Baptism was often called, in the early Church, "the seal of the Lord," "the seal of Christ," with allusion, perhaps, to Ephesians 1:13; Ephesians 4:30; John 3:33, and other similar passages, especially 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. This use of the word is taken from the circumstance that the stamp or impression of a seal upon anything was regarded as a mark of property, or a token that it belonged to a certain owner, namely, the person whose seal it bore. Thus Gregory. of Nazianzum (Orat. 40) calls baptism the seal and sign of sovereignty, or the token that the baptized person was subject to the dominion and government of God, and lived to obey his will. See Riddle, Christian Antiq. p. 484.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More