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. –– Ephesians 1:13

A seal in ancient times served many purposes. It was the guarantee of authenticity, serving much as a notary public’s seal does in our day. It was also outward evidence visible to all that the sealed object had been kept secure. The immutability of the sealed orders from being changed is illustrated by the use of the seal of King Darius to certify the order for Daniel’s being cast into the den of lions (Daniel 6:17).

Usually, the object to be sealed was covered at its opening with hot wax and imprinted with a seal from the signet ring of the guarantor. Once the wax had set the seal was impossible to change. Any tampering was immediately detectable.

Although seals were sometimes used by ordinary individuals, the word is generally connected with royalty. The transfer of a seal to a deputy showed delegated authority. For instance, the Pharaoh of Egypt gave his signet to Joseph when appointing him in charge of food distribution (Genesis 41:42) and the signet ring of King Ahasuerus of Persia was transferred first to the wicked Haman and, after his exposure, to Mordecai (Esther 3:10, 12; 8:2). God authorized Zerubbabel, the leader of Judah at the time of their return from Babylonian captivity, to be his spokesman by calling him his “signet” (Haggai 2:23).

In the New Testament the concept of being “sealed” is used to describe one of the works of the holy spirit in the Christian’s life. This work is distinct from that of “begetting,” which is the start of a new life in the believer by an infusion of the spirit. It is also distinct from “anointing,” which gives divine authority for preaching and other service of the Lord. This is clearly inferred in 2 Corinthians 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.”

The New International Version divides this text into three distinct activities: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. (1) He anointed us, (2) set His seal of ownership on us, and (3) put His spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Other translators combine the latter two activities into one.

The concept of ownership is further stressed in 2 Timothy 2:19: “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.” Even today we use a similar sealing. Possessors of large herds of cattle will mark their cattle with a peculiar “brand” to identify them and to insure against their theft.

What is the Lord’s Seal? 

It is this concept of branding that helps us identify more specifically what is the seal of the holy spirit. An illustration is given in Revelation, chapter seven, of an angel ascending, like the sun, from the east, marking the servants of God with a seal “in their foreheads.” Lest some get the thought that this is an action that occurs only in the Christian’s experience at the end of the age, we are informed that even during the fifth period of the church, which most expositors attribute to a past historic event, there is evidence of this sealing: “And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (Revelation 9:4). [Author’s emphasis.]

In Revelation 7 we are further informed of the number that receive this seal — 144,000 — a number that many feel represents the literal number of the Church of Christ. This “sealing” activity must be completed before the final destructive storm of Armageddon can be loosed. While many identify this seal with intellectual knowledge (since it is in the “forehead,” or seat of the intellect) most feel that it represents something more than mere knowledge.

Two clues appear to bear on this issue. The first is found in a very similar picture in Revelation 14:1 ASV: “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.” The Revised Standard and the New International versions concur with this translation, which add the words: “his name” to that of his father. Although the word “seal” is not used to describe this forehead marking, the reoccurrence of the number 144,000 appears sufficient to link the two references. Therefore the “seal” is identified as the mark of ownership: the combined names of Jehovah and His son, Jesus.

A Second Picture 

A similar picture is given in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel: “And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (vs. 3, 4).

Like the angel “ascending from the East” in the Revelation picture, here the “man with the writer’s inkhorn” places a mark on the forehead of the faithful, those “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done.” The Hebrew word here translated “mark” is tav, which also denotes the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The shape of this letter is reminiscent of the blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels of the Israelite houses in ancient Egypt on the night of the Passover. The blood of that Passover lamb pictures the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7). As the letters of the Arabic alphabet, which we use in the Western world, developed, the tav became our “T,” which also roughly resembles a cross. It is by this blood of Christ that Jesus bought the whole human race (1 Corinthians 7:22, 23). This is the seal of ownership that Christ places on the forehead of his followers.

A Deeper Meaning

Both the Hebrew shem and the Greek onoma, which are translated “name” in the Bible, convey not only the thought of that word by which we are known but also the concept of the character of the person. This is the deeper thought of being “sealed by the spirit.” As we develop more and more the attributes of Godlikeness and Christlikeness, we are more and more showing that we are truly the sons of God.

The “overcomers” of the church of Pergamos are promised a “new name.” “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17).

