The Book of Life

by George Sidney Hurd

What is the Book of Life? While little is said in the Bible about the Book of Life, it is of utmost importance that our names appear in it, since only those who are written in the Book of Life are granted entrance into the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:27).
 
Another important question to answer from Scripture is, when is one’s name written in the Book of Life? Is it written the moment one believes and is regenerated, or were all the names already written down from eternity before the foundation of the world, as Calvinists affirm? If in fact all the names were already written before creation, that would present an insurmountable problem for those like myself who believe in the final restoration of all, since not everyone’s name is presently in the Book of Life.
 
Still another important question to answer is, when is the point after which no more names will be added to the Book of Life? Is the cutoff point when one’s heart stops beating? Is it at the Great White Throne Judgment, or will names continue being added until everyone has finally been made alive and written in the book? These are some of the questions that I hope to provide answers to from Scripture in this article.
 
The Book of Life is Not the Book of the Living
 
The book of the living contains all those alive upon the earth at any given time. When one is conceived, their names are written in the book of the living. When they die, they are said to be erased from the book of the living. David said of his enemies who sought to kill him:
 
“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.” (Ps 69:28).
 
Here David was asking that those who sought his life be removed from the land of the living. Note that even the unjust are in the book of the living until they are blotted out upon dying.  Furthermore, as I hope to demonstrate, when he asked that they not be “written with the righteous” he was referring to nothing other than that which the New Testament calls the Book of Life. While everyone on earth is in the book of the living, only those who are justified by faith are said to have their names written in heaven (Lu 10:20).
 
 I believe that the book of the living is what Moses was referring to when he interceded on behalf of the children of Israel after they had worshipped the golden calf. He said:
 
“Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written” (Ex 32:32).
 
Clearly, Moses was not asking God to eternally exclude him from the righteous and his heavenly inheritance, as some have supposed. Rather, He was saying: “If you will not forgive their transgression, then take my life instead of them.” He was offering his life for their lives. God responded by saying: “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book” (v.33).
 
God had just told Moses before coming down from Sinai that anyone who sacrificed to any other god was to be put to death, so Moses knew that idolatry carried the death penalty under the Law that he had just received (Ex 22:20). Moses was asking that the children of Israel be pardoned from the death penalty as prescribed by the Law.
 
Only Believers are written in Heaven
 
While everyone is written in the book of the living (ζωντων) from conception to the grave, not everyone is written in the Book of Life (ζωῆ). Paul makes this clear when addressing the believers in Philippi:
 
“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 (ἐν βίβλῳ ζωῆς).” (Php 4:3)
 
In referring to some whose names were in the Book of Life, it becomes clear that others are not in the Book of Life. Likewise, Jesus said to the seventy disciples whom He sent to proclaim the gospel after they returned in amazement because the demons were subject to them:
 
“Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20)
 
Knowing that our names are written in heaven is cause for rejoicing because we are “written with the righteous” in the Book of Life and not merely in the book of the living (cf. Ps 69:28).
 
When were our Names Written in the Book of Life?
 
Calvinists would say that no one’s name has actually ever been written in the Book of Life – that the names contained in the Book of Life have been there from eternity, before the foundation of the world. As one can see in my book, The Universal Solution, I am in agreement with Calvinists on many points. I can understand how they might come to this conclusion based upon the fact that the elect are said to have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
 
“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου), that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” (Eph 1:4)
 
“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων).” (2 Ti 1:9)
 
The preposition πρὸ (pro), when used in a temporal sense, always means “before or prior to.” So clearly, the elect firstfruits of this age were chosen in eternity before time, before the foundation of the world (for a consideration of how God chooses the elect and His purpose for the elect see my article: Who are the Elect of God?).
 
However, it doesn’t logically follow that those whom God chose from eternity were literally eternally written in the Book of Life. No matter how metaphorically one might understand the Book of Life, to be “eternally written” is an oxymoron. Writing is a verb of sequential action, and a book is a created thing. Just as we wouldn’t say that God created before time, the act of writing something must take place in time.
 
In Revelation 17:8, while not indicating the precise point in time when one’s name is written in the Book of Life, we nevertheless see they are written after the foundation of the world, not before. It reads:
 
“And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from (ἀπό) the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” (Rev 17:8)
 
While the elect are chosen in Christ before (πρὸ) the foundation of the world, the elect are not written in the Book of Life until some point in time between Genesis and the present - from (ἀπό, apó) the foundation of the world. While the temporal use of the preposition πρὸ always means “prior to or before,” the preposition ἀπό always means “subsequent to” as expressed by words like “from” or “since.”
 
