Musings on the BOOK OF LIFE - 3

There's some debate around names being removed from the book of life.
Is it possible for someone whose name is written down to have it erased or removed? Some say yes based on Revelation 3:5 – “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.”

A known scholar sometime ago, talking about this verse, refers to one particular custom in ancient Athens according to which the names of condemned criminals were erased from civic registers before their execution. The Greek word translated “to erase” (exaleiphein), “was the technical term for such degradation”. As insightful as this may be, it is more likely that we should look for a biblical background to this imagery.

On the one hand, Jesus may be saying that it is possible for a sinning, unrepentant Christian (such as were many at Sardis) to fail to overcome or conquer and thereby to forfeit their place in the book of life. Their names, already inscribed in the book, will be erased, signifying the loss of their salvation.

Some persons suggest having one's name "blotted out" is not about salvation. Others suggest that to have one’s name blotted out refers to something other than salvation. In Revelation 3:1 Jesus referred to the people at Sardis as having a “name” for being alive, i.e., they had a reputation for spiritual vitality. This is not referring a name as in "Philip". The idea, then, is that such people are saved, but will forfeit any hope of an honorable position in the coming kingdom of God. They are saved, but will experience shame at the last day. It is not the loss of life, per se, but the loss of a certain quality of life that otherwise could have been theirs. Thus, what one loses by having their name erased from the book of life is eternal rewards in the kingdom.

Several factors lead me to conclude that John does not envision the possibility of a true Christian forfeiting salvation. Follow Closely...

We should begin by noting that all of the other promises to the “conqueror/overcomer” all portioms of the scriptures in the book of Revelation are coined in positive terms with no threat (implied or explicit) of losing a salvation once gained.

Fro example
Revelation 2:7
[7]He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7,11
[7]He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
[11]He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

And so on

This isn’t to suggest that Christians can’t backslide and sin badly. The rebukes in these seven letters indicate otherwise. Nevertheless, the evidence of the reality of true saving faith is perseverance (i.e., “overcoming” as in disclosed by John the Beloved in his epistle
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

If it is asked why this promise is couched in negative terms, the answer is obvious: Jesus couldn’t say “I will write his name in the book of life” because the names of the “overcomers” (i.e., the elect) were already written in the book from eternity past as discussed in the previous part of this teaching. There is no indication in Scripture, least of all in Revelation, of additional names being inscribed in the book as a reward for faithfulness or perseverance. Rather, faithfulness and perseverance are the evidence or fruit of having had one’s name written in the book. Many prayers like "O Lord, write my name in the book of life" are futile and biblical nonsense. No one has ever prayed that prayer throughout the entire bible. It is time to come to knowledge.

Two groups of people are shown in Revelation. It is clear from Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 that there are two and only two groups of people. On the one hand are those whose names have not been written in the book of life from eternity past. They “worship” and “marvel” at the Beast. The second group consists of those whose names have been written in the book of life, which constitutes the reason why they refuse to give their allegiance to the enemy of Christ. Nowhere does it suggest a third group: people whose names had been written in the book in eternity past but, because they worshiped the Beast, failed to overcome or conquer and thus have their names blotted out. So where do we get such teaching from? Having our name in the book of life from the foundation of the world mean that God will keep you from falling and grant you to persevere in allegiance to God. Being in the book means you will not apostatize” Or again, being written in the book means that God is committed to guarding your heart so that you will “conquer” and “overcome” the Beast by not yielding to the temptation to worship his name or receive his mark.

“This fits with Revelation 3:5, ‘He who overcomes . . . I will not erase his name from the book of life.’ The triumph required in 3:5 is guaranteed in 13:8 and 17:8. This is not a contradiction any more than for Paul to say, ‘Work out your salvation . . . for God is at work in you to will and to do his good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:12-13). It is not nonsense to state the condition: " if you conquer, God will not erase your name" and to state the assurance later in the same book of Revelations: "if your name is written, you will conquer". God’s ‘written-down-ones’ really must conquer, and really will conquer. One side highlights our responsibility; the other highlights God’s sovereignty.”

His word is a promise of security to overcomers, not a threat of insecurity to those who lapse. Therefore, this declaration of Jesus is a promise to the elect that nothing will ever, by any means, prevent them from possessing the eternal inheritance to which they have been ordained. In other words, we must take note of what Jesus does not say. He does not say that anyone will be erased from the book of life. Rather, he says the overcomers will not be erased. His word is a promise of security to overcomers, not a threat of insecurity to those who lapse. And wait a minute, who are the overcomers?

1 John 5:4-5
[4]For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
[5]Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Hallelujah!!! Overcoming though is our responsibility, but yet a function of our faith in Christ Jesus!! Glory!

So again, Jesus nowhere says he will erase names previously inscribed in the book of life. What joy! What comfort! What incentive to love him and praise him and serve him. Jesus will never blot my name out of the book of life!

