The Book of Life
 When Your Name Was Written Down

Revelation 20:15


There is considerable confusion and disagreement among Christians and pseudo Christians as to when names are written into the Book of Life.  There is also some debate as to when we actually came into being, vis-a-vis before or at conception.  The purpose of this study is to learn what, if anything, the Bible has to say in regard to these important matters.

There appear to be four possible times that our names are written into the Book of Life:


1.    When the world began (Revelation 17:8)
2.     Before conception (Jeremiah 1:5)
3.    At conception (Psalm 139:13-18)
4.    At the time of new birth (John 3:3)



When The World Began
“...And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world...” 
 - Revelation 17:8


On its face, and without the benefit of other scripture, this verse appears to be telling us that names were written into the Book of Life at the creation of the world.  It also seems to say that some names were purposely omitted, “whose names are not written...from the foundation of the world...” 

To determine whether names were written when the world began, one must first observe the initial reference in Revelation to the Book of Life: “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). This passage, the first revealed to and recorded by the Apostle John, is more comprehensive in its meaning.  Generally the first mention of a topic will reveal its true and full meaning.  Often, subsequent references to a previously described topic will be abbreviated and thus not always exhaustive in its meaning.  I believe this applies to the comments made in Revelation 17:8 regarding the Book of Life.  In Revelation 13:8 the emphasis is on the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  Neither the Book of Life, nor the time the names were written, date to the foundation of the world.  Rather, the foreknowledge of the Lamb being slain dates to the foundation of the world.  We know it is foreknowledge, not the actual time of the event, because Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago - not when the world began.  That fact is too obvious for debate.  The statement that He was slain from the foundation of the world could very well refer to Genesis 3:15 where God, in the beginning, foretold the slaying of the future Messiah.  Having conveyed this meaning in its first mention (Revelation 13:8), John later refers to the Book of Life in Revelation 17:8 in less than clear, comprehensive terms.  We must, therefore, look primarily to Revelation 13:8 to understand the Book of Life.  By so doing, we learn that names were not written at the foundation of the world.

Furthermore, it is arguable that Revelation 17:8 is simply stating that the Book of Life itself (prior to any names being written in it) was prepared at the foundation of the world, “...the Book of Life from the foundation of the world...”



Before Conception
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” 
  - Jeremiah 1:5

The second possible time for names being written into the Book of Life is prior to natural conception. This scripture seems to be saying that God “knew,” “sanctified” and “ordained” us before we were conceived (formed) in our mother’s womb!  And not a few, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have latched onto this verse to advance the false doctrine of pre-existence.  Again, taken by itself without the benefit of other passages, this scripture appears to teach life before conception, and thus our names being written down before life began.

If pre-existence (teaching that humans exist before conception) was true, the first part of this scripture would be a contradiction in terms: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...”  How could God know us before we existed?!  But since we know that the Bible does not contradict itself, this cannot possibly be true.  The apparent contradiction is explained in the literal meaning of the word “formed.”  Number 3335 in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, it means “create.”  To create means to bring something into existence for the first time and the same scripture tells us when that is - “in the belly (womb).”  Jeremiah 1:5 plainly states that we were created (formed) IN THE WOMB.  But what of the statement that God knew Jeremiah BEFORE he was created?  God did know Jeremiah, and every other human being before they were born - in His foreknowledge.  It was not a mutual, actual relationship between two conscious parties.  This is substantiated in the Hebrew word used here for know, “...I knew you.”  Number 3045 in Strong’s, it means “to perceive, to discern, to understand, to be aware of.”  Just as Revelation 17:8, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,” refers to something that was in God’s foreknowledge (Acts 2:23), something that He was aware of, so too does Jeremiah 1:5.   God didn’t actually have a personal, two-way relationship with Jeremiah; rather, God knew that he would exist at some future time.  God had “foreknowledge” of Jeremiah’s ultimate existence - He did not know him personally before he was born (1 Peter 1:2). 



At Conception
“You have formed my inward parts; you have woven me (knit me together) in my mother’s womb.”
- Psalm 139:13

    Psalm 139 reveals the third of four possible times that our names were written in the Book of Life - at the moment of conception.   

      Though in its most rudimentary form, the newly conceived fetus contains everything that it will ever need to function as a viable human being.

     It is my belief that our names are written into the Book of Life at the moment our life begins.

