Sealed, But Marked?

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts…” 2 Cor. 1:21-22

There is no way to believe this other than its truth. Through the acceptance of Christ as the sacrificial bridge between us and God we become an heir to the family of Christ. God owns us and seals us complete with the impossibility of the seal becoming broken.

This is one seal of covenant for which Satan will come up empty every time. He knows that he is unable to penetrate our seal so he goes for the next best thing – our mark. While Heaven sees our seal, man sees our mark. Our mark involves the behavior in which we live our lives. Once we belong to the family of Christ we all carry within our hearts His spirit, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will empower us and guide us to align our seal with our mark.

The Bible clearly states the fruit of the Holy Spirit should mark the life of a Christian. These markings are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23. Any behavior that contradicts these markings is the marking of the enemy where there are no laws. Perfection is unattainable for us on earth but living blameless lives, lives with a heart bent away from sin, will bear the mark of our Father and show man that He has declared us holy and sealed in His name and the name of Jesus Christ.

No matter what our past markings have shown we are given fresh forgiveness at every confessed sin and never lose our standing of a sealed life in Him.