” reveals that one who has been converted to the Biblical God has indeed been “sealed” by His Holy Spirit.  During the maturation process the Lord takes total possession of and exerts total control over the convert.  In the series titled Bait and Switch (key word–Switch) I show how Satan, through his false prophets, gains control of the maturation process and lures the salvation seeker away from God’s strait gate and narrow path and to his (Satan’s) wide gate and broad path (Mat. 7:13,14).  His false prophets bring this about by presenting only God’s “headlines” and never His “fine print.”  In cases when the “fine print” is inadvertently heard or read, it is immediately rejected.  The Almighty has commissioned me (and others) to reveal His “fine print” to those who have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to embrace God’s Scriptural Truth.  I will begin our study by affirming that God does indeed seal (proclaim His ownership of and control over) the true convert.  But first we must establish what Biblical “conversion” actually means and how it differs from church conversion which the church calls “the born again experience,” which it is not.  Conversion is a necessary step along the path that leads to one’s rebirth/salvation and entrance into the Kingdom of God.

Biblical conversion has two phases.  Phase one involves a 180 degree turn away from one life and turn toward another life.  A good physical example of this spiritual act is the “about face” military movement in which the soldier affects a perfect reversal of direction.  Spiritually, conversion means that the convert turns his face (life) away from his pre-conversion life and toward a totally opposite life.  This reversal of direction is phase one.  Phase two involves “walking” in that totally new “direction.”  This is what the Apostle Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if any man is in Christ (converted/sealed) he is a new creation; old things (his past life) have passed away, behold ALL things have been MADE NEW” (by God).  Paul explains the conversion process in more detail in his epistle to the church at Ephesus (4:21-24): “You have been taught the Truth by Christ Who commands that you put the old man to death … and that you HAVE BEEN MADE INTO A NEW MAN WHO HAS BEEN CREATED IN A STATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS.”  In Romans 5:21 and 6:22 Paul declares that SALVATION IS THE END RESULT OF A LIFE LIVED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.  This is phase two which is to last throughout the remainder of the convert’s life.

TRUE CONVERSION MEANS THAT ONE IS LIVING A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS, IS WALKING AS CHRIST WALKED WHILE ON EARTH (1 JN. 2:6), IS PURIFYING HIMSELF AS HE PURIFIED HIMSELF BY OBEYING GOD’S WORD (1 JN. 3:3/ EPH. 5:26) AND IS OVERCOMING SATAN’S TEMPTATIONS TO SIN JUST AS HE HAD OVERCOME THEM AS A MAN (REV. 3:21). 

John 6:27 tells us that Jesus of Nazareth, being totally human, was sealed by God the Father.  As a man He could have broken the seal by sinning, thereby separating Himself from God (Isa. 59:2).  The night before His torture and crucifixion He faced incredible pain and suffering.  He knew that He could fail by denying His Sonship, thereby saving His life, in which case man would be without a Savior and God would have to spend eternity alone (Lk. 22:39-44).  He warned the disciples about giving in to the temptation to deny Him and thereby save themselves.  He also knew that He would face the same temptation.  The stress of knowing what was coming and having a natural desire for self-preservation caused Him to sweat great drops of blood.

In 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 1:13 Paul said that God had sealed His people and had given them His Holy Spirit.  In Ephesians 4:30 he wrote that converts were sealed until the day of their redemption (Christ’s return).  In 2 Thessalonians 4:8 Paul noted that a crown (salvation) had been RESERVED for him–a sure sign that he had been sealed.  These passages prove that Paul along with all the other converts are sealed by God using His Holy Spirit.  These statements are His “headlines” that assure us that, as far as He is concerned, salvation is guaranteed–it is a sealed deal, the fix is in.

Adam and Eve were sealed.  God guaranteed them eternal life in paradise–it was a done deal IF THEY OBEYED HIM by neither eating nor touching the forbidden fruit.  NOTE IT: FROM THE BEGINNING ALL OF GOD’S PROMISES, INCLUDING ETERNAL LIFE, HAVE BEEN CONTINGENT UPON MAN’S OBEDIENCE TO HIM.  This rule included Lucifer and the angels.  Note it: LUCIFER, THE ANGELS, ADAM AND EVE HAD ETERNAL BLISS IN PARADISE GUARANTEED THEM IF THEY OBEYED GOD.  THEY CHOSE NOT TO DO SO.  THE REST IS HISTORY–AND A HISTORY LESSON FOR ALL WHO WISH TO SPEND ETERNITY WITH THE LORD.  Is modern churchman better than Jesus Christ, the angels, Adam and Eve, the prophets and the apostles?  Even Christ had to obey God in order to receive the inheritance God had promised Him–the universe and fellow gods to rule it with Him.  Read “Ye are Gods” and God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe.  Key words–God’s and Caretakers respectively.

In the final segment of this series we will study what Jesus said and the apostles wrote concerning the possibility of the believer’s seal being broken and God’s promises, including rebirth and eternal life, being denied them.  L.J.