The Book of Life

Hello, and thank you for listening to the Testing the Spirits podcast. In this episode, we're going to be talking about the Book of Life. The Book of Life is mentioned eight times in the Bible. There is one reference in the Old Testament in Psalm 69 about the Book of the Living, but most agree that's a totally separate thing.

That if your name is in the Book of the Living, you're alive, and if it gets blotted out, that just means you die. So again, most agree that that's something different. But the Book of Life, or the Lamb's Book of Life, is mentioned eight times in the Bible.

The Book of Life in Revelation and the Question of Salvation

And we're talking about New Testament here. They're all in the Book of Revelation, all the references except one. So let's just try to give a simple definition up front. Revelation 20 verse 15 says, if anyone is not found written in the Book of Life, they were cast into the lake of fire.

So it's pretty simple. If you're saved, if you're a blood-bought, born-again Christian, you're in the Book of Life. And if you're not, then you're not. You're unsaved if you're not written in the Book.

Pretty basic. We can just end the podcast right now. Well, no, because there's a lot of questions that people have, and we want to try to address some of those. People say, well, when does your name get written in?

Is it from the foundation of the world, or is your name written in later? Can it get blotted out? Does this have anything to do with election and predestination? How do you get blotted out? If that's because there's a lot of questions about this.

So we want to, here's what we want to do. We want to go through and let the Bible speak for itself. I think a lot of people with this subject, they bring to this study, their presuppositions, and they interpret these verses based on what they already believe.

And we don't want to do that. We want to look at the context, read the verses before and after, which I've done that, and I encourage you to do that on your own. For the sake of time, I'm just going to read the verses, but I have looked at this in depth.

So test everything I say. This is what the podcast is about, testing the spirits. And if you have anything you want to add, if you're watching on YouTube, you can leave the comment or question below. But we don't want to bring our assumptions to the table here.

We want to let the word of God speak for itself. So like I said, we're just going to read through the verses, take it in context. And the book of life is mentioned eight times in the Bible. Seven out of the eight are in the book of Revelation.

Philippians 4:3 and the Names Written in the Book of Life

But the first one, the first mention is found in Philippians chapter four, verse three. So let's read it. The apostle Paul says, and I urge you also true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

So the apostle Paul writing to the church at Philippi, he indicates that those saved church members, those fellow ministers with him in the gospel ministry, their names are written in the book of life.

So they have everlasting life.

They're saved.

They're in the book. Pretty simple. The next reference, uh, the Lord here is speaking and revelation three, five. He says, he who overcomes shall be clothed and white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

Okay.

So it's saying the same thing. He who overcomes and how it is a person overcome. You need to compare scripture with scripture. First John five, four says for whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. So you are an overcomer by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're a believer, your name is written in the book.

Okay.

So far, so good. Everything is consistent. However, uh, in revelation three, five, we get this little hint that at least potentially doesn't say that anyone was blotted out, but at least potentially there's a warning that maybe somebody could be blotted out.

Let me read it one more time. Revelation three, verse five, he who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name. So is that a threat for some people or is God just saying, Hey, listen, if your name is in there, it's not going to be blotted out.

Okay.

Listen.

Listen. Listen.

Um, this is the, this is why there's questions, stuff like that, but let's continue revelation 13, eight. This is the next example. Revelation 13, eight says all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

And, uh, whenever you read, uh, him here, this is just a little, uh, hint, uh, they'll worship him. Well, him is not capitalized. The H is the lowercase H. Therefore we know it's not referring to God.

If it was referring to God, it would be capital H. So who are they worshiping? Well, in context, they're worshiping the beast who most people identify as the antichrist. So people who worship the beast, they're not worshiping the Lord.

That means they're unsaved. It says that their names are not in the book. Now, here's, here's the tricky part. The statement about the foundation of the world. It's saying one of two things, and we're not exactly sure commentators disagree what's being said in regards to the foundation of the world is, is John writing that their names were never written in the book from the foundation of the world?

Or is it that Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world that in the mind of God and the plan and purposes of God, Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. We don't know if foundation of the world is referring to Christ or if it's referring to their names never being written in from the foundation.

So again, people disagree on that, but maybe something we'll clarify later on. Let's keep going. The next reference is revelation 17, verse eight, it says the beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.

And those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.

Okay.

There's the clarity that we were looking for. So this seems to be, I don't think seems, it's just flat out saying that their names were never written in the book from the foundation of the world. So that clears up the previous verse and it also, that previous verse indicates that this is the full name of the book, the lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world.

Okay.

But now we know what's going on. So I think this does tie in to the doctrine of election and predestination because God knows all things. Those who are saved, God knows their name, right? They are chosen, they are elect.

And from the, from day one, even before day one, from the foundation of the world, God's people, their names are written in and people that God knows are never going to be saved. They're not saved. They're never going to be saved.

