Book of Life and Lamb’s Book of Life Study by D. Wulfemeyer

What is the meaning and importance of the various references to the Book of Life in relation to the believer and to the unbeliever?

My Final Thoughts: The Book of Life is ’s eternal record of the redeemed. It contains the names of those who have put their trust in Christ to save them. This book symbolizes God’s knowledge of who belongs to him. They are the ones who will spend eternity with God.

Although the refers to the Book of Life in reference to those who’s are forgiven because of Jesus’s on their behalf, the Old Testament/Hebrew indicates those prior to Christ will also be in the Book of Life if they are considered righteous in God’s site by fearing God and reverencing His name.

Revelations 3:5 and 22:19 indicates that believers can be removed from the book if they don’t continue to have faith in Jesus, so no matter what life presents, we need to hold on to our faith. (I need to do an in depth study on: Once Saved Always Saved – True or False.)

To have your name removed from the Book of Life is to lose eternal life itself and to be condemned to the .

Some bible scholars contend that believers will not be at the Great White Throne judgment because they have already been granted eternal life by God however :12-13 states that books were opened as well as the Book of Life. If the scholars are wrong and in fact both believers and unbelievers are judged and since God doesn’t remember the sins of believers, perhaps what is recorded by our names is: Believed in God’s Son, repented, blameless, saved by the blood of my Son. (I need to do a study on the Great White Throne Judgment.)

Three types of People: 1. Normal individuals who have reached the age of accountability. They must receive Jesus Christ as Savior, or their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life and they will face the great white throne judgment.

2. The child who never reaches the age of accountability, but dies before he or she is capable of understanding and is thereby incapable of either rejecting or receiving Jesus Christ. Since Christ died for all, and since the issue is accepting or rejecting Christ, their names are in the Book of Life.

3. The mentally retarded, the person who can never reach the age of accountability because of their inability to understand the gospel. Such a person would also fall in the same category as number two above.

Two Sets of Books by Billy Graham If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15. These are sobering words – the most sobering words imaginable.

Book of Life.docx The bible says that in there are two sets of books. One set records every detail of our lives, everything we have done since the day we were born. All of that will be held against us at judgment.

But scripture tells us there is another book in Heaven, the Book of Life. When we come to Christ, when we receive Him, when we come to the cross where he died for us, when we believe that he is risen and we receive him into our lives, our names are blotted out of the first set of books. God no longer even remembers our sins because they have been blotted out by the blood of Christ, shed on the cross for us.

The moment our names are blotted out of the first set of books, God writes them in the other book called the Book of Life. Only those whose names are recorded there will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

VERSES STUDIED I have included all verses in the Old and New Testament that address “Books” of God. Disclosure - In my studies I use commentary from different sources that I may or may not agree with. The different points of view make me ponder and dig from the truth.

Exodus 32:31-33 Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great , and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou hast written!” 33 And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” Commentary:  This refers to a register of the physically living. To be blotted out meant to experience physical death.  Yahweh forbid Moses request and declaring that each person was accountable for their own sin.  Untimely or premature death would constitute being blotted out of the book.

Psalm 69:27-28 KJV: Add iniquity to their iniquity, and may they not come into Your . May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and may they not be recorded with the righteous. NIV: Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not be listed with the righteous! Commentary:  Why could they not come into God’s righteousness? Because of rejection of Christ. In the Jew’s zeal to pursue their own self-righteousness they rejected the gift of God’s righteousness through faith in His Son. This is talking about the unbeliever, David adds, “may they be blotted out of the Book of Life and may they not be recorded with the righteous.” In the context, “be recorded” means either remain recorded, or it may

Book of Life.docx point to the goal or end result—so they may not remain on the same register. “Be recorded” is in the imperfect tense in the Hebrew text which may, depending on the context, express an aim or result. It may be that David was not just praying for the untimely death of his enemies, but for removal from the Book of Life. Why? Because their actions not only demonstrated unbelief, but such a hardened condition of the heart that it precluded repentance or ever coming to faith in the righteousness of God through Messiah.  This is a messianic Psalm portraying the suffering of Christ caused by His enemies. The passage is clearly talking about unbelievers for verse 21 reads, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” This was prophetic of actions that would be carried out by unbelievers against Christ during His crucifixion. Then, in Acts 1:2 Peter specifically applied Psalm 69:25 to Judas. Judas was a Christ rejecter and a representative of unbelieving Israel as a whole.  The Book of Life is God’s list of those who are in right relationship to him and who remain faithful. The New Testament use of Book of Life indicates those who will receive eternal life.

