Written by Dawn Rutan
I keep thinking about a Christmas letter received from an acquaintance of the family. She’s an unmarried woman who joined the Mormon church many years ago. She reported in her letter that she’d been “sealed to her parents.” I didn’t know what that meant so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia: “The purpose of this ordinance is to seal familial relationships, making possible the existence of family relationships throughout eternity.” As a single woman, she would have been limited to a lower degree of the “celestial kingdom” without this ceremony. Wikipedia also states that the sealing is “valid only if both individuals have kept their religious commitments and followed LDS teachings.”
I am saddened by the deceptions perpetuated and accepted by so many people. At the same time, I am thankful that my eternal destiny is not dependent on my parents, a spouse, or any human ceremony. In fact, it’s not even dependent on my own ability to keep my religious commitments. Instead, Scripture says that our guarantee is from God Himself.
“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 1:21-22 ESV).
This sealing occurred at the moment of salvation, and is assured from now till eternity:
“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 1:13-14)
God’s seal upon us is not dependent on obedience, but is motivation for obeying Him:
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
Eternal life is not dependent on who we’re related to on earth, but whether we’ve been adopted by God Himself:
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16).
Salvation is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Freedom from the guilt and power of sin is a gift (Romans 6:6-7). Sanctification is a gift (Ephesians 2:10). Eternal life with God is a gift (Romans 6:23). When we forget that, we often turn to manmade rituals to try to cleanse our consciences and assure ourselves that we’ll be okay. But if we’re honest, even our best efforts never feel good enough. There’s a lingering doubt that can only be relieved by trusting what God has said in Scripture.
One of my favorite Scriptures is 1 John 3:19-20: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything.” The whole letter of 1 John is full of reminders and assurances that we can indeed know that we are forgiven and that we belong to God. We can one day enjoy eternity in relationship with the One who created us, redeemed us, and adopted us into His family. What more do we need?
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).
© 2018 Dawn Rutan. The views stated may or may not reflect the beliefs of the pastor or leadership of Dulin’s Grove Church.
