Can the seal of God be taken away from you?

Before I answer your question, let’s just have a look at the power of free will, or the power of choice, which God created into each human being.

God created us with the power of free will, as we see with Adam and Eve. They were created perfect, but with free choice, because God is love and they were created in His image. Love could never be forced, so God made them to either love Him by choice, or reject Him by the same choice. He gave them thousands of fruit, berry and nut trees for food, and kept one out for Himself. This was where they would have to prove their love and loyalty to Him, or reject Him and rebel against Him. He told them what the penalty would be. If they obeyed Him, they would live forever, but if they chose to eat the fruit of the tree, they would die. Please note that He did not say, “If you eat the fruit, I’ll kill you!”. That is not a God of love! Instead, He said, “I am the One who created you, who breathed the breath of live into your nostrils. If you reject Me and turn away from me, the Life-giver, you will certainly die.” Free choice would let them live forever, or would make them the devil’s slaves, and turn the perfect earth into this sinful world we know and live in. God could have created us all like robots, only able to do good, but how can you love a robot?

Let’s have a closer look at what the Bible says. The greatest passage that shows that humans have free will, is Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in John 3.

John 3     ¹⁴ “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Twice in this passage Jesus says that we have two choices, eternal life with Him in a perfect place, or perish. To perish means to cease to exist, to die, which immediately tells us that hell does not last forever, but burns up the wicked. The big thing is that Jesus gives us the choice, and says twice that “whoever believes in Him”, will have everlasting life. Our choice. Here are some other choice passages.

Romans 6:23   For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Deuteronomy 30:19   I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

Joshua 24:15   “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day

whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

1 Kings 18:21   And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.

Ezekiel 33:11   Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

1 Peter 3:11   Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

So now that it is clear that we ourselves have the power of choice, and that God never interferes with our choices, or overrules our choices, let us look at the Seal of God, and what the Bible has to say about it.

Revelation 7      ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 9:4  They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

So the first thing we have to notice is that the seal of God is placed on the forehead only. The only people who are sealed are those who have their minds made up, who are totally surrendered to God, no matter the consequences. As we can see below, they receive the Holy Spirit in their hearts as a guarantee. 

2 Corinthians 1     ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, ²² who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1     ¹³ In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession …

Ephesians 4:30   And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We have seen that those who receive the Seal of God, receive it in their foreheads, and in both instances below, we see that God’s Name is written on the foreheads of the saved in heaven. Is this literally a tattoo-like inscription on the forehead? Definitely not! In the Bible, name always stands for character, and in this case the saved, now not on earth anymore but in heaven with God, have God’s character embedded in their minds. Forehead therefore denotes what is under the skin, which is the brain, where the mind operates, and where the character is stored. 

Revelation 14:1   Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and

forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Revelation 22:4   They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

So the Seal of God is actually God’s character which is given to us in our minds, by the Holy Spirit living in us. And just to ensure that we understand that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, I’m giving the passages below again.

2 Corinthians 1     ²¹ Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God (the Father),

²² who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:13   In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 4:30   And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Summary

1. The Holy Spirit lives in us.

2. The Holy Spirit seals the saved in their foreheads (the mind).

3. The seal is the name of God, which is His character.

4. God is love. His character is love.

5. God’s character of love is imprinted in our minds by the Holy Spirit living in us.

If the Holy Spirit, Who Himself is God, and therefore is love, lives in us, He will place in our minds the seal of God which is the love of God, which is also a summary of the Ten Commandments. We will then love God supremely, and also love all those with whom we come into contact. The Holy Spirit therefore enables us to keep the Ten Commandments, by living in us and living out the Ten Commandments (love to God and to man) through us, as part of the Fruit of the Spirit. 

The Seal of God can only disappear from us when the Holy Spirit no longer lives in us. And He will only leave us, when we refuse to listen to Him, when He points out our sins, and when He leads us to all truth.

John 16     ⁷ “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ¹² I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

If you have pushed the Holy Spirit out of your life, then of course God’s seal will also disappear, and will only be instated again, when you invite the Holy Spirit into your life again, and obey everything that He tells you.

I trust that this makes sense to you. God bless!