Daniel 12:1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Commentary:  The book is the book of salvation (Malachi 3:16, 4:4), God’s record of all those who have been justified by faith in the finished work of Christ.

Malachi 3:16-18 (only verse the Book of Remembrance is found in) 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a Book of Remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. 17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. Commentary:  God will remember those who remain faithful to him, and who love, fear, honor, and respect him.

Luke 10:20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." Commentary:  “Are recorded” is a perfect tense and looks at a permanent condition. This is evidently another reference to the Book of Life.

Book of Life.docx Philippians 4:3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Commentary:  The verb in the clause, “are in the Book of Life,” is a present participle suggesting a continual condition and would likewise stress the permanence of this record.  Those whose names are in the Book of Life are all who are marked for salvation through their faith in Christ.  Book of Like – A reference from Judaism; metaphorically used to note believers’ lives are known by God.

Hebrews 12:22-23 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly , and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.

Revelation 3:5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. My Thought: Sounds like it is possible for your name to be removed from the Book of Life. Commentary:  Overcomers are promised that their names will never be erased or blotted out of the Book of Life. This promise not only stresses the security of the believer, for every believer’s name stands permanently written in the Book of Life, but by stating the promise in this way, the Lord is promising something special to the overcomer in the kingdom and eternal future.  Blotting names from the Book of Life is never applicable to a believer in Christ because believers are secure in Him, being kept by the power of God (1 Pet. 1:5) and held secure in both the hand of the Son and of the Father (John 10:28-30).  When we examine Scripture as a whole, there is evidence that some names, however, will be blotted from the Book of Life.  On the basis of this some have considered the Book of Life not as the roll of those who are saved but rather a list of those for whom Christ died, that is, all humanity who have possessed physical life. As they come to maturity and are faced with the responsibility of accepting or rejecting Christ, their names are blotted out if they fail to receive Jesus Christ as Savior; whereas those who do accept Christ as Savior are confirmed in their position in the Book of Life, and their names are confessed before the Father and heavenly angels.

Book of Life.docx  To be dressed in white means to be set apart for God and made pure. Christ promises future honor and eternal life to those who stand firm in their faith.  Clearly any person who experiences the new birth, but later refuses to persevere in faith and to overcome, will have his or her name taken out of the Book of Life. To have your name removed from the Book of Life is to lose eternal life itself and to be condemned to the lake of fire.

Revelation 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship —all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

Revelation 17:8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its 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 it once was, now is not, and yet will come. Commentary:  These words cannot be used to prove a predetermined individual election to salvation or damnation, for according to John, a person’s name may be erased from the Book of Life by disloyalty and a failure to overcome.

Revelation 20:12-13 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Commentary:  This consists of a record of the deeds of unbelievers as a basis of their judgment proving they all fall short of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  At the judgment, the books are opened. They represent God’s judgment, and in them are recorded the deeds of everyone, good or . We are not saved by deeds, but deeds are seen as clear evidence of a person’s actual relationship with God. The Book of Life contains the names of those who have put their trust in Christ to save them.  The small and great are there before the white throne. Only one group will be seen at this judgment, the spiritually dead. Therefore, its purpose is not to determine whether a person will be saved. This is a judgment on evil works of the unsaved, including their rejection of Christ. They will be there because they are unrighteous.

Book of Life.docx Revelation 20:15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. Commentary:  This is the judgment of the unbelieving dead. These are those whose names are not in the Book of Life and are condemned to the eternal lake of fire. It may be that their names were originally there, but were removed because they never trusted in the person and work of Christ as their Savior.  Since the issue for salvation is receiving Jesus Christ by personal faith (John 1:12 – But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.), the unbeliever’s name is blotted out at death because of rejection of Christ. Me: this commentator believes all people are initially in the Book of Life and are removed at death if they haven’t believed Jesus is the Christ/Messiah.

Revelation 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Commentary:  The Book of Life is the registry of the redeemed.  Not everyone will be allowed into the , but only those who names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Eternal life is available to you only because of what Jesus, the Lame, has done.

Revelations 22:19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy () God shall take away his part from the Book (tree) of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Commentary:  The Tree of Life in this verse depicts the healing of humanity from the effects of the fall, the most terrible effect being death itself per Jewish imagery. John was in effect saying that the only way to the true tree of life is through Jesus Christ.

Book of Life.docx