Have you ever heard a message preached in your church about having your name "blotted out of the Book of Life"? Well, I am 58 years old and I never have. I guess if we are taught to believe in "lawless grace" - it is always "onced saved, always saved". Right? There's an old hymn that says, "My sins are blotted out, I know...." But it's very interesting that no one preaches that our names can also be blotted out as well!
In Exodus 32:32 & 33 Moses said to God, "Yet now, if You will forgive their sin - but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." And the Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book."
I know that is Old Testament teaching, so for those of you who only believe in the New Testament, let's read Revelation 3:5 where it says, "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life;..." We need to remember that in both of these instances, God was talking to His people. These people had made a choice at one point in their lives to obey and follow Him as their God and Lord. At that point, their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
If you use your minds to think this through, someone can't have their names "blotted out" of a book, if they are not first "recorded in" a book! In other words, you have to become a Christian to have your name written in the Book of Life. However, according to these verses, once your name is in this Book, it is possible to have your name blotted out of this Book. And, don't we say we believe that "With God all things are possible"?
When Jesus Christ comes again, He is coming again to judge the unrighteous and to set up His kingdom here on earth. According to Revelation 20:11, there will be a great white throne and
Jesus Christ will be sitting on it. In verse 12, it says "And I (John) saw the dead small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books." Verse 15 says, "And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
Those of us who are Christians can remember the day that we turned the control of our lives over to Jesus Christ, promising to live for Him because He had suffered and died for us. At that point in time, we passed from death to life - and our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. If you are reading this and are not a Christian, find someone you know who is and ask them how you can know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
In conclusion, let us remember as Hebrews 10:26-31 says, it is possible to "trample the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace." Heb. 10:30 and 31 says, "The Lord will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Let us make sure every day that we have turned the control of our lives over to God (Jesus Christ) and are living in obedience to Him and His Word revealed to us in the Bible.
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