17 February 2008 - Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew
THE BOOK OF LIFE
What exactly is the “book of life”? This phrase is found in the following verses.
Philippians 4:3 , “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.”
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.”
Revelation 13:8 , “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.”
Revelation 17:8 , “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 20:12 , “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.”
Revelation 20:15 , “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 21:27 , “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.”
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.”
As observed from the above verses the context is always the same. It is the context of one’s salvation. Barnes commentary is helpful: “The phrase, "the book of life," . . . is a Jewish phrase, and refers originally to a record or catalogue of names, as the roll of an army. It then means to be among the living, as the name of an individual would be erased from a catalogue when he was deceased. The word life here refers to eternal life; and the whole phrase refers to those who were enrolled among the true friends of God, or who would certainly be saved. The use of this phrase here implies the belief of Paul that these persons were true Christians. Names that are written in the book of life will not be blotted out. If the hand of God records them there, who can obliterate them?”
That being the case and from verses like Rev 3:5 , it is clear that once the name of the believer is written in the book of life it can never be erased. But how do we understand verses like Rev 22:19 where God said that if he were to take away the words of the book of this prophesy He will take away his part out of the book of life? Barnes explains Rev 22:19 correctly, “Perhaps there is here an intimation that this would be most likely to be done by those who professed to be Christians, and who supposed that their names were in the book of life. In fact, most of the corruptions of the sacred Scriptures have been attempted by those who have professed some form of Christianity. Infidels have but little interest in attempting such changes, and but little influence to make them received by the church. It is most convenient for them, as it is most agreeable to their feelings, to reject the Bible altogether. 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.”
The use of the third class condition means that it is a condition of probability. The ones who take away the Word of God i.e. to subtract from the Word of God, God will take his name out of the book of life which means that he was not a believer in the first place. To confirm this interpretation God also added that this false believer will not have any part in God’s blessings and in the eternal holy city i.e. New Jerusalem, the capital of Gods kingdom.
True believers are those who will not take away from God’s Word. They do not need to fear for their names are written in God’s book of Life and no one can erase it. It is permanent and will be there for all eternity. On the other hand the ones who take away God’s Word will be judged by God. For this act of taking away from the Word of God will be evidenced that they are false believers in the first place and their names which they thought were in the book of life had never been there at all from the very beginning.
A sinner’s salvation must never be taken for granted. There are many indicators to reveal who is saved. His life is changed forever from inside out. He knows and must be honest with himself in order to know. The elders, pastors, seminary professors are the ones who are most prone to foolishness and self delusion. They believe that their position alone guarantees their salvation. They kid themselves. From today’s reading, the taking away from the Word of God is one additional indicator to warn us of our self delusion. Do not take away God’s Word for it is a reflection of the sinner’s false salvation HAVE THE HIGHEST REGARD FOR THE PERFECT WORD OF GOD!