Now quickly, as I round up, compared with having your name written in Christ, everything else to you is nothing... In what do you take deepest delight? What is it that brings the greatest and most intense joy and happiness to your heart? I’m sure that many of us would point to our families, perhaps our children. Others might say that their greatest source of joy is their good health and good friends and a robust bank account. Of course, if Christians give much thought to the question they would eventually say something like, “My greatest source of joy is in knowing Jesus and being assured that I will spend an eternity in intimate fellowship with him.” Others might point to the truth of our adoption as God’s children, or our being justified or declared righteous in God’s sight through faith in Jesus, and the list of answers could go on almost without end. The disciples had misplaced joy too, there was an event in the lives of the first-century followers of Jesus that brought this question very much into play. It’s found in Luke 10. There Jesus sent out 72 disciples, not apostles, but average believers like you and me. He told them to heal the sick and proclaim the presence of God’s kingdom. When they returned to Jesus to give him a report of what happened, we read this:

“The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you’” (Luke 10:17-19).

I can understand why the disciples of Jesus were so excited and filled with joy. To exercise the authority of Jesus himself in subduing demonic spirits is a wonderful thing. But then Jesus said this:

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Jesus isn’t saying it is wrong to rejoice that we have authority over demons. This is a standard way of speaking in biblical times. His point is that compared with having your name written down in heaven exercising authority over demons is next to nothing.

Glory be unto Jesus, if you're a believer, your name is written in the book of life eternally. You and Christ had been fused to be one forever. Rejoice in this truth forevermore!

Amen.

The End.

Musings on the BOOK OF LIFE - 2

Alright, since we have discussed the identity and function of the "book of life", let us now move on to attend to certains doctrine flying here and there concerning it.

1. There was an Old Testament "book of life."

In the OT the “book of life” (or its equivalents) was a register of the citizens of the theocratic community of Israel. To have one’s name written in the book of life implied the privilege of participation in the temporal blessings of the theocracy, while to be erased or blotted out of this book meant exclusion from those blessings. In other words, this book had reference to the rights of citizenship for the Jewish people. This was recorded in Ex. 32:32.

Also, we have it recorded again...

“So Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book’” (Exod. 32:31-33)

2. Not all of God's "books" are the Lamb's book of life.

The concept of a “book” was also used to portray God’s all-inclusive decree; i.e., the very days of one’s life are ordained and written in God’s “book” before one of them occurs:

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16). But this does not appear to be the same as the Lamb’s book of life. There is also the notion of “books” of judgment in which are recorded men’s deeds. They serve as that by which or from which one shall be judged as recorded in Rev. 20:12. But again, however, this is not the same thing as believers having their names inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world.

3. The Lamb's book of life lists those who have been (and are to be) saved.

On most occasions where the Lamb’s book of life is mentioned it refers to the register of those who have been chosen for salvation from eternity past. It is not temporal or earthly blessings that are in view, but participation in the eternal kingdom of God as recipients of eternal life. For example:

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:22-23).

“But nothing unclean will ever enter it [the New Jerusalem on the New Earth], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27).

4. Only the elect are written in this book.

It would appear from several texts that not all are written in this book, but only the elect. In Revelation, the terminology of “earth dwellers” or “those that dwell on the earth” is a standard designation for non-believers. These are the ones who “worship” the Beast (Rev. 13:8a). They are the ones “whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 13:8b). Thus it would appear that to be one whose name has been written down before the foundation of the world is simply another way of saying that he/she is elect (see Eph. 1:4).

5. Paul makes an important reference to this book in Philippians.

The Apostle Paul spoke of his co-workers as those “whose names are in the book of life”. See it here...“I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche, to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life” (Phil. 4:2-3).

This appears to be the grounds on which he makes his appeal that they all learn to get along in love and unity, especially the two women in Philippi who were in some sort of conflict (Euodia and Syntyche). Those who are the objects of divine election, who, in spite of their well-deserved damnation nevertheless have been sovereignly and graciously chosen by God to inherit eternal life, should respond to such an immeasurable blessing by doing everything they can to get along and to work in harmony for the sake of the gospel.

6. All the names written in the book of life were inscribed in eternity past.

We see this in Revelation 13:8 and 17:8. There are two ways of translating Revelation 13:8, both of which are grammatically possible:

(1) “whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain” (ESV); or,

(2) “whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain from the foundation of the world.”


The parallel statement in Revelation 17:8 clearly indicates that (1) is correct. There we read:

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the best, because it was and is not and is to come” (Rev. 17:8).

Also, whereas it can certainly be said that the Lamb of God was “foreknown before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) and that he was “delivered up [to die] by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), what can it possibly mean theologically to say that the Lamb of God was “slain from the foundation of the world”? The point of the text is that the people who worship the beast do so because their names have not been written in the book of life.’ That is why they are deceived by the Beast.

