The Bible teaches that the names of all the elect were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. “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.” (Revelation 17:8)
The elect have their names still written in that book now (Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Heb 12:23—note the perfect tense for their names being written; point action from the foundation of the world, with continuing results to the time they are in the New Jerusalem; nobody is blotted out). Those with their names in the book live with God forever, and those whose names were not in the book from the foundation of the world are cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:12, 15). God works in those whose names He has written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, giving them a new heart, and putting his Spirit in them, so that they are characterized by righteousness (Rev 21:27).
What about 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, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
It is amazing that a verse where Christ promises His elect, those who overcome (all believers, 1 Jn 5:4-5), will not be blotted out, is reversed, and used to affirm that their names will be blotted out! In the apostle John’s day, the king of any land kept a register that was very much like a census. If a man committed a crime against the state, his name was removed from the register and he was no longer considered a citizen. If a person moved, his name was put on another register and erased from the former register. The king also kept a register of the living subjects of his kingdom who had not rebelled against him. Christ is saying in Revelation 3:5, “Some petty kings might blot your name out of their books, but I will never blot your name out of My book.” He had put their names in there from the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8), and He will not take them out now; they will all be delivered (cf. Dan 12:1).
Gill on Revelation 3:5: “And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; by which is meant the choice of persons to everlasting life and salvation; and this being signified by a book, and by writing names in it, shows the exact knowledge God has of his elect, the value he has for them, his remembrance of them, his love to them, and care for them; and that this election is of particular persons by name, and is sure and certain; for those whose names are written in it shall never be blotted out, they will always remain in the number of God’s elect, and can never become reprobates, or shall ever perish; because of the unchangeableness of the nature and love of God, the firmness of his purposes, the omnipotence of his arm, the death and intercession of Christ for them, their union to him, and being in him, the impossibility of their seduction by false teachers, and the security of their persons, grace, and glory in Christ, and in whose keeping this book of life is; which respects not this temporal life, that belongs to the book of providence, but a spiritual and eternal life, from whence it has its name.”
Poole on Revelation 3:5: “And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; that is, I will give him everlasting life: the phrase is an allusion to men who use to keep books, and in them the names of persons to whom they will show kindness. The book of life; applied to God, signifieth his eternal predestination, or purpose to bring some to heaven; out of which book, though none can be blotted out whose name is once wrote in, yet those whose names are in this book may be under some fears and apprehensions to the contrary.”
What about Revelation 22:19? “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.” This verse describes an unbeliever. He characteristically “takes away” (Gk. aphaireo as an iterative present set in contrast with the point action of God “taking away” in the verse) from the Bible, corrupting and changing it. Such actions will not characterize the elect, who “tremble at His word” (Is 66:2, 5; Prov 13:13). If the elect corrupted His Word instead of receiving it, Christ’s prayers are a failure (John 17:8, 6, 17; cf. John 6:68; 1 Thess 2:13)—blasphemous thought! The “part” in Revelation 22:19 is prospective, not possessive. They have no real part, although they may seem to (Luke 8:18). God offers salvation to “whosoever will” (v. 17). Notice the “part” is not just in “the book of life,” but also in “the holy city” and “the things which are written in this book.” People in heaven and hell (obviously) cannot change Scripture; it is people who are alive on earth who do it. Nobody currently on earth is already in possession of “the holy city” and “the things which are written in this book.” The world around us sure doesn’t look like the New Jerusalem! The living who are justified certainly aren’t there yet, and the lost certainly aren’t there yet either! Just as God offers a “part” in the holy city and the blessings mentioned in Revelation to the unconverted, so does He offer them a “part” in the book of life; they have a prospective “part” in all three, but a possessive part in none of them. The person who rejects the blessings offered him in the book of Revelation, choosing to tamper with its text instead, forfeits his offer of eternal life by rejecting the Word instead of doing what all who belive and are saved will do, that is, receive the Word (John 17:8). In the previous chapter of Revelation, John uses “part,” to meros, to represent a “part” one has before he actually gets it (21:8; cf. 20:6); there people who repent lose their prospective “part” in the lake of fire for a “part” in glory. In Rev 22:19, people reject a prospective “part” in the New Jerusalem and the book of life for damnation. One has a “part” prospectively before possessing it in Mt 24:51 + Luke 12:46 (to meros autou, just as in Rev 22:19; note it was his “part/portion” before he actually got it). In Luke 15:12, the meros or “portion” pertained to the younger son before he actually possessed it.
