We have already remarked on the fact that the Thessalonians were in danger of becoming alarmed and unsettled by false teaching - some of which came to the church in the form of letters that appeared to have come from the Apostles, including Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:1–2).
Paul often would dictate his letters and have someone else actually write them down for him - see Romans 16:22. There is speculation that the “thorn in the flesh” that he mentions in 2 Corinthians 12:7 was an affliction of the eyes - which is why he comments that the Galatians would gladly have surrendered their own eyes to help him (Gal 4:15). It may be for the same reason that he writes in large characters at the end of the letter to the Galatian churches (Gal. 6:11). Be that as it may, at some point, Paul obviously decided that he could also authenticate his letters by writing a few lines at the end in his own handwriting. He does that in the passage above but see also Colossians 4:14, Galatians 6:11, Philemon 19.
The idea of authenticating documents in some way was not an innovation that Paul came up with. There was a long history of this already by his day. Kings would wear a signet ring (clearly the name has something to do with signing!) Their important written communications would be identified as theirs and as being authentic by pressing the ring into molten wax as the letters were sealed - so that they bore a mark of genuineness and authority on them. You can imagine what an honor it was when the king put his signet ring into the hands of others for them to write and seal decrees on the king’s behalf (see Esther 8:1-8).
The wonderful thing for us to think about is the spiritual ramifications for us in this practise:
First, all true children of God are marked at their conversion with a seal from Him that confirms they are genuine - authentic children of God! In this case, however, the seal also serves as a guarantee. Clearly, if we are true children of God and have been sealed by Him, all the promises and blessings that belong to the children of God in Scripture are ours, too - infallibly and irrevocably! The seal of God on His children, of course, is the Holy Spirit:
- 2 Corinthians 1:21–22 — And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
- 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, 14 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.
Second, when God works (by His Spirit) through our proclamation of the gospel and adopts others into His family or generates Spiritual fruit in the lives of those who are already His, he sets His seal upon the message that is being proclaimed - it is the real thing! Paul writes here of a seal on his apostleship but I think the principle extends further to all gospel workers:
- 2 Corinthians 3:2–3 — You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
- 1 Corinthians 9:2 — If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Finally, to bring us back closer to the text with which we began, Paul did what he could to defend the churches from those who wanted to use forgeries to spread false teaching. But (and following on from our second point) the Spirit of God supremely authenticates the Word of God. He speaks through the Word to the consciences and hearts of people, He convicts, He converts, He brings life from the dead. He is the seal of God on that which is truly God’s Word! This is one of the tests that the early church councils employed as they wrestled to decide which documents should be included in the Canon of Scripture and which should not.
So if we are God’s children this morning, we can truly rejoice in at least three things:
- that He has owned His Word and made it powerful through His Spirit to raise us to new life in Christ;
- that He then owned that we truly are alive in Christ and that we really are heirs of all the promises of God by putting His mark of ownership and authenticity upon us - the blessed Holy Spirit; and
- that we have the Word of God authenticated to us as that same Spirit confirms its genuineness in our hearts and lives!
2 Peter 1:16–21 — For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
