Being 'Sealed Of God' Can Christians Be Lost?

Since We Are 'Sealed Of God' Is It Not Impossible To Be Lost?

Dear Mr. Waddey:
My minister teaches us that since we are saved we cannot be lost. He said God has sealed us (Eph. 1:13; 4:30) and it is impossible for mortal man to break God's seal. I find this hard to believe. Can you help me?
-Ginny

Dear Ginny:
The mistake in your minister's use of Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30 is the definition he is giving to the word "sealed." He is giving the term the meaning of chain or device that secures a closure against access. But the biblical meaning, in context, is that God's Holy Spirit in the heart of a Christian is like a king's mark or signet which identifies them as belonging to him. All ancient kings had their personal signet that was used to stamp their letters and documents as being genuine and from him...also his personal possessions had his seal imposed upon them. (Remember how ranchers used to brand or put their seal on their horses and cattle). So God, the king of creation, has his sacred seal, the Holy Spirit, which is given to each person when they are baptized (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit not only identifies us as belonging to God (Rev. 7:1,4), it is our "earnest" or guarantee of our inheritance with God in heaven (Eph. 1:13-14). Many other verses reveal the blessings the Holy Spirit provides the Christian in this life. (See Eph. 3:16; Rom. 8:1-27).

An essential feature of the "one saved, always saved" doctrine is the failure to understand or accept that man has freedom of will (Josh. 24:15). Just as we choose to believe and obey Christ to be saved, we can choose to walk away from him and renounce our salvation. Thus the Galatians who preferred to go back to the law of Moses were "severed from Christ" and "fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4). Teachers of this doctrine know they have freedom of will and the power of choice in their daily life, they just can't see that they also have that same freedom in their spiritual life as well.

Sincerely,

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