Note as well that the warning of Revelation 22:19 is to “any man,” that is, to all; so the vast span of unconverted humanity have a “part” in the book of life, the holy city, and the blessings of Revelation in the sense mentioned in Revelation 22:19. (Or, based on Revelation 22:18, the warning is at least addressed to all who hear the words of the book of Revelation, many of whom are not converted). If the verse was a warning that men who actually are written in the book of life may have their names actually removed, the verse would read, “If any justified person shall take away . . . he shall have his name blotted out,” rather than “If any man shall take away . . . God shall take away his [prospective] part,” as the verse actually does read.
In summary: Revelation 22:19 does not mean that one who actually possesses a part in the book of life and the New Jerusalem loses it; it means that one who is offered such a part, who has it prospectively, may lose it by rejecting Christ and, instead of repenting and believing the gospel, corrupting the Scriptures and rejecting their teachings.
Barnes on Rev 22:19: “When it said here that ‘God would take away his part out of the book of life,’ the meaning is not that his name had been written in that book, but that he would take away the part which he might have had, or which he professed to have in that book. Such corruption of the Divine oracles would show that they had no true religion, and would be excluded from heaven.”
We have now covered every reference to the book of life in the Bible, although there are many other books mentioned in Scripture, such as the books which record the works of the unsaved (Rev 20:12), the book of the law (Deut 28:61), the book of the wars of the LORD (Num 21:14) the book which records every tear and sorrow of the elect (Ps 56:8), the book of those alive on earth (Ps 69:28; Ex 32:32-33 cf. Num 11:15; Deut 29:20; Is 4:3), the book which records the members of the unborn baby (Ps 139:16), etc.
The book of life supports the doctrine of election, and therefore, eternal security. Those who corrupt Scriptural teaching on the book of life to teach that the Savior fails to save all who come to him are in danger of receiving the curse of Revelation 22:19.
Note that this study is also posted here.
Is this election unconditional? If so, then how in the world could the " part " have any prospective aspect to it for those who have been arbitrarily decreed unelect? Would this not be a pointless warning? I mean how could it be prospective when there is absolutely no chance of changing God's eternal Decree concerning the matter? This is the trouble with trying to fight one error (arminianism) with another error (calvinism). If it is a conditioned election then why use quotes supporting unconditional election?
BJL
Anonymous is absolutely correct in pointing out this exegesis as flawed (unconditional election). The truth of eternal security to the believer is still true according to other scriptures. It is justifying this damnable error of Calvinism in light of the damnable error of Arminianism based on a poor understanding of the scriptures that deal with the "book of life".
Dear Anonymous number one and two,
Please note that the post never said anything about Calvinism. It simply justified eternal security in the book of life passages. The article here:
http://faithsaves.net/scripture-five-points-tulip-calvinism/
explains our view on Calvinism.
The article employs election as an argument for eternal security, which it is. The Bible speaks about both election and predestination, and both doctrines are arguments for eternal security, but neither doctrines, in our view, require Calvinism.
If we want to say that the exegesis is flawed, we need to point out where Scripture is being misinterpreted, rather than simply claiming that it teaches Calvinism.
Thanks for the comments.
Hi Anonymous Commenters, one being BJL? Bob Jerry Lawrence, Billy Joe Lattimore, Bob Jones Lilliput,
I can't say strong enough how weak your comments were. You call it bad exegesis and you give no exegesis, no answer. You just call it Calvinism. It's good you stayed anonymous. Election is in the Bible. Predestination is in the Bible. Do you not think that God knows who He justifies before the foundation of the world? If not, then I would potentially put you on the level of open theists. Nothing occurs to God.
You're going to have to do better and go ahead and let everyone know who you are if you are going to talk in such a tough way. It's pathetic.
Thank you for you kind and thoughtful reply!
-Bob Jones Lilliput
Good job, Pastor B-you correctly guessed Anonymous' name. I would never have guessed it-such an uncommon one, too. The probabilities seem so small–but I guess that is appropriate for one named Lilliput.
"Do you not think that God knows who He justifies before the foundation of the world?"
Yes, it is ANYONE that has ever lived that puts his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you believe that it was YOU PERSONALLY that he "justified before the foundation of the world" WITHOUT the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that occurred 2000 years ago, than your flawed theology is PURLY CALVINISM which is a damnable heresy!
You call it "open theism" and I call it "rightly dividing the word of truth".
Dear Anonymous,
No blogger here believes anyone is justified apart from the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. For that matter, while we aren't Calvinists, even Calvinists don't believe that.
Thanks.
