A seal in Biblical times is a mark or sign. It is not a lock. http://sacred-texts.com/bib/ebd/ebd325.htm says that:
Your passage supports my case. For example: "When God is said to have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his divine mission (Joh 6:27). Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of the covenant (Rom 4:11). Believers are sealed with the Spirit, as God’s mark put upon them (Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30)." The Seal is God's signature, His attestation, His notice to the world of ownership. I do not understand why you would think those are worthless or breakable. Man would have to be more powerful than God to break God's seal.
Note the term “trials”. A trial is a test in which one passes or fails. God offers His gift of salvation to all. If you are proved genuine, then you receive His gift. If you fail you don’t. God’s gifts are irrevocable. Our acceptance of them isn’t.
If one has to pass a test to receive a gift, then it is not a FREE gift, it is a conditional gift. The Bible speaks of salvation being a free gift. From Got Questions? :
However, when it comes to the matter of our salvation, the New Testament writers use different Greek words—words that emphasize the gracious and absolutely free quality of the gift. Here are the two words most commonly used for the gift of salvation:
1) Dorea, meaning “a free gift.” This word lays particular stress on the gratuitous nature of the gift—it is something given above and beyond what is expected or deserved. Every New Testament occurrence of this word is related to a spiritual gift from God. It is what Jesus offers to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:10). It is called the “free gift” in Romans 5:15. It is the “unspeakable [or indescribable] gift” in 2 Corinthians 9:15. This gracious gift is identified as the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38; 8:30; and 11:17.
The adverb form of this word is dorean, translated “freely” in Matthew 10:8; 2 Corinthians 11:7; Revelation 21:6; 22:17. In Romans 3:24, immediately following God’s pronouncement of our guilt, we have this use of dorean: “Being justified FREELY by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The gift of salvation is free, and the motive for the gift is nothing more than the grace of the Giver.
2) Charisma, meaning “a gift of grace.” This word is used to define salvation in Romans 5:15-16. Also, in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT [charisma] of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This same word is used in conjunction with the gifts of the Spirit received after salvation (Romans 12:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Peter 4:10).
Obviously, if something is a “gift of grace,” it cannot be earned. To work for something is to deserve it, and that would produce an obligation—a gift of debt, as it were. That is why works destroy grace (Romans 4:1-5; 11:5-6).
So we can see that free gifts are not earned by passing trials.
The stiff necked Reformed who believe that they can do no wrong since they are led by the Holy Spirit do not demonstrate repentance; they demonstrate its opposite.
Stiff-necked, maybe. But believing that we can do no wrong, never. We believe that God is all powerful, sovereign, and is good for His word. We also believe that salvation is not earned by collecting enough "God-points".
FK: ***We CAN know about ourselves, but that is it.***
How do you know? I can speak to my blood type and demonstrate my heart rate and show my blood pressure. That is knowledge. I believe and hope that I will be saved.
But your hope appears to have all the strength of "I hope we have nice weather this weekend". Reformed "hope" is an expectation that God's promises will be kept. If the one true God is the same one described in the Bible, then it is a surety. The Bible instructs us to take stock of ourselves, so that means it is possible. Therefore, a person can know if he has true faith or not. If he does have true faith then he is saved.
The Judgment occurs after death; therefore my salvation cannot be assured now since I am still alive as I post these words.
Once again, salvation is not awarded based on points earned during life. I know that any Catholic would agree with those words, but at the same time you describe exactly that system for Judgment.
Interesting. The good Reformed Dr. E. posted some months back that she knew that her children were all saved with the same knowledge that she had about her own salvation.
She was speaking of a reasonable presumption based on scripture, not a certainty. I have seen Dr. E. say many times that only the individual and God can know for certain the salvation status of an individual.
[Continued on next post]
FK: Your passage supports my case. For example: "When God is said to have sealed the Redeemer, the meaning is, that he has attested his divine mission (Joh 6:27). Circumcision is a seal, an attestation of the covenant (Rom 4:11).
Circumcision is a mark. It could just as well be cutting off your nose. It's a pagan custom of marking a tribe.