Eternal Truth - Names Blotted Out Of The Book Of Life

In the book of Revelation we are told about the Book of Life and other Books. The Calvinists believe that God will not blot out any names of true Christians out of this book, because they believe they are “eternally secured”. So because their names have been written in the Book of Life by the foreknowledge of God, they are “Eternally Secure”, and unable to fall away. This may sound good and accurate when first hearing this explanation. But a further look into the scriptures shows otherwise.

we read about the church of Sardis, who God warns to be watchful and to strengthen the things of God that remain in their lives, which are about to die because they are backslidden in their hearts. God tells them to hold fast to that which they have heard and received, and repent. And if they don’t do these things and overcome, then they will be left behind in the rapture of the church, In Revelation 3:1-5 because their names will have been blotted out of the Book of Life.

Revelation 3:1-5 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, 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”.

Here Christ promises not to blot out the names written in the Book of Life of anyone who will be watchful, strengthen their Christian walk through the application of the things they have learned and hold onto those things with all their might. And if sin is revealed in their lives they must repent. It is evident that He is writing to a of Christians, and many of them had even given into temptations or had become lukewarm. He tells them that they need to remember what they had received from God, and strengthen the things that do remain. When He is speaking of “things which remain”, He is indicating that they had all that it takes to be good Christians at one time, but had lost much, and now only a little of that still remains. They had lost sight of the things of God. They had completely experienced salvation, the fruits and gifts of the Spirit, and all the blessings of God. But somewhere along the road they had lost much of what God had given them, and that which remained was weak and about to die; unless they would remember what they had at first, repent, return and strengthen that which remained.

But what if someone would refuse to do so? Would God really blot their name out of the Book of Life? If we say no, then we accuse God of using vain threats on His people. If God says He “will not” blot names out of those who are faithful, the natural and logical conclusion would be that He “will” blot out the names of those who are not faithful. He definitely promised Moses concerning any man who sinned, “Him will I blot out of my Book”, Exodus 32:32,33. The Psalmist, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost prayed that God would blot out the names of Judas and all those like him in Psalms 69:25-28.

David wrote in Psalm 69:28, "May they be blotted out of the book of life, And may they not be recorded with the righteous." Charles Stanley says, “When David refers to the "book of life" in Psalm 69, he is talking about God’s record of the living. "Life" is a reference to physical life, not eternal life.” What purpose would God ever have of a book of the physically living? God knows all who live and all who have died, and needs no such book. Such a book would serve no purpose for mankind or any other of God’s creations. The records in heaven of those who are saved, and the works of men are for men to see on the Day of Judgment. They will then clearly understand by what is written in the books why they are or are not saved.

If this blotting out were mere physical death, then why the comment "may they not be recorded with the righteous?" A record of the physical living makes no sense: whereas a record of the saved does, since it will also indicate who is not saved by their names not being in it. And although God knows this information without a book, it is a record that man will see at the judgment. To be “recorded with the righteous”, clearly indicates a record book of those who are saved. This is sees it to be a difficulty if clearly spiritual in nature, and not physical. If a person is not recorded with the righteous, how then could they be saved? Those recorded in the book of life will be saved, and those who are not recorded in the book of life will not be saved. So if a persons name is blotted out, they will not be saved. In reference to what David requested of God in Psalm 69:28, StanleyDavid were requesting that individuals would be cast into hell. It would be rather disconcerting to think that a man after God’s own heart would pray for the removal of someone’s name from the Lamb’s book of life. What Stanley forgets is that it is God’s heart to punish the wicked! If this were not so then there would be no such place as an eternal hell. To question David’s character here would be to question God’s. Although God is not willing that any should perish, he will judge the unrighteous who refuse to turn from their wicked ways! Besides, if David is asking God to remove them from a book of the physically living, then he is asking God to kill them. And if God would kill them, then they would certainly go to hell anyway, since they were wicked men. So Stanley’s problem with this view still remains even with his own theory.

To assume that the book of the living and the book of life are two different books would be to assume that one did not exist in the other time period. There is no mention of a book of the physical living in the New Testament. And there is no mention the book of life in the Old Testament: since the book of the living is made by Calvinists to be something else. But we know that it did exist, because it was in existence at the foundation of the world. Depending on the version of the bible we read, one will say in the Old Testament, “the book of the living”, and the other will say “the book of life”. But this is only in Psalm 69:28. Other Scriptures in the Old Testament only refer to “Thy book” or “the book”. This is because these two books mentioned in both the Old and the New Testaments are one and the same, only using different wording. This is why it could be called “The book” without any confusion as to what book is referred to. First, we know that it is a “book”. Second, it is of “the living” or of “life”. “Living” and “life” refer to the same thing, the only difference being whether they refer to the present or the future, physical or Spiritual. If they are different, then we would have to assume the Jews were not familiar with the book of Life mentioned in the New Testament, in which the disciples were well aware of. Since they must be the same book, the New Testament is clear when it says, “Whosoever was not found written in the Lambs Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire”. And also in Revelation 3:5 “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life”. John wrote the words of Jesus to this Church, saying that he will not blot out the names of “He that overcometh”. Therefore, those who do not overcome “will” be blotted out.

