This doesn't mean that you are assured of salvation. You are sealed, your soul will always bear the indelible mark of Baptism, but you yourself can choose to break God's commandments, and reject the freely offered gift of grace He extends. And as the article notes, the Greek word in question refers to a down payment. A down payment is a good start, but the bank can still foreclose if there is a single payment outstanding.
"The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance." ~ Cardinal Saint Robert Bellarmine
But who is making the pledge? If it was us, your analogy would be correct, however, it is God making the pledge, which He most assuredly will fulfill.
When you put your faith and trust in Him, He seals you and there's no point in sealing something if the seal doesn't mean anything. And in this case, the seal is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit tells us this in Scripture.
But wait a minute, don't Catholics tell us that the CATHOLIC CHURCH wrote the Bible? How then is it possible that the Catholic church put in there that we are sealed and it is a guarantee? Is the Church now retracting their previous statement? Does seal not really mean seal and guarantee not really mean guarantee?
Is it now going to be correctly "interpreted" for us to tell us that it doesn't mean what it says but it means what the Catholic church says it means?
My salvation in Christ is a done deal, completed, finished, certain for sure as I am already seated in the heavenly places IN CHRIST.
In the spiritual realm, it's as done as it is possible to be.
To not believe that the believer is secure means that Jesus was not telling the truth here.
Security of the believer
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
1 Corinthians 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 5:4-8 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Hebrews 6:17-20 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3156607/posts?page=313#313
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.
For which the Greek, from the Byzantine, is:
2Corinthians 1:21-22 ο δε βεβαιων ημας συν υμιν εις χÏιστον και χÏισας ημας θεος ο και σφÏαγισαμενος ημας και δους τον αÏÏαβωνα του πνευματος εν ταις καÏδιαις ημων
The first word in bold above is "bebaion," the idea of confirmation, frequently used in commercial settings to confirm a bargain. Which of course makes sense of the remaining terms used here, which are also elements of a secured contract.
The second word in bold above is "sphragisamenos," being sealed is to be marked by the signature, signet ring, or other unique proof of identity, that we belong to God, and this sealing is done by God, who is the one taking action in this verse. We do not and cannot seal ourselves. We do not, by our own powers, have access to God’s "signet ring."
The third bolded word above is "arrabona," and indicates what we might loosely refer to as earnest money, but in Hebrew culture conveys more the idea of a pledge of covenant, a security given as a guarantee that the deal will go through, though we only receive part payment at the beginning. See ערב for the related Hebrew stem indicating "pledge."
As a ‘faithful’ catholic, you are telling us that the god of your religion makes promises he cannot keep without your works? Figures
Wallace notes that in the passive voice the subject is acted upon or receives the action expressed by the verb. The subject may or may not be aware of this action.(Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Wallace, Daniel B., p431)
The verb has the following meaning: /sphragÃzÅ ("to seal") signifies ownership and the full security carried by the backing (full authority) of the owner. "Sealing" in the ancient world served as a "legal signature" which guaranteed the promise (contents) of what was sealed. HELPS Word studies
It is also used in 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 4:30 in the same context.
In 2 Cor 1:22 this is in the middle voice. This is defined by Wallace as emphasizing the action of the subject. The subject performs or experiences the action expressed by the verb in such a way that emphasizes the subject's participation (Wallace p414-415). In this passage that subject is Christ. He is the one sealing us in this passage.
In Ephesians 1:13, the believer, is being sealed by the Holy Spirit. The believer plays no part in this action of the Holy Spirit.
The reader will also note the progression of salvation in this passage.
First there is hearing the Word of truth...the gospel.
Next comes the faith....the believing.
Then comes the sealing by the Holy Spirit.
The first two the believer does...the last, the Holy Spirit does to the believer.
Notice also in Eph 1:14 the Holy Spirit has been given as a pledge of our future inheritance. The Greek gives the meaning of earnest money. It is a deposit which guarantees the balance will be paid.
In both 2 Cor 1:22 and Eph 1:13 we see that the sealing is either done by Christ or the Holy Spirit. The believer is not responsible for the sealing. It is initiated from Heaven.
I cannot find any passage in the New Testament that ever says the believer is unsealed by the Holy Spirit or that the believer can unseal what has been sealed by the Spirit.
For the believer in Christ your salvation is secure as noted in these verses.
I give thanks to God for His lavish generosity towards us.
"The least of all Catholic teachings is NON-assurance." ~ Any One who Reads the Bible
But you aren't the one making the payments - God is. He will never renege on His promises and wouldn't foreclose on himself!
That is what Catholicism teaches, that Catholics are "branded" for life.
Not a Christian doctrine.
Here is God doing the sealing: [instead of a priest with a sprinkling of water (which is not even Biblical baptism.)]
King James Bible, Ephesians 1:13There are examples of being sealed by God. "Indelible mark" of GOD
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 promiseKing James Bible, 2 Cor 1:22 [God} Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Any other "sealing" is extraBiblical and an usurping of God's domain of actions.