Sunday, January 17, 2021

Having One's Name Removed From 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 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." Exodus 32:32, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."​

Many people make the mistake of referring to "Revelations" (plural). Movie script writers often make this mistake. Alex Jones makes this mistake often. Kindly said, it is spelled "Revelation" (singular). Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." So Revelation is THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, given to the Apostle John, to testify to everyone else. Most people think the book of Revelation is a bunch of revelations about the future, but it is the REVELATION of our blessed Lord and Savior, as given to John, to give to us.

Since we know that salvation is a guaranteed free gift (Romans 5:15-18; 6:23)  to everyone who believes, and that salvation CANNOT be lost for any reason, we can only logically conclude that everyone's name is already written in the Book Of Life at birth. This explains why all children and babies go to Heaven. When a child reaches the age of accountability, knowingly rejecting Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior, then their name is removed from the Lamb's Book Of Life. It must work that way, for anyone's name to be REMOVED from the Lamb's Book Of Life. What is the Book Of Life? It is simply a book in Heaven that shows who is saved. That is, who has eternal life dwelling in them. You don't have eternal life unless you have Jesus in you! Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” John 10:28, And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

​When a person knowingly corrupts the Word of God, ​it is effectively the same as wilfully rejecting Christ, since Jesus' name is: “THE WORD OF GOD (Revelation 19:13). Jesus is the Living Word; the Bible is the Written Word (John 1:1-3, 14). Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) called them "TWINS." To corrupt the Bible is to personally attack the Lord Jesus Christ. The unpardonable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Jesus said you can speak evil of Him and be forgiven, but not the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:10). That simply means that since the Holy Spirit does the saving, if we reject Him we cannot be saved. The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life (2nd Corinthians 3:6). The Holy Spirit gives the new birth (Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24). Being "born again" means that God's Holy Spirit now lives inside us permanently (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). Our spirit which was once dead in trespasses and sins, is now made alive by the presence of God's blessed indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-2).

As we read earlier in Exodus 32:32, Moses loved his people so much, that he prayed for God to remove his name from the Book Of Life. Literally, Moses offered to go to Hell in place of his rebellious Hebrew brothers and sisters. Of course, our holy God would never allow such a thing to happen. God is faithful and just (1st John 1:9). We all choose to accept or reject Christ individually. We make our own decisions. We are all born as individuals, and we must will all die as individuals. No one has ever accidentally gone to Hell. No one has ever gone to Hell except they knowingly rejected the truth of the Gospel. Many people are deceived, but it is only because they chose not to love the truth, following tradition instead (Mark 7:6-13; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 13:23-24). 

I believe that everyone's name is recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life, even before we were conceived. All babies and young children go to Heaven. When a child is old enough (which age varies) to understand sin and the need for the Savior, they become accountable to God. God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). So when someone tampers with the Holy Bible, God removes their name from His Word, because they have effectively denied Christ. I wouldn't argue that point, but that is my humble opinion. I do know for a certainty that God never removes someone's salvation. There is not one place in the Bible which teaches God's gift of eternal life can be forfeited, not for any reason.

There is debate whether the warning in Revelation 22:19 applies only to Revelation, or to the entire Bible. This particular warning seems to refer only to Revelation. However, I would think that God feels the same about the whole Bible. Deuteronomy 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” Jeremiah 23:36, “And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” It is not corrupting the Bible that causes a person to be lost; but rather, a person who attacks the Word of God is effectively rejecting Jesus Christ. I believe that is what Revelation 22:19 means. No one loves Jesus who hates the Bible. A person who can assault the Written Word of God, does not love the Living Word of God. I humbly think that is what Revelation 22:19 means.

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