"For that matter, while we aren't Calvinists, even Calvinists don't believe that."
Are you kidding? What I wrote above is exactly what Calvinists believe and teach and to say otherwise shows that you know very little about Calvinistic teachings. Calvinists teach that predestination, foreknowledge and election put the "elect" in the body of Christ BEFORE the foundation of the world (i.e., prior to the actual work of Christ) and that passages such as "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" only apply to the elect. That is private interpretation and exegetical ignorance of the scriptures.
Dear Anonymous,
The body of Christ is the local assembly, 1 Corinthians 12:27, and consider also:
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (2 Tim 1:9)
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. (Rev 13:8)
There is an aspect of union with Christ that is eternal.
No, I'm not kidding.
Thanks.
"The body of Christ is the local assembly"
Wrong. It is a BODY, and not BODIES. The CHURCH is his body and is made up of saved individuals from every local assembly, i.e., each member being a member in particular. Quit proof texting and read the epistles and the book of Acts so that you will not miss the obvious.
"There is an aspect of union with Christ that is eternal."
That is correct, i.e., ANYONE which is in the Lord Jesus Christ is NOW and FOREVER entered into rest and only then it can be said of them that they are "before the foundation of the world". No unsaved person is known of God, unless through conversion he becomes a son of God.
Calvinism teaches NOTHING of the kind.
Bro. B,
Bro. B, you might see what sort of traps the local hardware store might have to take care of these annoying anonymice. 🙂
BTW, I think Thomas makes the exact correct argument about election and predestination being major bases of eternal security.
"BTW, I think Thomas makes the exact correct argument about election and predestination being major bases of eternal security."
Proper exegesis of those terms have their basis in eternal security which is fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. In the following quote, he either mistakenly wrote it in a way that implies a man is elected, therefore predestinated by being put in Jesus Christ "before the foundation of the world" or he actually believes that to be true i.e., the heresy of Calvinism.
Quote:
"Those with their names in the book live with God forever, and those whose names were not in the book from the foundation of the world are cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:12, 15)…
[Comment] True.
…God works in those whose names He has written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,…
[Comment] False. He said "from" instead of "before", but the implications here are based upon what I said in the beginning prior to this quote. He works in all men, and those who repent, believe and put their faith in Christ Jesus are the ones whose names are written in the book of life AT THE TIME of their conversion.
…giving them a new heart, and putting his Spirit in them, so that they are characterized by righteousness (Rev 21:27)."
[Comment] Amen.
Dear Anonymous,
What Scripture says that names are written in the book of life at the moment of conversion? The passages mentioned in the post actually connect the foundation of the world with the names. If you don't wish to give me specific passages, I must say that I prefer what you refer to as my "proof-texting" to your lack of any reference to specific passages at all, and your ignoring what I say about the specific passages I reference.
This post was not about Calvinism, but about eternal security. The post shows that the book of life texts support that key doctrine. I affirmed that God works in the elect to bring them to salvation and I didn't say anything, one way or the other, in this particular post, about what God does in the non-elect, because that was not what the post was about. Scripture does teach that God draws all men, John 12:32, using the same word found in John 6:44 for drawing the elect, so I believe what those two passages teach. I also believe that the names of the elect were in the book of life from the foundation of the world, because that is what the book of life passages actually teach. No passage says that they were written in the book of life at the moment of their conversion. I can give you hymns for that, but not the Word of God for it.
Thanks for your suggestion that I read the book of Acts and the epistles. I do so regularly, and it is obvious in them that the church–and, therefore, the body of Christ–is local and visible only, not universal and invisible, as a study of all the uses of the word ekklesia here demonstrates:
http://faithsaves.net/ekklesia-church/
Best wishes to you.
D4,
Thanks.
What Scripture says that names are written in the book of life at the moment of conversion?
Answer:
"And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:3
The verse above has nothing in context to do with "before the foundation of the world", therefore how did those above get their names written in the book of life?
Dear Anonymous,
A text like Php 4:3 can't be used as a proof text for when names are written in the book of life, whether from the foundation of the world, at the moment of conversion, at 8:00 pm on December 2, A. D. 43, or at any other time. Based on the other passages, their names were written in the book before the foundation of the world.
"Based on the other passages, their names were written in the book before the foundation of the world."
What other passages?? There are NO passages on the book of life that teach Calvinism's "before the foundation of the world". But there are MANY passages in the bible that teach how ANY MAN can repent, be born again and be put into the body of Christ and THEN has eternal life, therefore by simple reasoning his name gets put in the book of life.