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Is Your Name in the Book
of Life?
Frank Borg
November 30th
2009
The book of life is
mentioned in Philippians
and is more extensively
referred to in the book
of Revelation. What is
this book of life? Do we
understand its meaning?
Do we know God's purpose
behind it?
Contrary to popular
belief, God is not
trying to save the whole
world today. Yet He has
called a small group of
people to be taught and
trained as firstfruits
now, so they may assist
Jesus Christ in the
massive task of
educating all of mankind
in God's ways in the
Millennium and beyond.
When an individual is
called, repents,
believes, is baptized
and has his or her sins
forgiven, he or she
receives an earnest of
God's Holy Spirit (Acts
2:38; 2 Corinthians
5:5). As we will see,
this has much to do with
the book of life. At
baptism, such a person
is begotten as a son of
God (Romans 8:14, 16)
and, at that point,
has his or her name
recorded in the book of
life.
Once baptized, a
begotten son of God can
expect to be tried,
tested and proven. God
judges the individual (1
Peter 4:17) so He can
decipher whether or not
we will enter into His
Kingdom at Christ's
return! That judgment
begins once the person
receives the earnest of
God's Holy Spirit at
baptism. God judges His
called-out ones during
their physical lifetime
— He watches to see what
His begotten sons are
doing with the abundant
spiritual knowledge that
He has given them! He is
actually now judging His
people to see whether or
not their choices and
actions are worthy of
them entering His
Kingdom. The
responsibility God's
people have is heavy,
but the reward is
awe-inspiring.
Let us notice further
what all this has to do
with the book of life.
Revelation 21:27 clearly
tells us that all those
individuals who will
enter into the Kingdom
of God must have their
names written in the
book of life: "And there
shall in no wise enter
into it any thing that
defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a
lie: but they which are
written in the Lamb's
book of life."
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
will be in the Kingdom
of God (Matthew 8:11),
so it is clear that
their names must be
written in the book of
life. Among others,
Moses was another
faithful man who has his
name written in the book
of life (Exodus
32:31-32). Moses
realized that having his
name in the book of life
was vital if he was to
enter the Kingdom of
God. Other people who
have received their
title to eternal glory,
and who have the right
of citizenship in the
Kingdom of God, have
their names written in
the book of life
(Philippians 4:3).
This very important book
has a record of all the
names of the saints who
will be resurrected, or
changed, at Christ's
return and who will
enter into the Kingdom
of God! This is the
purpose of this book of
life.
Note how Revelation
20:11-12 illustrate that
the book of life will be
used and have names
added to it even during
the Great White Throne
judgment. God will then
offer salvation to the
multiple billions who
have not yet had the
opportunity to know and
understand God's truth
in this lifetime. The
book of life is used by
God whenever salvation
or eternal life is
offered, because this is
the book in which the
names are recorded of
those who are judged
worthy of eternal life.
Something we must be
cognizant of, however,
is that names can also
be blotted out of the
book of life! This
depends on the
individual's conduct
during his or her
physical lifetime. If a
begotten son of God
willfully rejects
God and His ways, he or
she commits the
unpardonable sin, which
results in eternal death
(Hebrews 6:4-6; Romans
6:23). Obviously, if an
individual commits the
unpardonable sin, he or
she will no longer be
recognized by God as a
begotten son of His. In
Exodus 32:33, God tells
us, "Whosoever hath
sinned against me, him
will I blot out of my
book." Clearly, God will
only reject those people
who reject Him (Ezekiel
18:20). If God's
begotten sons reject
Him, He will erase their
names from the book of
life.
Because we are human and
still subject to the
pulls of the flesh,
there will be times when
we slip up and commit
sin. However, if we show
God that we have godly
sorrow (2 Corinthians
7:10) for the sin we
have committed, and we
show Him that we will do
our part to overcome
that sin, then God will
grant us repentance. In
that case, we should not
fear having our names
blotted out of the book
of life (Revelation
3:5). If our attitude
demonstrates to God that
we are working and doing
our part to overcome a
sin, God will be sure to
help us with the problem
we are trying to
conquer.
The book of life
typifies salvation. As
we have seen, those who
will be given entry into
God's glorious Kingdom
and eternal life will
have their names
recorded in this book.
How blessed and
privileged we are to
know and understand the
meaning and purpose
behind this important
book.
Is your name written in
the book of life?
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