The most popular verse used by those who “know” that God’s seal placed on His saints cannot be broken and that salvation (their promised crowns) cannot be denied them is Matthew 24:24.  In this passage Jesus is warning His apostles, who would in turn warn those who followed them, to beware of those who would lead them astray: “For there will come false Christs and false prophets who will show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”  The key words are IT WERE and SHALL.  Note that the words, “IT WERE” are written in ITALICS, meaning that they were not part of the original text, but were added by the translators.  The addition of those two words make the statement mean that it is not possible for the Very Elect to be deceived and to lose their promised salvation.

In the original text the statement read: “… if possible they shall (will) deceive the Very Elect,” which means that it will be possible for the Very Elect to be deceived.  I will use modern day language to prove this point.  If I say: “… IF POSSIBLE, I will go to town this afternoon” the listener knows that it is possible for me to go to town.  However, if I say: “… IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, I would go to town this afternoon,” the listener knows that IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE FOR ME TO GO TOWN THIS AFTERNOON.

Now let us focus on another word in the statement–“SHALL,” (will).  Note that the translators  slipped up by using the word “SHALL” as in “SHALL deceive the Very Elect,” instead of “COULD or MIGHT deceive the Very Elect.”  If it were IMPOSSIBLE for the Very Elect to be deceived they would have used the word “could” or “might” as in “… so that, if it were possible, they COULD or MIGHT deceive the Very Elect.” The word “shall” proves that the words “it were” were inserted to reverse the original meaning of the statement.  As falsely recorded by the translators (interpreters), the Very Elect, who are sealed, cannot and therefore will not be deceived and lose their promised reward.  However, as originally written, the Very Elect can and might be deceived.  Which begs the questions, why were the two words–IT WERE– inserted into the original verse? and who benefited from their insertion?

At times the King James interpreters stopped translating Scripture and resorted to interpreting Scripture, thereby making the Holy Scriptures say what they wanted them to say.  Matthew 24:24 is not the only verse they altered.  The changes they made in the original texts made them mean what God did not intend for them to mean.  To translate means to reveal the true meaning of a statement as presented in the original language.  To interpret means to tell what the statement means. 0The translators-turned-interpreters were Catholic.  Whenever possible they did not translate the true meanings of statements, but rather interpreted them to make them conform to Catholic dogma.  They did, however, record God’s actual Words elsewhere.  Those Words can be found in the side bars and center bars provided in some Bibles.

Another example of Scripture manipulation is found in 1 Jn. 5:7,8 where the translators-turned-interpreters changed two entire verses in an attempt to prove the existence of a divine TRINITY composed of God the Father, Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit.  None of the oldest texts support the existence of a trinity, which was devised and called “truth” by the Catholic hierarchy in order to appease some of the church’s “converts” who worshiped a three-headed god.  The original trinity consisted of Mary, Joseph and Jesus.  It underwent a couple of personnel changes before settling on the current make-up.  Read The Trinity and Simon of Samaria: The Legacy.  Key words–Trinity and Simon respectively.  The original New Covenant Church had no concept of a trinity.  Only when the Roman Empire forced heathen people within the empire into the Catholic Church did the trinity concept become Catholic dogma.  When the so-called Protestant Reformation took place the protesters took many Catholic beliefs and practices with them.  The trinity ruse was one of those beliefs.  See the Introduction to this website for a list of several others such “truths.”  Martian Luther and his followers were not protesting Catholic theology, but rather the personal practices of many of the priests, such as selling “indulgencies”–forgiveness of sins, etc.  Protestantism is nothing more than closet Catholicism, both of which are abominations to the Lord.

In His Holy Scriptures the Lord addresses the church’s contention that sealed, supposedly saved, supposedly born-again members of the Very Elect group cannot be deceived, cannot have their seals broken and cannot lose their crown (of salvation) that He reserved (“laid up”) for them at the time of their conversion.  The Lord speaks to this error through the writings of the Apostle Paul.