7. You don't believe in Jesus in order to have your name written, but because your name has been written. People often ask: “What must one do to have his/her name written down in the Lamb’s book of life? Can someone whose name is not now written in the book do something, such as believe in Jesus, so that his/her name will be written in the book?” The answer to the first question is, nothing. The answer to the second question is, No. Names are inscribed in the book of life before the foundation of the world. This is by God’s sovereign and altogether gracious choice. You don’t believe in Jesus in order that your name will be written in the book. You believe in Jesus because your name has already been written down in the book. To those who do not presently believe in Jesus, we say: “Repent and believe!” If they do, it is because their names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world.

In other words, one does not have his/her name inscribed at some point in human history or as a result of anything he/she may do or believe. Belief in Jesus is the fruit of having one’s name inscribed in the book of life, not its cause.

8. God has not chosen to reveal to us the names written in the Lamb's book of life.

It is none of our business. We are not free to speculate about it. What he has revealed is the responsibility of each individual to repent and believe the gospel. If a person does not believe the gospel, he has no one to blame but himself. If he does believe the gospel, he has no one to praise but God.

None of us deserves to have his/her name written down in God’s book. We all deserve eternal damnation. The only explanation for why a hell-deserving sinner has his/her name written down in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world is because God is gracious and merciful and wishes to provide his Son with a Bride that will enjoy his glorious presence and love for eternity. Had God chosen not to inscribe anyone’s name in his book, he would have done no one an injustice.

Amen.

Musings on the BOOK OF LIFE - 1

What is the book of life?

There is one popular verse of the bible about the book of life which has been used several times from ages in scary sermons, especially the ones that has to do with eschatology. You know it right?

Revelation 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

This has been leveraged upon by many unskilled teachers, teaching and preaching the damnation that is dependent on human works of righteousness which is not biblically logical. In other to understand what this verse mean, we must of course first come to full understanding of its subject  – the book of life. If those who will be eternally damned are those whose names are not found in it, then this “book of life” must be the target of every man since it determines their destiny.

Now, I know that it is commonly taught and that the book of life here is literally spoken of, that is “a book  or a scroll”. However, it is biblically unsound to reason that way. To think that the destiny of mankind is locked in some kind of notebook somewhere is absurd. A student of biblical hermeneutics will disagree apparently with this literal interpretation concerning the book of life. The book of life cannot be a form of our common notebooks or textbooks. It cannot be a paper work can it be written upon by ink. It is very funny to assume that the book of life is some sort of scroll too. That it is called “book” does not mean, it is actually a “book” in that sense.

In terms of biblical language, "the book of life" as used here and invariably other verses of the bible is in figurative sense. It is a symbol of an essential dimension of Christ that hosts the identification of certain persons. Like a bank whose entirety is full of life.

Although the Greek word rendered as "book" is “biblos” which is defined in Strong’s concordance as “properly the inner bark of the papyrus plant that is (by implication) a sheet or scroll of writing.” And in all cases (12 times)  where it was used throughout the entire new testament, it was either referring to a sacred writing by the Old Testament Prophets or the Book of Life itself. It is the same root word for “bible”.  Interestingly, on the other hand, the word "life" is “zoe” which is always attributed to the “life of God” or “eternal life” either literally or figuratively. It is the word used in
 Matthew 7:13-14
[13]Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: [14]Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto LIFE  and few there be that find it.”

It is also the same word used in Luke 18:18
[18]And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal LIFE?

And many other passages of the scriptures.

Now, if this book is “of” life, and this life is "of" God, then this book must belong to God.  Therefore, it is more than a material book written upon with pen or ink. It is not a scroll. No material book/scroll can contain the life of God. And if names are written in it, then there is no material book that can contain the entire names of generations of mankind. Now, let’s do a little parallel interpretation of the scriptures…

In the new testament, Jesus Christ had depicted his very essence in many ways…in almost all of these ways, he used material things to represent his functionality and dimension in many areas. In some places, he used living things while in some , he used non living things.

For example, Jesus Christ is the “door”
John 10:9
[9]I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

In another place, Jesus Christ said he  is the light
John 8:12
[12]Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

In the first instance, he used a material thing, “door”, to depict his function as the entrance into God’s kingdom. This was what he expatiated in the book of John by saying “no one comes to the Father by by me”. But in the second instance, he used a matter/particle, “light”.
If we continue to count on and on, there are many of these symbolic depiction of Jesus Christ. But John bore witness of him as the “Life”…and he himself said it in John 14:6 that “I am the Life”!
Therefore, it is important to note that, this same theme was used to communicate the “book of life”…. If he is the life, then the book must be related to him.

He said again in John 6:48
[48]I am that bread of life.
Very simple,
If Jesus is the light of life
If he is the salt of the world
If he is the door
If he is the living water
If he is the way, the truth and the LIFE, then Jesus Christ is also the book of life !

No strings attached! Parallel translation based on sound biblical interpretation. The book of life is simply Jesus Christ. It is his symbol, not a literal book somewhere in heaven.

Amen

To be continued!

© Philip Oklu