Transcript

ANNOUNCER: What is the Lamb’s book of life? And how does anyone get their name in this book? Stay tuned, we’ll have a discussion about this coming right up. Here on Grace in Focus, the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org. There you can find details about our bookstore and our magazine, also called Grace in Focus. It’s published six times per year and it’s free. You just have to sign up for it. Free as long as you live in the contiguous 48 United States. In all other areas, you must pay the postage, but after that it is free. We want you to have it. Get signed up for it at faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here’s Bob Wilkin along with Ken Yates. 

KEN: We are doing a series on the plenary sessions that we’re hoping to have at our next national conference in May, starting on May 18th. And what we’re trying to do is just introduce these topics and hopefully if people are on the fence about coming to the conference that they’ll hear something. They’ll say, man, I want to hear more about that and they’ll come to listen to this. The topic that we’re discussing in this episode concerns the book of life. It’s a phrase that we see in the New Testament four times, something like that. And the question is, how does a person get their name in the book of life? And here we’re talking about an unbeliever and the book of life is, in the New Testament, that book which contains the names of everyone who has eternal life. What we would say, it records all the people that are going to be in Christ’s kingdom, in the kingdom of God. 

BOB: And sometimes in the New Testament, it’s called the book of life. Sometimes it’s called the Lamb’s book of life. Some people distinguish between those two. I don’t think so. I think they’re both the same, the book of life and the Lamb’s book of life are the same. For example, in Philippians 4:3, after speaking of Euodia and Syntyche that Paul wants to get along, he then says, “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.” 

So here are people whose names are in the Bible. And it’s like, okay, your name’s in the book of life. People will say, well, you can’t know you have eternal life. That’s wrong. Clement sure knew it. Euodia and Syntyche sure knew it. Paul knew it. You know, everybody who believes the promise of John 3:16 knows it, right? 

KEN: Yeah, I have to tell you something about that because I think this is funny. I was listening to a Calvinist lordship person talking about this and they said, well, you can’t know if you’re of the elect. You can’t know if your name is in the book of life. Even if you believe, you may be deceived and you point out a verse like that and you say, well, these guys did. And when Jesus says in the Gospels to the disciples, “Rejoice that your name is written in heaven,” if that’s referring to the book of life as well, and we may or may not get into that. But when you point that out, they go, well, they were special cases, because Jesus told them, or Paul said it. Paul said, okay, these guys’ names are, they can know, but we can’t know today. And I just found that it’s so bizarre. You know, that Paul says, your name is in the book of life, but Bob, you can’t know if your name’s in the book of life. And I can’t know. 

BOB: I’ve actually debated someone at Dallas, similar to one of the profs at that time, Ken Sarles, and he said he couldn’t be sure because his name wasn’t in the New Testament. And it wouldn’t be enough to say Ken, right, because there’s a whole lot of Ken’s or even Ken Sarles that would to have a social security number or whatever. And I read an article by Robert Gentry and he said the same thing. It’s not enough to say, “Whosoever surely mean it’s me.” I love to sing that song. I was on staff at First Baptist Dallas one year when Dr. Criswell was the pastor and Robert Jeffers was the high school pastor. And I was an intern under Robert Jeffers in the high school department. And we used to sing that song, “Whosoever surely means it’s me” and I loved it. And it’s true. It’s everybody. So I don’t need to see my social security number in the New Testament to tell me I’m born again. 

The verse that’s often used is Revelation 20:15, right, because at the Great White Throne Judgment, books of deeds will be opened, but that’s not going to determine who goes into the lake of fire and who goes to the kingdom. That’s verse 15. And what does verse 15 say? 

KEN: In Revelation 20:15, by the way, the Great White Throne Judgment, just as a review, is the judgment in which unbelievers of all time will stand before the Lord. This is not a judgment that believers will stand at. When Jesus says in John 5:24, the believer will not be judged, 

BOB: He means at the Great White Throne. They won’t be judged concerning eternal life, but the unbeliever will and 20:15 says what? 

KEN: “And anyone not found written in the book of life,” and there’s the phrase, the book of life, “was cast into the lake of fire.” 

BOB: Okay. So the question that’s going to be discussed at our conference coming up May 18th or 21 is what do I need to do to get my name in the book of life? Because Revelation 20:15 doesn’t say. Now there are other verses later on in Revelation, but what do we need to do to get in the book? 

KEN: Well, in order to get in the book of life from the Gospel of John, and like you said later, is we need to believe in Jesus for eternal life. 

BOB: Right. And one example would be Revelation 22:17. 

KEN: Right. In Revelation 22:17, Jesus says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ ‘And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” 

BOB: And the word freely is without cost or as a gift. And this is clearly an allusion, wouldn’t you say, Ken, back to the woman at the well in John 4? And He’s offering her this living water and the living water is going to spring up into everlasting life. 

KEN: Right. If she only knew who He was, he’s the Christ that gives this gift and what is the gift—everlasting life. 

