THE BOOK OF LIFE

THE BOOK OF LIFE

By HERB EVANS, Ltt.D.

157 PATTIES PLACE

PORTERSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA 16051

E-Mail: herbevans@juno.com

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. – Phil 4:3

. . . 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. – Rev. 17:8

There are differing opinions about whose names are written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Some believe that:

1. Everyone’s name was written in the Book of life in eternity.

2. Only the saved, whom God foreknew, have been written in eternity.

3. The names of the saved are written there in time after they are saved.

Obviously from Rev. 13:8 there are those, who were NOT written in the Book of Life FROM the foundation of the world. Their names were NEVER written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and had no need to be blotted out.

Then there are those, who were written in the Book of Life who still are written there per Phil. 4:3, who will never be blotted out of the Book. Even our members as well as everything about us were written (Psalm 139:14-16), because God knew everything about us.

Being Blotted Out From The

Book Of The Living

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. – Ex. 32:32, 33

The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. – Deut 29:20

Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Psalm 69:25-28

Some folks believe that the Book of life is the same as the Book of the Living. Others believe that they are one in the same. Here in Exodus, there is an unnamed book that Moses prayed to be blotted out, and God told Moses that He would blot out those who sinned against Him.

This had to do with cutting them off or killing them as opposed to losing salvation. Sin will get you killed today but never removed from the Book of Life. This is the Book of the Living that is being discussed here.

In Deuteronomy, it is clear that the Book is not the Book of life written before the foundation of the world. The Book is a book of curses involving the living. The blotting out of one’s name is from UNDER HEAVEN, like having one’s candle blown out.

In Psalm 69, we find the distinction between the Book of the Living versus the Book of Life. The theme here is certain unbelieving persecutors not being allowed another chance to become righteous. Some old timers called this crossing the dead line. The Book of the Living has to do with them and their posterity dwelling alive in tents; the Book of life does not have anything to do with that.

A Word About Being Written

In The Book Before The

Foundation Of The World

. . . the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:-- Matt. 25:34

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. – 1 Peter 1:2

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. Eph. 1:11, 12

According as he hath chosen us IN HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will . . . – Eph. 1:4, 5

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. – Rom 8:29

The Lord’s works were, indeed, finished from the foundation of world (Heb. 4:3), and the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the word (Rev. 13:8). So, it is no surprise that our names were written in the Lamb’s book of Life before the foundation of the world. Our inheritance and our kingdom were also prepared before the foundation of the world.

Election is based on the foreknowledge of God and not vice versa. If that were not so, every sin and vile and wicked thing would have been planned and predestined by God who foreknew those things only because He planned them.

Being ELECTED or being CHOSEN was IN HIM, Jesus Christ, BEFORE the foundation of the world. We were not there, neither did we exist, and we were not IN HIM in eternity but were found IN HIM -- IN TIME, when we believed on Him.

This was all foreknown by God. God wrote those, whom He foreknew in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and He predestined them not to heaven or to hell but to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ and to be predestined to be the praise of his glory.

The Fate Of Those Not

Written In The Book Of

Life, The Unsaved

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. –Rev. 20:12

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. – Rev. 20:15

And there shall in no wise enter into it [the holy Jerusalem 21:10] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. – Rev. 21:27

Those who were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world go to hell, they do not pass GO, they do not collect $ 200.00. They do not enter the holy Jerusalem. This cannot be true of saved people, who were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. All saved people enter into the Holy Jerusalem.

The Part Versus The Whole

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. – Rev. 21:8

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. – Rev. 22:19

These two verses teach us that the unsaved have a "part" in the Lake of Fire, but also the saved have a "part" in the Book of Life and the Holy City.

The Unsaved go to the Lake of fire to receive what ever part (punishment) that they have earned in their life time.

The saved go to heaven to receive their part (rewards), but some lose their part in heaven and the holy city, since they suffer tremendous loss at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Overcomers, the Overcomers’ Cult & the Book of Life

. . . To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God . . . . He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death . . . To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it . . . And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: -- Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26

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 . . . Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name . . . To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. – Rev. 3:5, 12, 21

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. – John 16:33

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. –Eph. 1:13, 14

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. -- 1 John 4:4

I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:13, 14

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. -- 1 John 5:4, 5, 6

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. – Rev. 12:11

Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. – Rev. 21:7

Recently, a heretic by the name of Joey Faust has sought to deny some Christians an inheritance in the kingdom as well as heaven, relegating then to hell fire for a thousand years. Faust tries to do this by manipulating the promise to the Sardis church that God would not blot out their names out of the Book of Life. Overcoming to Heretic Faust means a system of works with certain conditions to escape these 1000 years of hell fire and to gain the kingdom and to avoid one’s name from being blotted out of the Book of Life.

Jesus is our Overcomer, who has overcome for us, therefore the believer may be of good cheer not worrying about making it to heaven or the kingdom at the end. The believer’s new birth is a finished transaction, sealed by the Holy Spirit of PROMISE not the Holy Spirit of works. The believer has overcome the wicked one and the world through the blood and through the Holy Spirit; it is a done deal. Not only does the believer have eternal life by overcoming through Jesus blood, but he also has many other promises that are outlined in the message to the churches of Rev. 2 and 3. The Christian has a final pledge of his inheritance. He that is greater in us, than in the world, has caused us to overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Whatsoever is truly and genuinely born of God overcometh the world.