In 2 Timothy 4:6-8 Paul is telling Timothy the evangelist that the time of his (Paul’s) death is at hand.  He states that God has “laid up” for him a crown of righteousness (salvation) which he will receive “HEREAFTER”–on “THAT DAY.”  Paul states that he is not alone, that those who LOVE (LOOK FORWARD TO) HIS (CHRIST’S) APPEARING (SECOND ADVENT) will also receive their crowns (salvation) HEREAFTER–on THAT DAY (verse 8)–the day of His return to earth to set up His Father’s kingdom.  As I fulfill my commission to proclaim God’s “fine print” relative to this very important statement made by His number one writer of Gospel Truth I will momentarily deviate from the central theme of this series–the sealing of the Very Elect and the fact that God’s seal can be broken and the promised salvation can be withheld.  We will now momentarily turn to the subject of WHEN salvation actually takes place.  We will then briefly the subject of WORKS of righteousness and holiness that the Very Elect must perform in order to receive the CROWN the Lord has “laid up” for them.  But first, a bit of personal history as it relates to 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

During the time of my up-growing (1941-1960) many people in my area of southern Missouri, myself included, were quite poor and rarely had enough money to pay for what we wanted or needed.  Local store owners were kind enough to allow us to put an object on “lay-away” where it would remain until it had been “paid out.”  In this manner many of us paid for such things as clothing, shoes, etc.  For example, I once paid a dollar down on a baseball glove.  In the weeks that followed I paid the store owner a little money whenever I could afford to.  Eventually the glove was “paid off,” at which time it became officially mine.  Note that, though the store owner had declared that the glove belonged to me, I could not take actual possession of it until it had been paid for in full.  Had I not paid it off, I could have never taken possession of it.  As Paul tells Timothy, the same principle applies to God’s promise of a crown (salvation) that cannot be received until the time of  Christ’s return.  At that point the saint will have “paid-off” his crown by obeying God’s Law, by manifesting “WORKS” OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS DURING HIS LIFE FOLLOWING CONVERSION.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:22 that only those who “ENDURE (IN SUCH WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS) UNTIL THE END (OF LIFE) WILL (THEN) BE SAVED.”

Let us now apply my ball glove “lay-away” experience to Paul’s “laid-up” crown experience.  He notes in verse 8 that his experience is no different from that of all others who “love His (Christ’s) appearing” (His Second Advent at the end of the age).  Notice the WORKS (payments) Paul did in order to HEREAFTER receive the crown (salvation) that the Lord had “laid up” (put on lay-away) for him at the time of his conversion.  Paul focuses on the WORKS he had done in order to receive what God had promised him.  Notice that while doing the WORKS of righteousness and holiness, he had FAITH that his WORKS would result in him receiving the CROWN OF SALVATION HEREAFTER–at the time of HIS (CHRIST’S) APPEARING (return to earth).  Upon his introduction to Jesus Christ on the Damascus road, Paul had asked the ultimate question: “Lord, what would you have me do?” (Acts 9:6).  In 2 Timothy 4:6-8 he (Paul) answers that question by telling what he had done.  Let us examine his answer in which he tells us how to keep our seal from being broken and our promised salvation from being withdrawn.

In verse 8 Paul states that God has “laid up” for him a “crown of righteousness” (salvation earned by his manifestation of righteousness and holiness as stated in Romans 5:21 and 6:22).  He states that he will be given that crown “HEREAFTER” on “THAT DAY.”  He states that all who look forward to Christ’s return will receive the same crown at that same time.  In verse 7 he described the WORKS he performed in order to EARN his crown–the same WORKS we must all perform in order to EARN our crown.  Paul told Timothy that he has EARNED his crown by “fighting the good fight” (with Satan).  Paul had struggled mightily against the devil and had bested him by not giving in to his (Satan’s) temptations to sin against God, even while suffering greatly for Christ’s sake.  Paul went on to say that he had “finished the course” that God had laid out for him.  He had “run the race” of true Christianity in order to receive his promised reward.  This is the same “race” and “walk” that all salvation seekers must run (Heb. 12:1).  Sadly, most runners fail to run the race according to God’s rules and unknowingly run on Satan’s false track according to his rules.

In verse 8 Paul states that he had run the race prescribed by the Lord correctly and was therefore looking forward to his future reward.  He had “walked” the path that Christ walked, which is the same spiritual path all of us must navigate in order to receive salvation (1 Jn. 2:6).  He had “overcome” (Satan’s temptations to sin) as Jesus had overcome him, thereby qualifying to sit with Jesus on His throne in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21).  Finally, Paul states that he had “kept the faith,” meaning that through it all he had not wavered, knowing that his WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS would result in his being awarded the CROWN OF ETERNAL LIFE upon the appearing of Christ at the end of the age.”  In the final segment we will study several Scriptural passages that address the questions concern the sealing of the Very Elect and the possibility of their seals being broken and the Lord’s promise salvation being rescinded.  L.J.