Book of Life

The Lamb's Book of Life is the roster of the righteous that will inherit eternal life. It includes martyrs, prophets, overcomers and those who have not received the mark of the beast. Those not found written in the book would be cast into the lake of fire and include liars, the fearful, the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers and idolaters.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

When John received his revelation in the spirit so long ago, he saw not just the Book of Life being opened but books, which are not opened until the millennial reign is over. The first resurrection is at the beginning of the thousand years and will populate Christ's Kingdom on earth along with the others who were alive at the Second Coming. The departed saints have already been given the Kingdom of Heaven, have been translated "in a twinkling of an eye", have not slept in awaiting the first resurrection and are now in Heaven, inside and outside the limits of earthly time. The rest of the dead will not live again until the books are opened on judgment day at the second resurrection at the end of the thousand years. John closes the book of Revelation with these words: "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." The Bible teaches an immediate translation of the saints, two other resurrections, different Kingdoms and a new heaven and a new earth as well as the lake of fire for the damned.

Looking at the Biblical record, it is not positively stated that God is going to erase anyones name from the book of life, but it is alluded to several times. Moses believed that God could do it, it was revealed to John in His visions and we must understand that if there is a judgment, it could go either way. That also leaves it open to interpretation that the human race is entered into the book of life at birth and are stricken from it if we do not enter into the salvation process.

When Moses came down off of the mountain with the Ten Commandments, he found the children of Israel in sin.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, You have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray you, out of your book which you have written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto you: behold, my Angel shall go before you: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Jesus promises the church at Sardis that the overcomers will not be blot out, suggesting that the reverse could also be true for those that had not overcome. When David speaks in the Psalms of his enemies' names being blotted out, he is using a familiar Old Testament expression. This brings to mind the image of ink being washed from a register of names on a scroll. This showed the way that offenders would lose their place among the living.

Daniel in his vision saw:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

We should all be secure in the fact that we must have eternal life and no power can shake us from that fact. This cannot be said for everyone, that's entirely up to them. Paul had that confidence in eternal security and we should as well, but he is the one who told us to make sure that you are in the faith becasue there are many deceiving spirits out there trying to get you into a false security. It must be Jesus, not ourselves or the traditions of men. Just believing that you are right and you are in the faith won't cut it, it has to be according to truth and the truth is that you must know Christ and be known by Him, not just know about Him. Faith isn't always enough for it is too often misplaced; even demons, heretics and false prophets believe. To pronounce eternal security as the same for all believers would negate any reason for a judgment between them and those who have rejected Jesus and have been judged already. Many believers are called to eternal life but only the overcomers are chosen. This is what Jesus taught.

Jesus said,

Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity." ...."For I was hungry, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The bottom line then is that many who believe themselves to be saved really are not. Many who are not truly saved believe in eternal security but it has really gives them a false security. Even false Christians believe in eternal security but it will not save them. Many people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but it is not a saving faith. Doing the will of the Father represents a position of being in Christ and not just a mental ascent or reciting a sinner's prayer or going up in front of the church and confessing the Lord. The greatest danger is in believing that you have once been saved and will always be saved when in fact the Lord has never known you. By identifying those that the Lord knows with those that satisfy the need of His brethren is in fulfillment of the love required for the evidence of salvation, for love is the fulfillment of the law.

The Book of Life includes our WORKS whether good or bad and teaches us that we will be judged by what is written in our books. This is not a gospel of works; we are still justified by our faith. What the Bible does teach us however is that if we are truly saved, our works will prove the faith. This is just what is taught in the book of James in that faith without works is dead, being by itself. The Book of Life will be an open book, everything will be out in the open for all to see. The hidden secrets of our heart will be made manifest, our inner thoughts and intents will be laid bare and our pride and lusts will be exposed to all. We will no longer be able to hide our anger and bitterness, our arrogance, prejudices, love of money and lack of faith.

The true saint has that humility and fear of God to hope in eternal life and not to expect it by right. If you are worried that your life won't measure up, that your name could be rubbed out of the Book of Life and even the righteousness of Jesus and His shed blood couldn't cover an apostate condition, it shows a healthy fear of God and may contain the doubt needed for a more complete faith and lead to repentance. If you are truly baptized or immersed in God's spirit, you know it and you know that you have His power. Justified by faith, we are then admonished to walk in the spirit and grow into sanctification, denying ourselves and taking up the cross. That means self-denial, not self-righteousness. Just remember this: love covers a multitude of sins. Brothers and sisters let us love one another and fill our books with good things and blot out the evil, not our names. Whether you are sanctified or not, think upon these things.
[109, 339, 415, BD, Revelation 3, 20, 21, 22, Matthew 25, I Corinthians, Exodus 32, Philippians]



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