In spite of this, apparently influenced by Calvinistic presuppositions, a few authors of modern paraphrased versions of the Bible took the liberty to render Revelation 17:8 according to their own preconceived beliefs. The Contemporary English Version renders it, “before the time of creation”; The Living Bible, “before the world began”; New Living Translation, “before the world was made” and Today’s English Version, “before the creation of the world.”
 
However, these same paraphrases render all other similar prepositional phrases with ἀπό properly as “from or since” for obvious reasons. Here are a couple of examples of other verses which use the same phrase:
 
“whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since (ἀπό) the world began.” (Acts 3:21)
 
Obviously, it would have been impossible for the prophets to have spoken of the universal restoration before the world began since they weren’t even in existence. Luke 11:49 is another instance where the same phrase must be understood as “from or since” for obvious reasons:
 
“I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from (ἀπό) the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.” (Lk 11:49–51)
 
Here, “from the foundation of the world” is clearly referring to the blood of the prophets shed after the foundation of the world from the first martyr, Abel, to Zechariah, who was the last martyr recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Indeed, in all of the nearly 650 times ἀπό appears in the New Testament, not once could it be rendered “before,” as many Calvinists and these paraphrases render Revelation 17:8.
 
Therefore, we must conclude that all the names which are written in the Book of Life were written subsequent to the foundation of the world. Although the Scriptures do not specifically indicate at what point one’s name is actually written in the Book of Life, I believe that we can deduce from Scriptures that one’s name is written in the Book of Life the moment they are regenerated and justified by faith.
 
Written with the Righteous
 
As I stated earlier, I believe that when David asked that his enemies not be “written with the righteous” (Psa 69:28), it is the first allusion we see to the Book of Life. When Abraham believed God and it was reckoned or imputed to him (λογίζομαι, logizomai) for righteousness, I believe that was the moment when his name was written in the Book of Life. In the context of justification, as with Abraham’s faith being imputed to him for righteousness, λογίζομαι is a forensic accounting term in which one is put on the divine record as being righteous.
 
Sealed with the Holy Spirit upon Believing
 
In addition to having Christ’s righteousness imputed to us upon believing, we see that we are also sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise:
 
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph 1:13–14)
 
The moment we heard the gospel and trusted in Christ we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise until the day of our redemption, as His purchased possession, (i.e. until the day Christ comes for us). It is reasonable to conclude that our names were written in the Book of Life the moment we were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Prior to that, we were still dead in our sins and were not among the redeemed.
 
Written in the Book of Life upon being Regenerated
 
It is logical to assume that we are written in the Book of Life the moment we were made alive spiritually and believed. Jesus said:
 
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (Jn 5:24)
 
In Ephesians 2:4 Paul said that, when we were dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. I believe that we were written in the Book of Life the moment we passed from death into life, not before.
 
We were written in the Book of Life when We became Citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven
 
While we, as the elect firstfruits of this age, were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, we did not become citizens of the kingdom of heaven until we believed and were born again (Jn 3:5). Now being the regenerate sons of God, we are heavenly citizens and our names have been written in heaven. As Paul said:
 
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” (Col 1:13)
 
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Php 3:20)
 
It is only reasonable to conclude that our names were not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in heaven prior to actually becoming citizens of heaven. In order to be written in the Book of Life we must first be made alive, justified by faith, having been written with the righteous, thereby becoming citizens of heaven.
 
However, God’s redemption story does not end with us. The time is coming when every knee will have bowed, and every tongue confessed Jesus Christ as Lord.
 
In the Consummation of the Ages All will have had their Names written in the Book of Life
 
At the Great White Throne Judgment all whose names do not appear in the Book of Life will be cast into the purifying Lake of Fire to undergo the second death (Rev 20:12-15). While the gates of the New Jerusalem will always be open, nothing unclean will enter. Only those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be able to enter (Rev 21:25-27).
 
However, the elect of this age are only the firstfruits of God’s new creation in which all will be made new (James 1:18; Rev 21:5). As the author of Hebrews says, we who are presently heavenly citizens are only the firstborn:
 
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn (firstborn ones) who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.” (Heb 12:22–23)
 
The residue of men (the rest of mankind) are yet to enter into the kingdom, resulting in all being subject to Christ and God becoming all in all (Acts 15:16-17; Heb 2:8-9; 1Cor 15:28). In the consummation of the ages all will have been made alive, having their names written in the Lamb’s Book of life. What a glorious consummation!
 
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order.” (1 Cor 15:22–23a)

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