Their names were never written in that. That's what it's saying. That's not my presupposition. That's what the scripture is telling us. So I do think this does tie in with the doctrine of election and predestination.

For example, just speaking about that Ephesians one, four, and five, because we see that phrase again, foundation of the world, Ephesians one, four, and five. The apostle Paul says that God chose us, speaking to believers, God chose us in Christ from the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

Also in John chapter 10, Jesus referring to himself as the good shepherd. He talks about how he knows his sheep. They hear his voice and he calls them all by name. Now I'm not going to get sidetracked because I mentioned a controversial subject, election and predestination.

And without a doubt, viewers of this YouTube channel and people who listen to this podcast have differing views of this subject. I'm not getting into that. I'm not going to get into the debate about God's sovereignty versus man's free will.

And you know, what is the basis of God's electing choice? We all know that God elects, but we're not getting into, you know, what's the basis. Is it conditional? Is it unconditional? Here's what we should all be able to agree on that.

God, the Lord at the very least from the foundation of the world, he knows who will end up being saved and who won't. He knows the end from the beginning. So if we all agree on that, we agree God is omniscient.

He declares the end from the beginning. These are all Bible verses. We seem to see here, and I think it's more than that. It's pretty clear the way the book of life operates. Those people who God knows are saved, they're written in the book from the beginning.

Those who are not saved are never written in the book, but there's still one more question. Does anyone get blotted out? Let's say there is somebody, they're saved, their name is in the book. Can they lose their salvation?

Can they get blotted out? Because that's the argument people make, because there's this threat that people are blotted.

Out of the book.

Well, again, not coming to the text with any presupposition. Let's just hold off on that and let the Bible speak for itself. The next passage, Revelation 20 verse 12. John writes, and I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books.

Were opened.

And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in.

The books.

And notice it's books plural. So this doesn't really answer any of the questions, except that it tells us that there are other.

Books.

The next reference is Revelation 20 verse 15. It says, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We read that already. Again, it just says believers. It's saying believers are written in the book.

Unbelievers are not. The next reference, Revelation 21, 27 says, but there shall by no means enter it. This is a reference to the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, which is in the new heaven and the new earth.

Nothing shall enter into it that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the lambs book of life.

Okay.

So everything is consistent. And now we get to the last reference, which is found in Revelation 22, 19. It says, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book.

Okay.

This does seem to be the one verse. Maybe there was one other that, uh, it seems to have this warning that maybe someone could be blotted out. And this is the question, can you be saved and have your name written in the book and then have your name blotted out, which would mean that a person loses their salvation.

So is that what this is saying? That if a person denies the book of revelation or they try to corrupt it or they deny or remove part of it, that their name will be blotted out. I mean, someone is saying right now, yeah, that's what it says.

Their name is going to be blotted out. There are people who have their name in the book of life, but their name gets blotted.

Out.

Well, hold on. I think that's one of these assumptions, right? Because it doesn't actually, yes, there is a warning given, but it doesn't actually say someone gets blotted out. Here's what I know for sure.

There's not one example. There's no one person that we are told their name was blotted out. It's just not there. There's not a single example. And here's the thing. Here's the key. A true believer is not going to add to the words of the prophecy of this book.

A true believer is not going to take away. Remember, we already established that unbelievers don't have their name written in the book. Again, all Christians believe that God is omniscient. He knows the end from the beginning.

So instead of a true believer going apostate and losing their salvation and having their name blotted out, I mean, yeah, that's the assumption that people I think are making, but that's not actually what it says.

It's just this warning that hangs there because in the church there are the wheat and the.

Tares.

There's believers and unbelievers. So there needs to be this warning because there are going to be people who deny, even in the church, who deny the book of Revelation. I mean, let's face it, unbelievers, atheists don't really care about the book of Revelation.

They're probably not going to be trying to corrupt it or add to it or take away. It's people within the church that tend to do that. But again, if they do that, they're an unbeliever and unbelievers were never written in from.

The beginning.

That's what we read. So in conclusion, that's what I believe is being said. Am I dogmatic about it? Maybe not. But if you have any questions or comments, if you're watching on YouTube, feel free to leave those in the comment section.

So hopefully this brief study has been helpful. Hopefully you have a better understanding of the book of life, the Lamb's book of life, right? I think it's pretty clear what's being said, but I'll just end with this.

Once you understand this, it should be a great encouragement to you. God has an elect people. He knows who they are. Their names are written in the book. And if you are, what does that mean? If you're a true believer in Christ, this should give you great peace, great confidence and assurance that our names, as Jesus said in Luke 10 verse 20, our names are written.

In heaven.

Thanks for listening. And until next time, may the Lord be with you. Have a great day.