ANNOUNCER: It’s coming, it’ll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society’s National Conference 2026, May 18th through the 21st at Camp Copass, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship, and wonderful Free Grace Bible teaching. Information and online registration now at faithalone.org/events. First timers waive registration fees. Faithalone.org/events.

BOB: And you see the same thing in John 6:35, “He who comes to Me, shall never hunger, he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” There in 6:35, He makes it crystal clear that what He meant in John 4 with the woman at the well was believing. The drinking wasn’t some literal drinking. She got that confused. Well, give me this water so don’t have to come here anymore to draw water. He’s like, no, no, I’m not talking about physical water. I’m using this as a figure of speech. 

KEN: And the good news for her is, she got it. 

BOB: She did get it. 

KEN: She did get it. 

BOB: And then she went—

KEN: And told all the guys in the city. 

BOB: You know, the funny thing, Ken, a lot of commentators say when she left her water pot behind, she was leaving the old religion behind, the works salvation religion. The Samaritans only followed the Torah, right? And they were all into the law and they were all into salvation by law-keeping. Well, she left her water behind, which is why she came in the first place. And what does she do? She takes the living water to the villagers.

KEN: Because she had something better now. She had the living water. And she went in and told the men in the city. 

BOB: And many of them came to faith. So how does a person get in the book of life? Well, we could go to Revelation 22:17, but John 3:16 says the same thing. John 5:24 says the same thing. All kinds of verses in the gospel of John. And you can find verses, of course, in the epistles and elsewhere that tell you that the way you get in the book is by believing in Christ. It’s not by perseverance. It’s not by turning from our sins. It’s not by following Him. It’s simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now there is an issue that I think we ought to discuss briefly. You mentioned in the New Testament, this expression occurs 4 or 5 times, but it does occur in Exodus chapter 32, once in the Old Testament. Maybe you can turn there, Ken, because this is where God is considering destroying the Jewish people, the whole nation, and starting over with Moses. And Moses wants God to blot him out of his book rather than destroying the whole nation. Some people get confused there and think, well, this is teaching you can lose your salvation. 

KEN: Yeah, because they equate the book in Exodus with the book of life in Revelation.

BOB: And you can’t do that because the book in Exodus is talking about the book of the living. 

KEN: In Exodus 32:32. Moses says to the Lord, “Yet now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” 

BOB: Now, of course, it’s not called the book of life there. Right. So this could easily, we could say, this is a separate book. And it is a separate book. It’s the book of those who are living, physically living, not the book of life. 

KEN: Certainly we wouldn’t say Moses is saying, cast me into the lake of fire. 

BOB: No, he’s not saying that, but some people do mistakenly think that. It’s just like Paul says, I could wish myself accursed so that the nation could be delivered. But he doesn’t mean eternally condemned. He just means under a curse today. 

KEN: And of course, in the letters to the seven churches, when Jesus says, I will not blot your name out of the book, you know, people will look at Exodus and say it’s the same thing. 

BOB: Okay, that’s another example in Revelation 3:5. And the issue there is, it doesn’t say he’s going to blot anybody’s name out of the book. He’s not, but what it’s saying is he’s going to confess the name, the expression is litotes, which means understatement, not only am I not going to blot your name out of the book, I’m going to exalt your name. Jesus said, “You confess Me before men, him I likewise confess before My father.” 

KEN: It’s like if I say that’s not an easy test. I mean, it was a hard test. I will not blot your name out. I will proclaim your name. 

BOB: So how to get in the book of life is how to get life. That’s the question, because this is a book of those who have eternal life. And the way you get eternal life is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for what He promises, which is everlasting life. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:16, “I am an example of those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life,” or even John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but has everlasting life.” 

All through John’s gospel, you see three elements in the saving message. You’ve got everlasting life, you’ve got believing, and you’ve got Jesus. Putting the three together, you have to believe in Jesus for what he promises, which is everlasting life. And all of the verses in John’s gospel again and again and again, stress that whoever believes in Him has everlasting life. I especially love 11:25-27, where he says, “I am the resurrection of life and whoever lives and believes in Me is never going to die.” That’s the statement of eternal security. 

KEN: They have it right now. 

BOB: And then He asked Martha if she believes, and she said, I sure do, because I know you’re the Messiah, you’re the Christ, the Son of God. That’s what He guarantees.

KEN: And that is great, great news. 

BOB: It is. So keep your focus on Christ and His promise and you’ll never doubt your eternal destiny. That’s part of what we mean when we say keep grace in focus. 

ANNOUNCER: Would you be interested in some free ebooks on topics you hear on this program? Well, if you are, you need to come visit us at faithalone.org. That’s faithalone.org. We would love to hear from you. Maybe you’ve got a question, comment, or some feedback. If you do, please don’t hesitate to send us a message. Here’s our email address. It’s radio at faithalone.org. That’s radio at faithalone.org. And when you do very important, please let us know your radio station call letters and the city of your location.

On our next episode: what is positional forgiveness and is it Biblical? We hope you join us for that. And until then, let’s keep grace in focus.