In Revelation 22:18&19 God says, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book”. Christ again promises to blot out the names from the Book of Life of all those who will add to or take away from Gods written Word, and blot out all their recorded good works also. In order for their names to be put into the Book of Life they would have first have to be saved. Then after that they are warned of adding to or taking away from the Book of Revelation and having their names blotted out of it. He cannot blot out a name that was never there. And only those who have received eternal life will have their names in the Book of Life. So it is only a backslider who could have his name blotted out of the book of Life, because he had been saved at one time.

The one thing that Calvinists can’t accept or understand is, why God would have their names written in the Book of Life in the first place, and then turn around and blot their names out of it; when He already knows ahead of time whether or not they are going to be saved or not. Why write a name in it if He knows it would just have to be blotted out? Then they might turn to Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 to show that those whose names are written in the Book of Life, had their names written in the Book at the beginning of time by Gods foreknowledge; and what God has foreordained cannot be changed.

Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world”.

Revelation 17:8 “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is”.

These scriptures are not saying that names were written in the Book of Life at the beginning of time, as the Calvinists will claim. But rather that the Book of Life itself had existed at the beginning of time, and names of the righteous have been written in it from the creation of Adam and Eve up to this present time, and until the day of judgment. If what the Calvinists believe is true, and God had written only the names of those who would be saved in the Book of Life, then there would be no need to blot out any names, because they wouldn’t have been there to begin with. But according to scripture those names that are blotted out were there at one time. And even though God does have the foreknowledge to know such things, I believe that God puts names in and blots some out so that every man and woman can see on judgment day that God was just and faithful to do His part in the plan of salvation. And it will be evident by the things that are written in the other Books: which contains their works exactly as they took place in their lives to cause them to fall, and how it was their own wrong doing and not Gods. And although names are blotted out of the Book of Life, it may still be known whose names were there at one time, or at least it will show that God gave the opportunity for many to be saved and had written their names in the book at one time. And by the books that contain works they will know that they were one of those names that were blotted out. Those who had fallen away will be shown their course in life, and right were they had fallen, and what happened to cause their names to be blotted out.

Revelation 20:12-15 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire”.

When the Book of Life is opened and a mans name is not found or has been blotted out, the books are then opened which contain their works, which will tell them when, where, why and how they had fallen or rejected Christ and all the opportunities they had to get their lives right with the Lord. Man will have no excuse when they stand before the great Judge, as there will be much recorded evidence to prove them guilty of sin, without redemption. These records are not for God or any creatures in heaven, but for man to see and understand the judgment he will receive. God has no personal need for such records, since He does have the foreknowledge of all things; and He never forgets anything! He will not need to look in a book to find works that were done by a man, because He cannot remember all the details. God is all knowing, and has no need for records for His own recollection. These records are for men to see the righteous judgment of God.

If the Christian who has done evil works will repent before he dies, then those works will also be blotted out. They will be remembered no longer, and cast as far as the east is from the west. (Ps. 103:12) Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” The names of backslidden Christians, and their good works, will be blotted out of the books. The sins of those who repent will also be blotted out and not ever mentioned again. Men will only be judged by what is written in the books. If names cannot be blotted out of the book of life, then neither can our old evil works before we got saved. They are still there, and we will be judged according to them. But because these sins are blotted out, so also names may be blotted out as well, if we do not overcome.

Dr. David Jeremiah, a well-known Baptist teacher on the Christian radios around the U.S. teaches another common view; that the names of all mankind are written in the Book of Life at the beginning of time. Then those who do not get saved are blotted out when they die. He is one who can see clearly that names will surely be blotted out; so this thought has been taught. Although this theology sounds good, the Bible clearly states in the book of Revelation, speaking of the unsaved during this period, in Revelation 17:8 “…whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world…” The names of these were never written in the Book of Life. So this theology is not accurate. The Bible speaks of those name that were "written" in the book of life, and those names that were "not written" in the book of life, and then those names that were "blotted out" of the book of life. Therefore, the unsaved are "not written" in the book of life ever, while those who fall away are "blotted out". The time of their name being blotted out could be when they fall away, or at the end of their lives. To take place at the end of this life makes more sense, which would avoid the implication that names of backsliders are being written in, blotted out, and put back in several times.

God’s grace is extended to men that are saved by given them the opportunity to repent if they fall into sin. In His grace their names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life, even while they are in sin. God’s grace will wait for them to repent of their sins. But, if they die in a backslidden state, then their sin will bring judgment upon them. Such a person will have their name blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life, because they are dirty with sin, instead of being washed in the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb’s Book of Life is a record of those who have been washed clean in His blood, redeemed and set free from sin. If a person dies in sin they are clearly not washed clean, so their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life. Then judgment will take place for them after the millennium. “When” names are blotted out may not be for certain, since scripture is not clear about it; but that it will happen is.

Paul said to rejoice that your names are written in the book of life. We know that it is so because we can mark the day we got saved. I think God keeps that record as well, and our names will indicate exactly when we got saved. If are names were written at the beginning of time, would it not be accurate to assume that we were born saved? Our names were in the book of life, so who could say it is not so? God indeed had foreknowledge, but He also keeps good records for our sakes. The books are not for Him. He knows all without the books. But so we can see the dates, times, and events, He has recorded all things according as they happen.

If a person will insist that names are written in the Book of life “at” the foundation of the world, then I would have to insist that only the names of every person that will receive Christ is written in it, but then blotted out if they die in sin. Either way, the Bible is clear when it says that many names were not written in the Book of Life, while other names will be blotted out of the Book of Life. Although I hold to the previous explanation (names written “from” the foundation of the world), the end result is the same.