Can Someone’s Name Be Erased from the Book of Life?
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As long as the biblical scrolls have been in existence, believers have wondered if it’s possible to lose their salvation and have their name removed from the Book of Life. The Apostle Paul addressed the assurance of our salvation in many ways, but two passages are striking in their focus on our sure salvation.
Romans 8:35-39 - “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Nothing can separate those who have surrendered to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (more about this below).
1 John 5:11-13 - “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
What Is the Book of Life and Where Is It?
Billy Graham answered the first part of this question: “The Book of Life is God’s record of all those over the centuries who have trusted Christ as their Savior and have followed Him as Lord.”
Luke 10:20 gives us the location of the Book of Life. “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” This is a direct reference to the Lamb’s Book of Life as described in Revelation 13:8. So, not only are our names written in the Book of Life, but the Book is also in heaven where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:32-33). We true Christians are secure forever.
The New Testament makes various other mentions of the Book of Life:
Philippians 4:3 - “Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Hebrews 12:22-23 relates how we will take part in the heavenly assembly of the firstborn “who are enrolled in heaven.”
Revelation 3:5 says the one who conquers will wear white garments, and the Lord Jesus will never blot our names out of His book of life. In fact, Jesus will confess us before the Father and His angels.
Revelation 13:8 is a chilling fact that all whose names are not written in the “book of life of the Lamb who was slain” will worship a blasphemous image.
Revelation 17:8 is a horrifying passage for those who refuse to surrender to Jesus as Lord. In the time of the end of this age, unbelievers from all of history (whose names are not written in the book of life), will marvel at and fully succumb to lies.
Revelation 20:12 - John saw all the dead before the throne of God and “books were opened,” including the Book of Life. All were judged by what was written in the books, unbelievers (in the Lord Jesus Christ) will be relegated to the lake of fire. The believers will be with the Lord forever.
According to Revelation 21:27, nothing unclean or those who do detestable or false things will ever enter the new heaven and the new earth, “but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
And what of the Old Testament faithful, such as Noah, Moses, Job, Joseph, and King David (among many)? The Old Testament refers to the Book of Life as God’s book or the book of the living (Psalm 69:28). We see God’s book referred to in Exodus 32:31-33, “So Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that You have written.’ But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot out of My book.’”
Isaiah 4:3 speaks of “everyone who has been recorded for life.”
Daniel 12:1 addresses the time of the end. The verse reads, “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.”
Other passages which refer to the Book of Life speak to the saved and unsaved:
In Psalm 69:27-28, David asks the Lord God to blot his enemies’ names from the book of the living.
Psalm 56:8 shows us David’s acknowledgment that God keeps count of our struggles and tears and places them in His book.
Psalm 139:16 tells us all our days were written in God’s book before we were born.
Malachi 3:16 says those who fear God and esteem His name are written in a “book of remembrance.”
How Does One Get Their Name Written in the Book of Life?
The answer to this question is the best news ever. We are sinners. Adam sinned and plunged the whole of humanity into sin at birth. God, in His perfect kindness, sent Jesus Christ – fully God and fully man – to atone for our sins, because only a perfect man could satisfy God’s righteous wrath. And God’s kindness leads us to repentance — it’s wholly His grace which draws men to Himself through Jesus Christ (John 6:44).
Because He loves us, Christ atoned for our sins by dying on the cross. And here is the best news, because Jesus was resurrected on the third day, we who have confessed our sins and repented love Him and surrender to Him as Lord and Savior have life with Him forever (1 Corinthians 15:20-24; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 5:11-13).
Can Someone's Name Be Erased From the Book?
The old saying, “once saved, always saved” is true based upon biblical criteria. Writer Hope Bolinger shares, “in short, if a Christian has been genuinely saved, they cannot lose their salvation.” True Christians bear much fruit in display of whom they belong to. One of our outward marks to a watchful world is our love one for another (John 13:35). And all this is led by the Holy Spirit.
As Jesus’ saints, we persevere and we are assured God will complete in us what He began (Philippians 1:16). At the moment of true conversion, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). He is our guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14).
God does not lie (Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 6:18) and His promises are sure (Hebrews 6:13-20), but man is fickle. God remains faithful even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13). It’s important we consider what true salvation is and is not.
Salvation isn’t:
- An emotional experience where you feel all warm and fuzzy.
- A demonstration of a false teacher who claims you must either speak in tongues or be baptized to be saved (Scripture is clear on this; Romans 10:9 says if we confess with our mouths Jesus is Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, we are saved.”) There is no "Jesus plus" in our theology. If we add anything to what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection, it’s heresy.
- Works based. No matter how “good” a person is or claims to be, their good works or perceived goodness will not gain them entry into heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).
Salvation Is:
- God drawing sinners to Himself through Jesus Christ (John 6:44).
- Acknowledging our sins, confessing them to God (not man), repenting of them, and placing our full faith in and surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord. Period.
We are then born again (John 3:3, 16). What happens after we become Christians is called sanctification. By dying to self (Matthew 16:24-25; Romans 6:6), we walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5: 1,8,15,18) and become more like Christ (John 3:30).
Why Do Some People Fall Away from the Faith?
The truth of the matter is if someone completely falls away from the faith, they were never truly saved. Yes, doubts and fears will arise even for Christians, but at its foundational level — set by the Lord — if a person wholeheartedly responds to the effectual call of Jesus Christ by hearing the Gospel, confesses their sins, repents of them, and surrenders their life to Him, they are truly saved. Saying a person has fallen from the faith usually means a person who has professed faith has swayed away from their declaration of faith. A profession, we learn, is not the same as true repentance and surrender (Acts 8:9-23).
Jesus, in His parable of the sower, describes what happens when the Word of God is shared with different kinds of people. (Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23; Mark 4:1-9, 13-20; Luke 8:4-8, 11-15). Jesus is the Sower. The seed is His Word. The soil signifies people who hear the Gospel. The hard, rocky, and thorny soils represent the types of people who ultimately reject the Gospel. These are people who never take it to heart in faith. Sadly, these people will not find their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. God is just and He is loving, and He has given man all he needs to accept Him as Lord. Therefore, man is without excuse (Romans 1:18-32).
The seed which fell on the good soil grows and multiplies as a Christ follower. And a Christ follower’s name is in the book of life, never to be erased.
Why Is This Important for Us to Understand?
When we consider what the Lord Jesus has done for us, our faith will attest to a lost and dying world who He is. If we waver on something as sure as salvation, it shows the world we lack faith in Jesus Christ — the only One who can save souls from hell.
If you are unsure of your salvation, please read the passages mentioned and quoted in this article. Faith and repentance are intertwined in salvation. You will know if you are truly saved, and you will proclaim Jesus as Lord, because as His, we are called to be His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Following is an encouraging passage to close these remarks. May it bless you this day.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3-7).
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