Later, to the “overcomers” of the church of Philadelphia, the revealing angel elaborates on this “name,” telling us that it is the name of God, the city of God (Jerusalem) and of Christ. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Revelation 3:12).

That this name includes the character of Christ we are distinctly told in Jeremiah 23:5,6: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Again, in Jeremiah 33:15,16 this title is extended to the followers of Christ, the spiritual Judah and Jerusalem: “In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.”

It is this righteousness of Jehovah that comprises the name etched into the forehead of his followers. Only as they develop this righteous character, emulating that of their heavenly Father and their heavenly Bridegroom, can they be sealed. Now the Church is covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Eventually, they must develop righteous characters of their own. This righteousness will become their own peculiar robes. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:7,8).

Crystallization of Character

A further lesson can be developed from the ancient process of applying a seal. The wax was heated and a signet ring was carefully impressed. As the wax cooled it set, or crystallized, and the seal became permanent. Before it cooled it was possible to mar the seal by rubbing it or setting an object upon it.

So, it is with Christian character. When we first begin to “put on Christ,” to copy his attributes, we do so somewhat tentatively. Our copies of his life are quite indefinite. We must remain in contact with him as our signet for a period of time to trace the fine lines of his character. Then we must let that image set itself deeply in our minds, and become crystallized so that it will become permanent.

Perhaps this thought was in the background of Paul’s mind when he wrote the following words to the church in Philippi: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philemon 3:13,14).

Developed as Paul was in Christlikeness, he did not feel that he had yet completely overcome. The “mark,” the goal for which he was running, was still in front of him. He was stretching every nerve to reach that end. It is worth noting that the Greek word translated “toward” in verse fourteen does not carry that primary meaning. The Greek eis is closer to our word “toward.” Here the word is kata, which conveys a downward action. He was pressing “down” upon the goal, much as a signet ring is pressed down upon the melted wax to form the perfect seal.

The success of his endeavors is manifest later in the apostle’s life when he writes to Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7,8).

Now the sealing was complete. His character was crystallized, the character of his Lord and of his heavenly Father were manifest to all — they were written upon his forehead for all to see. The test by which a similar assurance can be granted to us is given to us in 1 John 3:14: “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”

Before that time, however, the seal can be marred and made useless. The Apostle speaks of this possibility in Ephesians 4:30: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

The Seal of the Law

This sealing of the new creation is illustrated in the Old Testament law of Moses. “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also” (Romans 4:11).

Circumcision was an outward sign or symbol of an inner commitment to keep the covenant of God (Genesis 17:11). As this circumcision was the seal of God’s covenant with Israel, so another circumcision would be the seal of God’s covenant with his Church. “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28, 29). And again, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philemon 3:3).

This spiritual circumcision is further described by Paul in Colossians 2:11, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” It is this work, then, of putting off the flesh and putting on the new mind which is the Christian’s circumcision, his “seal” of the spirit. The testimony of John 6:27 further supports this concept: “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.”

The “meat which endureth” are the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are the words that contain eternal life. They “seal” the believer when they are accepted and obeyed. The circle of the divine seal is now complete. As the Christian rests in being owned by God [“He hath set to his seal that God knoweth them that are his”] so now he rests in the knowledge that receiving the testimony of Jesus gives the assurance that God is true, faithful, in all he has promised. “He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33).

How our hearts should ache for that “seal of the spirit,” for that certainty of knowledge that “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3). And how we can identify with the passion of the Shulamite for her love in that beautiful song of songs: “Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.”

The jealousy here described is not the fear of the fickleness of the one loved, that he will suddenly desert us and run after another, but the fear that we may become displeasing to him by failing to come up to the high standards of character to which he has called us.

Matthew Henry, in his noted commentary, remarks thusly: “those that truly love Christ are jealous of everything that would draw them from him, and especially jealous of themselves, lest they should do anything to provoke him to withdraw from them, and, rather than do so, would pluck out a right eye and cut off a right hand.”

Let us, then, seek the full experience of the holy spirit in our lives. Not just the begetting which starts the Christian way, but the full outworking of that spirit in a new life with Christlikeness as its seal. Then we can join in singing:

Looking back, I’ll praise the way Thou hast led me, led me, day by day.

–– The Herald of Christ’s Kingdom 1995/1