I choose to believe everything given us "that pertain to life and godliness" can only be met upon the Father's condition in
the Lord Jesus. Man's sole condition (we cannot meet any condition as to effect salvation but receive it) is to enter into it all upon faith in Him and God will cause us to "grow up into Him in all things" (Eph 4:15), which of course can only done in this life.
Being in Christ (a Christian) is a necessary condition to becoming and remaining sealed. I know of no NT examples of anyone being UNconditionally sealed outside of Christ (non-Christian).
netchaplain said:
I see no conditions here, and notice no future tense concerning application, only past and present:
2Co 1:22 “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” (has sealed)
Eph 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in “whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” (were sealed)
Eph 4:30 “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (are sealed)
We can go over any scriptures that may appear to refute this, and there are many, if you wish, and is I think why so many differences of understanding exists between believers concerning it.
God's blessings to your Family my Friend in Christ!
Paul is writing those epistles to those who are
already in Christ,
already Christians so naturally he would say they are 'sealed'.
1 Cor 1 21-22 "Now he which stablisheth us with you
in Christ, and hath anointed us,
is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
Eph 1:13 "
In whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,"
Eph 1:13 shows one must CONDITIONALLY be in Christ to be sealed, it also shows one must first CONDITIONALLY believe to be sealed. As long as one conditionally remains a believer in Christ he will remain sealed. Many NT verses attest to the fact that one's belief must be ongoing, sustained.
Eph 4:30 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
Again as long as they CONDITIONALLY remains believers in Christ they shall be sealed.
I am not sure of the timeline between when the Ephesian epistle was written and Revelation chapter 2 but the church at Ephesus that "are sealed" in Eph 4:30 if they did not repent they would no longer be in Christ therefore no longer sealed.
They would "grieve" the Holy Spirit. Will it be argued one can grieve the Holy Spirit and still be sealed/saved? One can leave his first love, be fallen and impenitent (Rev 2:4-5) yet sealed/saved anyway?
Lastly, this 'sealing' does not take away one's free will. One by his own volition choose to believe and heed the written word of the Holy Spirit and thereby be 'sealed'. Yet by that same volition one can choose to quit believing, disregard the Spirit's word (grieve the Spirit) and no longer be sealed in Christ.
Different ways one can grieve the Holy Spirit and not longer be sealed:
They may lust against him (Galatians 5:16).
They may resist him (Acts 7:51).
They may lie to him (Acts 5:3).
They may try him (Acts 5:9).
They may insult him (do despite unto) (Hebrews 10:24).
They may blaspheme against him (Mark 3:29).
They may "quench" him (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
"Coffman Commentaries"
Earlier I asked: If a person quit smoking, does his quitting prove he never really smoked to begin with?
If one quits doing something that logically implied he must have actually done it in order to quit. One cannot quit what he has never started, never done. Therefore if one quit believing that implies he must have believed for one cannot quit what he has not done. If one had a 'fake' belief then he never really believed therefore he cannot quit believing because he never did believe to begin with.