In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
At a very personal level, in my first encounters with the ‘once saved, forever saved’ crew, this very scripture was often referenced. That, the Believer’s fate has been sealed! – sealed with the Holy Spirit! Oh hallelujah! How misconstrued the Bible could be in the minds of unwilling men!
Yes. There is a sealing, but this sealing is not a sealing that could never be broken. There are evidences of people breaking this seal. Scripturally, we have an example in Demas who according to Apostle Paul chased after the present world by abandoning the Apostle (see 2 Timothy 4v10) . Psalms 115v16 declares, “… but the earth has he given to the children of men”. Having founded His Throne on the virtues of righteousness and justice (see Psalms 89v14), it will therefore be unjust and unrighteous for God to evade the will of men. Men are not robots; we are decisive entities equipped with the divine instrument to will. The LORD desires all to be saved, but indeed, throughout human history, we all can bear witness that not all will be saved. Hard as it may sound, it is the truth in all sincerity.
The Gospel of Salvation is truth. The truth is, God loved this world so much that He willingly gave up His estate that He may gain men, though we were not worth it. This is the greatest demonstration of love! God came to men as a man, and as a man, He gave up His life for other men. And if indeed we believe Him on this wise, we should never be hesitant surrendering all to Him. It is while we wrestle with every mindset and every innate desire in us to truly demonstrate our belief in His act of love, we will become truly sealed – sealed by the sealing power of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!
As long as we abide in this realm of earth, the wrestling with mindsets and desires will ever be our calling. This place is a battle-field. So then, the popular apostle said, “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (see Philippians 2v10)
May the power of God continually rest upon us on this holy call, in Jesus’ Name!
Amen!