Is Your Name in the Book of Life?

I remember growing up, whenever I got a book whether for a birthday or Christmas gift, the first thing I did was put my name in it. It was to show that it belonged to me. Now I cringe whenever I think about writing in any of my books, but now that is simply a personal preference.

There may be confusion as I was for so long about the difference between the Book of Life and the Lamb's Book of Life as well as the books, plural, that will be opened on the day of judgment which non believers in Jesus Christ will have to face, otherwise known as the Great White Throne Judgment.

Let's get started with the first one. The Book of Life, not the movie, but the one mentioned in the Bible.

Revelation 20:15 ~ "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 3:5 ~ "I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father, and his angels."

Exodus 32:31-33 ~ " So Moses went back to the LORD and said, "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin - but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written." The LORD replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book." (NIV).

Psalm 69:27-28 ~ "Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation. May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous." (NIV).

Revelation 17:8 ~ :The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when the see the beast, because he once as, now is not, and yet will come." (NIV).

Psalm 139:16 ~ "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (NIV).

So we can be assured, that there is a Book of Life that the Bible mentions and your name can be removed from it, or blotted out. This is the book that every single person who has every lived from their creation in the Garden of Eden until the very end of the world is written when they come into being is written in the Book of Life. Yet it can be blotted out or removed when you make the choice to forgo following Jesus and instead make your own choice to follow in whatever path you make. Only by following Jesus will your name remain in the Book of Life.

The consequence for not having your name in the Book of Life is quite clear, in Revelation 20:15, "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (NIV). 

What this means is that God doesn't send anyone to Hell but we go by our own choice. Remember that. There are no second chances once you die and get to the Great White Throne Judgement.

So now let's look at what the Lamb's Book of Life is. When you have made a choice to follow Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Savior, your name is also written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Once it is written there, by your own choice again, it can NEVER be blotted out, despite what you may have been told. Once you are savED, notice past tense, you can't go back to being unsaved, if your salvation was genuine. You can fall away, back slide, whatever spin you put on it, but your salvation is assured. You just have to deal with Jesus at the Judgement Seat of Christ if you die in your backslidden state, but your salvation is assured. You don't want to try and get saved and then go back to your sinful ways, remember God knows your heart and knows what your true intentions are, so don't think you're going to trick Him.

But it does give the believer and follower of Jesus Christ, assurance and security that our name can NEVER be blotted out. You truly want your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. It's like Jesus personally keeping track of all His true followers so when we face our judgement, Jesus simply opens the book in front of His Father and says, Nope this one is mine. We belong to Him and we enter into Heaven.

Revelation 21:27 ~ "Nothing impure will ever enter it, not will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Revelation 13:8 ~ "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose names have NOT been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world." (NIV).

Luke 10:20 ~ "However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (NIV).

Malachi 3:16 ~ "Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name." (NIV).

Just like in Ancient Rome, if you were a citizen of the Roman Empire, regardless of where you lived, your name was written on a scroll. This gave you all the benefits that were entitled to a citizen of Rome. However if you committed a crime against Rome, your name was removed or blotted out. You lost all your rights as a citizen of Rome. 

But this is not the case with Jesus. Once He has captured your name in His Lamb's Book of Life, your name can never be blotted out or removed, no matter what you do. You belong to Him.

Matthew 10:32-33 ~ "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in Heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven." (NIV).

Jesus makes it pretty clear, that unless you follow Him and make a public declaration, You are not going to heaven. There is no greater advocate to have on your side when you die and stand before God, than Jesus. Once He opens the Book of Life and the Lamb's Book of Life, you want to make sure YOUR name is in there. There is NO other way. You can't earn your way to Heaven, You can't get there through any other god, but Jesus.

Jesus himself makes that 100% perfectly clear.

John 14:6 ~ "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (NIV).

In the book of Revelation there are also other books mentioned.

Revelation 20:11-15 ~ "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dad, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.: (NIV).

What these "books" are might be the records of everything you did in your life. All the times you were told about Jesus, and refused to accept him. Every thought you had, every word you ever said. It states it pretty clear that nothing we have done in our life on earth will be kept from God and we will face judgment for it. Remember that this judgment is not for the believer and follower of Christ. The following scripture is the end result of the believer and follower of Christ from 2 Corinthians 5 where Paul was sharing what awaits us when we get to heaven. This doesn't apply to non believers of Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ~ "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."(NIV).

We will face our own judgment with Jesus the very moment we die and enter into heaven as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Think of it like a court room with God as the judge and Jesus as our defender. No matter what the charges are against us, Jesus defends us, covered with His blood and God no longer sees that sin in our life. Pretty fantastic isn't it.

Time to make some decisions in your life. You won't have a second chance if you die today and don't know Jesus. You have been told, just reading this. So what will you do? Your eternal destination is really up to you. Choose Jesus and Know Life or Reject Jesus and No Life.