And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. (Philippians 4:3)

The Book Of Life

God is a bookkeeper. Eight times in the New Testament, the “Book of Life” is mentioned by the apostles Paul and John. Paul includes a reference when he writes about two women named Euodia and Syntyche, with Clement and the rest of those who labored with Paul. John refers to the Book of Life in the Revelation. The reference to the Book of Life is not a literal bound volume but a metaphor of God’s divine knowledge of all men. John says the Book of Life has names in it. The names are those of the saints of God in covenant with the Lord. Luke alludes to this figure when he writes about the Lord adding those who are saved to the church.

Jesus tells the church at Sardis they are a dead church, but a few are walking in white. He warns the church that only the faithful will walk with Him in white, and He will not blot out their names from the Book of Life. Not only is there a Book of Life with the names of the saved, but those names can also be removed. John also describes the Book of Life as one of the books opened on the last day. The dead, both great and small, will stand before the throne of God and be judged from what is written in the Book of Life. And the dead will be judged according to what they had done, as recorded by the hand of God. The judgment will be according to a person’s deeds in life. Anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Eternal life is only given to those written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Not everyone will go to Heaven. Jesus reminded His disciples that few will be saved. The sad and tragic reality is that most people do not have their names written in the Book of Life. There is a false sense of security that most people who die will rest in peace and enjoy the pleasures of Heaven and the presence of Jesus. The Book of Life says that few will be saved. Few will be allowed into the eternal city of God. John concludes the Revelation by showing that anyone who adds to or takes away from the word of God will be removed from the Book of Life. They will not be allowed to enter the holy city.

God is a record keeper relative to His grace, mercy, and love, but its content comes from the deeds of a man’s life, whether he has done the will of the Father. If a man refuses to submit himself to the law of God, his name will not be in the Book of Life. When men follow religious errors contrary to the doctrine of Christ, they will not enter Heaven because the Book of Life does not show their name as saved. The Lord knows those who are His! He knows the saved, and He knows the lost. The real question is whether a man finds his name in the Book of Life. Salvation does not come from being a good person, religious, or influential person in the affairs of men. Keeping the will of the Father is how a man finds salvation.

There is a Book of Life with the names of the saints who will be ushered into the holy city of God – and those outside the Book will not enter. The Book of Life is a real and powerful image. God uses imagery to remind men that He knows what a man does and what a man thinks. He holds into account what a man does or does not do. No one will escape the righteous judgment of God on the final day because there is a Book of Life. There is only one way to have your name written in the Book of Life. It must be written in the blood of the Lamb, and that blood is only found in the waters of baptism.