Book of Life and Salvation

You are attending a football game with a full stadium. Look around. Who else is Saved by God at that moment? Everyone, including that person running onto the field with a bomb strapped on him.

Everyone alive still has their name written in the Book of Life, with two exceptions. Don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:10) or follow the future Beast, aka Antichrist (Revelation 13:7-8; 17:8). But, your name can be removed from the Book of Life at your death. In Jesus’ warnings to the Churches, He said,

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. (Revelation 3:5)

What happens if, at your death, your name is blotted out of the Book of Life? As will likely occur with that running bomber if he triggers an explosion. At the Last Judgment:

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

This is confirmed in Daniel.

Everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1-2)

The key to spending eternity in God’s grace is to remain in the Book of Life. Everyone starts out with their name in that favored document. Consider the Israelites who worshiped the Golden Calf. Moses tried to intervene on their behalf with God.

Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.” (Exodus 32:31-33)

Consider David’s prayer against his advisories.

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. (Psalm 69:27-28)

God wrote everyone’s names in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.[1] Blotting out of the Book happens at death. Consider the two thieves nailed on crosses beside Jesus at His Crucifixion.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)

One criminal mocked Jesus, his name soon blotted from the Book of Life. The other criminal was repentant and acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah his partner had insulted. Jesus confirmed his Salvation in Paradise. The repentant Thief on the Cross remained in the Book of Life. There is no indication that he was ever filled by the Holy Spirit, baptized, claimed Jesus was God, or any other restrictions on God’s grace.

If we are all in the Book of Life, can born-again Christians lose their Salvation? Yes. Jesus called them Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). They are the seeds that brought joy but fell on rocky ground or among the thorns of life (Luke 8:11-15). We all know someone who has wandered from the Truth (James 5:19-20).

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

God is always faithful to us. It is us who have the free-will to wander. Consider the following passages.

God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

[Jesus said,] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)

However, nothing prevents us from stepping out of God’s hand. Our daily trials and temptations can be a test of our free-will. We must finish our days in God’s grace, still in the Book of Life. Paul wrote,

I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. (Acts 20:24)

[1] Except the blasphemers and followers of Antichrist. Paul wrote about “my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:3),” which does not exclude others who are not yet co-workers.

Last update: September 5, 2013