[Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety,
but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the author, ministry name and address at the end.
Nothing may be removed from this page including links to other pages.]
The Book of Life
The book of life is a real literal book in heaven which has the names of the spiritually alive (or righteous) in it (Psa. 69:28; Phil. 4:3).It is not the only book in heaven (Rev. 20:12), but certainly one of the most important ones. We all need to have our names recorded in the book of life. Why? Because if your name is not recorded in the book of life, your eternal future will be in the lake of fire:
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15)
Blotted From The Book Of Life
NOTE: Not only are names written in the book of life, names can also be blotted out of the book of life by committing idolatry and other sins:
So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin - but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book." (Exo 32:31-33)
May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.(Psa 69:28)
Apparently, both Moses and David knew names could be blotted out of the book of life by
backsliding, but that fact is usually flatly denied in our day by eternal security proponents. The Lord Jesus referred to the same possibility not happening to those who finally overcome:
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. (Rev 3:4,5)
The final overcomers will never have their names blotted from the book of life, but such will happen to others who don't endure!
God's Foreknowledge About Salvation
The following Scripture about the book of life has, unfortunately, confused some:
The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. (Rev 17:8)
God's foreknowledge is referred to there because God knows what man will do salvation-wise before he does. He had the names of those who would choose to believe on Jesus written in the book of life from the creation of the world. God's foreknowledge of man's choice is also referred to here:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. (1 Pet 1:1,2)
New Jerusalem and The Book Of Life
The end of Revelation repeats the vital necessity of having one's name in the book of life. Those who do are contrasted to the impure, etc.:
Nothing impure will ever enter it [New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev. 21:27)
Hence, those blessed people whose names are in the book of life can enter New Jerusalem (and escape the lake of fire), because they are:
* Pure. See also Mt. 5:8, Acts 15:9 and 1 Tim. 5:22b
* Don't do what is shameful or deceitful
Dear reader, does that describe you? Remember: one's spiritual identity changes from lost to found at the point of repentance . Though one does shameful and deceitful things, if he sincerely repents of his sins and turns to the Lord Jesus to serve him (1 Thess. 1:9), that wickedness is wiped clean and forgotten. He is purified spiritually. It is one's spiritual condition at the point of death which determines where he will go (Heb. 3:14; Mt. 10:22; Rev. 2:10,11), but that is also directly related to having one's name in the book of life or not! GOD BLESS YOU. [Pass this teaching on to another.]
It is not the only book in heaven (Rev. 20:12), but certainly one of the most important ones. We all need to have our names recorded in the book of life. Why? Because if your name is not recorded in the book of life, your eternal future will be in the lake of fire:
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15)
