For those who have not seen or been taught how the mark of the beast/seal of God are applied from scripture, here's a short summary. I am not a theologian or a particularly advanced Bible scholar, nor am I a wordsmith such as so many are on this forum, so I am sorry if it is a little hard to follow, nevertheless, here tis...
2 Peter 1:3-4
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue....so His divine power has provided us with all things that pertain to life and godliness (no excuse for sin there) and this godliness comes to us through our knowledge of Him. (See John 17:3...this is a salvational issue). What is this divine power? It is creative power. It is that power which makes us new creatures in Christ. It is the power which raised Christ from the dead...the same power that raises us from self-replicating moral viruses into the righteousness of Christ...
Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.....what is Paul suggesting here? In Romans he says sin shall no longer have dominion over us, and above we see that the same power that gave Jesus dominion over all things, is the same power that works in us, that we, through partaking of the divine nature and believing the promises of God, may have dominion over sin! Sadly, many people do not believe this possible. We hear constantly that whilst in this flesh, we will continue to sin until Jesus comes...maybe even beyond that!! How can anyone overcome if their faith cannot grasp the wonderful promises that guarantee victory?
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4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust....however, our partaking of that divine nature (which separates us from the world) comes by way of promises, therefore nothing is automatic...promises are received by faith. Now where else may we see a similar promise?
Romans 8:29
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren....God has predetermined that those who come to Him in faith, grasping the promises, will be conformed into the image of His Son!!! This folks is not about appearance. This is about character. The divine nature Paul is referring to is not omnisience or omnipresence or any other omni...it's about righteousness and character.
Let me take you somewhere else for a moment...in Revelation another promise is that the Father's name will be written in our foreheads. Now don't think for a moment that we are all going to be literally tattooed on our brows with YAHWEH or any of His numerous other names or titles, no. I love Exodus 33 and 34, where Moses was talking with God and pleaded with God that He would go with them. Then Moses had the audacity...faith and confidence...to ask God ....
Exodus 33:18-23
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory...
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Exodus 34:5-8
5 And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
I truly hope you can make the connections here. We are promised the divine nature...His character...His righteousness. God's glory is His character. His character is found in His name.
John 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Now let's go back to that promise in Revelation concerning the Father's name in our foreheads. Elsewhere is the promise of the seal of God in the forehead. While it is true that the sealing is integral to the character and a settling into truth by the Spirit of God, both spiritually and intellectually, a seal in human terms is bound up in law...it is a guarantee that a law has been approved/ratified by the reigning monarch/president/minister. The laws of God are transcripts of His character. We are informed elsewhere that God shall write His laws in our hearts and on His mind...I strongly suggest, though I know this is unpopular, that the mark of the beast is not a literal mark on the skin but an attitude of mind...a state of mind that has accepted the same mindset as the beast; that agrees with the beast power on matters of spiritual truth and doctrine. Where is the mind? Is it not in our forehead? Are we not sealed by the Spirit in our foreheads? Is not the name of the Father written in our forehead? Are we not promised that we may be partakers of the divine nature...the righteousness of Christ? Is not our character first established in the mind?
I also strongly suggest that the divinity we are promised is bound up in the laws of God and the character of God.
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
This character of the divine, is promised and available today. It means dominion over sin which is transgression against the law. It means that by faith and the sure knowledge of the one who has promised, we may overcome, in this life!!!
John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.....
.....21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Everything I am relating to you is part and parcel with the gospel. Thus it is salvational.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Revelation 14:6-7
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
The whole gospel is bound up in obedience to God's commandments and reflecting His character of love to mankind. We are called, as an integral part of that same everlasting gospel, to fear God, give Him glory, but notice which God we are called to honour...in Revelation 14:7 it is the God who made...the Creator God who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters. Where else do we find such words?
Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:...
Why is God worthy of glory and honour which the everlasting gospel requires of us???
....for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Now, how can we fully give God that glory due Him when we ignore this??
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.....
...11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
How can we fully honour the Creator when we ignore that which completed creation? Was not the Sabbath also created by God for man to enjoy and through its blessing honour Him who made it? How is the law complete...how is the character of God honoured...how can we give all glory to Him as He deserves when we sell ourselves short of complete revelation?
Final thought. The seal spoken of in Revelation is not just an intellectual and spiritual settling into truth by the power of the holy Spirit, but can also be a literal seal pertaining to God's law. Without the 4th commandment identifying the Creator as the God of that law, whose law would it be? Any man, angel, or group or institution could come up with a set of laws similar to the ten commandments. But like the seal of POTUS, which gives the laws of the land an official stamp of approval from the ruling authority, identifying his name, rank, and territory over which he resides, so also does the 4th commandment act as God's seal on His holy law. To set it aside is to rob the law of its authority and power.