Tagged: Erased from the book of life
Erased from the Book of Life
This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 16: I Will Never Erase His Name: Revelation 3:5.
In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels (Rev. 3:5 CSB).
While the words of Jesus to the faithful in Sardis are comforting reminders of God’s preservation of the saints, we must acknowledge that many passages of Scripture speak of names being erased, or blotted out, of certain books, including the book of life. Following is a sampling of such verses; brief commentary follows.
Exodus 32:32-33 – “‘Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.’ The LORD replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book.’”
This conversation between Moses and Yahweh occurs after the golden calf incident at the base of Mount Sinai. Sensing God’s wrath against the idolatrous Israelites, Moses offers to perish with his fellow countrymen – an offer the Lord refuses.
Continue reading I Will Never Erase His Name: Revelation 3:5
This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 16: I Will Never Erase His Name: Revelation 3:5.
“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels” (Rev. 3:4-5).
Christ’s letter to the church in Sardis echoes a troubling thought proclaimed in other Scriptures: the possibility that certain people may have their names erased from the book of life. Jesus tells believers in Sardis that “the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life” (Rev. 3:5).
Is Jesus simply reassuring the faithful in Sardis that their names are securely recorded in heaven? Or is Jesus hinting that it’s possible for genuine believers to lose their salvation?
If believers may lose their salvation, how and when might it be lost? Can they get it back? Under what circumstances is the golden chain of redemption, which Paul reveals as God’s saving work across time and eternity, broken (Rom. 8:29-30)? Put another way, is it possible for the redeemed to sever God’s foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification? If so, does human freedom trump God’s sovereignty?
These are challenging questions that confront the doctrine of eternal security. So, we might ask: What point is Jesus trying to make in his message to the church in Sardis?
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The Book of Life: Psalm 69:28
This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 6: The Book of Life: Psalm 69:28.
Let them be erased from the book of life and not be recorded with the righteous (Ps. 69:28).
Psalm 69:28 is the first reference to the book of life by name in Scripture. It shares some themes with “the book you have written” and “my book” in Exodus 32:32-33. For example, in both passages, there is the threat of people being erased from the book. Yet, the messianic context of Psalm 69 offers insights into righteous suffering, divine justice, and a passionate defense of God’s reputation.
When it comes to Psalm 69, British evangelist and author G. Campbell Morgan once commented, “Perhaps in no psalm in the whole psalter is the sense of sorrow profounder or more intense than in this. The soul of the singer pours itself out in unrestrained abandonment to the overwhelming and terrible grief which consumes it.”
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The Book You Have Written (Part 3)
This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 5: The Book You Have Written.
Two previous posts [read #1; read #2] explored the first Old Testament reference to the book of life:
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves. Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.” The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book” (Exod. 32:31-33).
So, how might we summarize Moses’s conversation with God about “the book you have written”?
First, at its most basic level, the book of life is a record of the living – that is, those who are alive at a particular time in history, as opposed to those who have died. In the context of Exodus 32, this means a record of living Israelites. But there’s more.
Continue reading Erased: The Book You Have Written (Part 2)
This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 5: The Book You Have Written.
In the previous post, we were introduced to the first Old Testament reference to the book of life:
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves. Now if you would only forgive their sin. But if not, please erase me from the book you have written.” The LORD replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book” (Exod. 32:31-33).
In that post, we explored the context in which this referencee to the book of life is set. Now, we note that these verses tell us names may be erased from God’s book.
Moses doesn’t offer to die instead of the people, but rather with them. God already has honored Moses with the offer of a nation of his own in place of Israel (Exod. 32:10), an offer Moses declines for the sake of God’s reputation among the heathen nations. Now, Moses seems to say that if God judges the Israelites with annihilation, the Lord might as well take the life of their leader as well.
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