The Lambs Book Of Life

Anyone who has read the Bible has most certainly heard the term, "The Book Of Life" (same as The LAMB'S Book of Life). Perhaps others have heard the term mentioned in a church service or through something they read regarding Christianity. Today I want to write a few things about THE BOOK OF LIFE. Some questions may arise ... Is my name written in the Book of Life? Can my name be removed or abolished from this Book of Life? Is there a way to assure my name can never be blotted out? Every person on earth should desire to have their name in the Book of Life because the consequences otherwise are devastating. To begin, a simple explanation to the question 'What is the Book of Life' is as follows: the Book of Life is a record containing the names of those who have had a spiritual rebirth, have overcome sin through accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, and obeyed His teachings throughout their lives. In other words, the Book of Life is a record of the names of the redeemed - those who will live with God forever in heaven.

Note: There are, in fact, two sets of records ... One record contains the names of people who are saved and they are listed in one book, the Book of Life, as mentioned above. The second record contains the names of the unsaved/unbelievers which fill many books, also referred to as THE DEAD because there is no spiritual life in them. Both the Book of Life (singular) and the many books (plural) are open in Revelation chapter 20. Judgment is pronounced only upon those whose names fill the many books. These are they who will be judged by the things they did in life- "according to their works" says Revelation 20:12. Being judged by your works (what you have done throughout your life) can only be executed and measured by applying THE LAW! Every unsaved person (those who refused Christ's atoning Blood) will be judged by the law for every sin they ever committed. The saddest part is, though we have all sinned, Romans 3:23, it is because the unsaved people rejected Christ as the Savior, that they will have no forgiveness or absolution for their sins! The saved have absolution. Therefore, everyone who refused to believe Jesus will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the books will be opened, and they will be found guilty under the law! Laws say don't do this, don't do that, thou shalt not, but the unsaved did it anyway and rejected the offer of Christ's gift of salvation. The believers whose names are in the Book of Life have no sin to be judged for because they accepted Christ. He already cleansed them of all their unrighteousness when they accepted, believed, followed, and remained faithful to the end.

In this life, we have but two choices when using our free will. We can either choose spiritual life with Christ or choose spiritual death without Christ. Everyone is very aware that as humans we are not perfect. Each of us has committed sins that would exclude us from living in heaven with a holy, righteous God. We are too marred to do so. Our two choices are basically the same God offered to Adam and Eve: we have the choice to either eat from the Tree of Life, which is synonymous with trusting and choosing Jesus, Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him" OR we can choose to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil which actually means you want to independently go on your own to selfishly define for yourself good and evil. If you read Revelation, chapter 20, you will discover those who do not choose to serve God but rather choose to serve themselves, their names fill many books! And as I said previously, the names of those that choose to follow and serve God, those names have been compiled in only one book -- "Many are called but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). This call, the "called," is for hearers to repent and believe the gospel. It's possible to refuse Jesus' invitation because of our free-will. And many do. Jesus also shows us there are those that believe they can enter heaven because they answered "the call" but they will not be allowed in. Why? Perhaps the following example is people who wear a cross around their neck believing that is enough to be accepted. Maybe they are those who attended church every week but never really loved Jesus enough to experience true conversion. Maybe their "conversion" ended and they were swept back into the world.

Revelation 12:22 tells of a man who responded to the wedding invitation (the call to come to Jesus) yet his lack of a wedding garment proves he doesn't belong at the feast, and not only that, but he is banished! Why? There are those that answer the call, labeling themselves as "Christians" but still live and continue to live in sin because they were never really "born-again." They never experienced the "new birth". They were never filled with the Holy Spirit. They were not serious when they said they wanted to follow Jesus and so they turned back. They are soiled !! They are not clean. This is an example of attempting to get into heaven without Christ's righteousness covering them. They have no wedding garment on. What is the wedding garment? Specifically, it is the righteous acts of the saint's Revelation 19:6-8. We are clothed WHEN we repent of our sin, turn from sin, accept the sacrifice of Christ to purge our sins, and then receive the Holy Spirit to enable us to live in obedience to God's laws, and then REMAIN under His cloak of righteousness to the end. Without the righteousness of Jesus Christ covering you as a garment, you cannot take part in the wedding supper of the Lamb! In fact, if you really want to know what happens to anyone without that wedding garment who attempts to get into heaven and attend it, read Matthew 22:11-13! There isn't enough room to type all those verses here. Only those who are properly "clothed" will be seated at the wedding banquet of the Lamb at the consummation of all things.

The "called" WHO RESPOND to receive Christ in faith, Jesus refers to these as the "chosen" ... the Greek word in the original translation is, the Elect! These are all whom the Father has chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight (Ephesians 1:4). God knew from the beginning who would serve Him and who would reject Him. So from the foundation of the world, He vowed to keep them! HE IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH (Hebrews 12:2)!! Only these chosen ones will constitute the company of the redeemed when Jesus returns in glory. Those people who did not accept Jesus as Savior are those whose names are written in the books (plural) as found in Revelation 20:12. They hated the knowledge of God, they refused His counsel, they despised His every rebuke, and Proverbs 1:30-31 finishes by saying, "Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies." Eating from the Tree of Life as believers choose, rather than to serve themselves and love the world, is synonymous with hearing and obeying what God has said. Obedience is synonymous with faith. So let's break down the Book of Life and the "other" books.

Who are those written in the Book of Life? The saved (Revelation 20:12-14); those who continue to reject and keep sin out of their life (Revelation 21:27); those who are holy (Isaiah 4:3); those who have been delivered from their vices and sins (Daniel 121:1-3); those who labor in the Kingdom (Philippians 4:3); The CHURCH -also called the "body of Christ"- (Hebrews 12:23.) And this is a list of those who are NOT written in the Lambs Book of Life which will include the majority of the population: Those who never repented and are in sin (Exodus 32:32,33); Those who oppose the righteous (Psalm 69:27-28); those who do not overcome (Revelation 3:5); those who worship the beast (Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8); Those who take away words or those who add words from God's words (Revelation 22:19) and those whose names WERE BLOTTED OUT (Matthew 22:11-13; Exodus 32:32-33, Revelation 3:5; 1 John 2:19). 1 John 2:19 definitely tells us there are those among the company of believers that leave the faith, otherwise they would have stayed. This verse points out there are people who answered the call, confess they are Christians, live among other Christians, identify as Christians by attending church, confessing Jesus as Lord, etc. yet they never really had a rebirth and so they leave the faith and turn back! Did you think a name could never be blotted out of the Book of life? Think again!

These are the very words of Jesus Himself from Revelation 3:5, "HE THAT OVERCOMES, THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT, AND I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, BUT I WILL CONFESS HIS NAME BEFORE MY FATHER, AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS." So according to that verse, it IS POSSIBLE for Jesus to blot out a name from the BOOK OF LIFE. Because a name cannot be blotted out unless it had been there before! The unsaved/the lost/the unbeliever's names aren't even in the Book of Life so it's speaking about names that were written in the Book of Life but were then blotted out. Let's define the phrase to blot out. It's a transitive verb that means: To make obscure, insignificant, inconsequential. To wipe out, destroy. Synonyms are: abolish, annihilate, black-out, clean, eradicate, erase, expunge, exterminate, liquidate, obliterate, rub out. snuff, sweep away, wipe out. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? That's very clear!
My final thought comes from Deuteronomy 30:15-20 "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He IS your life and length of days."
Until next time,
-Pat-