Concerning the sealed, Paul specifically calls them those whom God has put His seal on and given His Spirit in their hearts as a guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:22), those who are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and those sealed by the Holy Spirit of God for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). John, in his revelation, says the sealed are those with the seal of the living God and number 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, for a total of 144,000 (Revelation 7:4-8).
It is generally accepted that Paul and John were referring to the same group of people. However, Paul indicates an innumerable multitude of folks, in the 2 Corinthians and Ephesians passages above, while John seems to indicate a hard number of people (144.000), although he does, though, talk about an innumerable multitude immediately after he speaks of the 144,000 in Revelation 7 (vv.9-17).
Questions for debate:
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1. Were Paul and John, in the aforementioned passages, speaking of the same group of folks as being "sealed"?
2. If they were speaking of the same folks, how is it both an innumerable multitude and strictly 144,000 people at the same time?
3. Was John referring to a different group of people in Revelation 7:9-17 than he referred to in Revelation 7:1-8?
.2. If they were speaking of the same folks, how is it both an innumerable multitude and strictly 144,000 people at the same time?
3. Was John referring to a different group of people in Revelation 7:9-17 than he referred to in Revelation 7:1-8?
Grace and peace to all.