I also believe, based on 2 Samuel 12:23, and less explicitly Deuteronomy 1:39 and other passages, that children under the “age of accountability” are destined for heaven, irrespective of their parent's spiritual status.  The Bible teaches that each individual is responsible for his own sin; he/she is not condemned as a result of their ancestors unbelief (Deuteronomy 24:16).   Because David’s child was implicitly said to have gone to heaven when he died, “I shall go to him" (2 Samuel 12:23), we may deduce that children who are too young to make a conscious rejection of God, will, if they die prematurely, be received into heaven.  Therefore, the Book of Life has to do with natural, human life and eternal life.  One loses his place in the Lamb’s Book of Life when he/she chooses to reject God, more specifically, reject the gospel once that person is mature enough to understand it.  The Bible states in numerous places that names can be and are “blotted out” (Exodus 32:32; 17:14, Deuteronomy 9:14, Revelation 3:5).

This does not conflict with the fact that all are born under sin, condemned in Adam.  Every human being inherits the sin nature, but this does not mean that a newborn, the unborn, young children or the mentally ill will be automatically turned into hell.  There is an “antidote” for the sin nature that extends to 1) the repentant and 2) the innocent (those who are unable to repent).  The antidote is found in Hebrews 9:11ff: “with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant...”  Jesus Christ Himself atones for and neutralizes the certain condemnation that all inherit through Adam.  However (and that is a big However) one MUST place their trust in and establish their faith upon Christ, who alone can lift the certain judgment.  But what of those who by virtue of age or mental disability are unable to make a reasoned decision for Christ?  The Bible infers, and God’s mercy demands, that Christ’s atonement extend to such individuals.  The redemption accomplished on Calvary 2,000 years ago was effective for those who looked forward to it as well as those of us who look back on it. 

It is my prayerful and studied opinion that contrary to “five point Calvinism,” particularly the second and third points, God intended from the beginning that all should be saved (2 Peter 3:9). 1  It is man’s conscious rejection of God that alienates him from eternal life - it is not God’s pre-determined will that a person be lost:  “And He has made from one blood every nation of men...so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him...now God commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:26-30).  This is one of several Bible passages that teach that anyone can be saved - if they want to be.  2  That God desired every human being to share in the glories of heaven is revealed in the fact that hell was never intended for human beings (Matthew 25:41).  It is edifying and educational to acquaint oneself with Dante’s Inferno concerning the subject of hell, albeit there is some Catholic doctrine there that needs to be sieved. 

The dimensions of the New Jerusalem also reveal God's original plan that none would be lost.  Revelation 21:16 gives the size of the eternal, heavenly city.  Dr. Wilbur M. Smith, in his book, The Biblical Doctrine of Heaven, gives us some insight from an Australian engineer:

The city will give you an area 2,250,000 square miles.  This makes it 15,000 times as big as London; 20 times as big as New Zealand; 10 times as big as Germany and 10 times as big as France.  And it is 40 times as big as all England and even much bigger than India!  Taking the number of people to a square mile in the city of London, this Australian engineer, computed that the city foursquare (the New Jerusalem) could hold 100 billion people.

Dr. Henry Morris notes, “it is reasonable that about 100 billion men, women and children will be members of the human race - past, present or future.” 3  Is it mere coincidence that the dimensions of the New Jerusalem accommodate the same number of people to come into existence?   I say "no" to coincidence and "yes" to a loving God who designed His eternal city so that it would comfortably house every human being ever born/ever written into the Lamb’s Book of Life.  This further confirms the Bible’s teaching that Jesus died “for the sin of the whole world.”  Obviously and unfortunately, there will not be 100 billion people in the New Jerusalem, there probably won’t even be 2 billion, because most people reject the Messiah and thus their names are blotted out of the Book of Life (Psalm 69:27-28, Revelation 20:15).
  
      

At the New Birth
The fourth and final possible time that names are written into the Book of Life is at conversion, when we are “born again” (I held to this for many years).  Although we are made a new creature in Christ at the moment of conversion, it is not the first time that we are written into the Book of Life.  Dr. Morris comments:

This is a controversial passage [Revelation 3:5], but a possible harmonization can be made by noting the special circumstances of infants who die before the “age of accountability.” The Book of Life, as its very name implies, probably contains the names of all those for whom Christ died - in other words, all who have ever been conceived in the womb, and who thus have received God’s created spirit of life.  Since Christ died for the sin inherent in every person conceived, a child who dies before becoming a deliberate and conscious sinner does not need to be “saved” from sin, since he has never sinned, and since Christ has made propitiation for his innate sin.  When a child does become a conscious sinner, however, he thenceforth is lost and needs to be saved; he needs to be “born again.” 4

The Gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ alone must be received (and all others rejected) in order to maintain one’s place in the Book of Life.  To opt for any other god, no God at all, or to be ambivalent (agnostic) toward God, will cause one's name to be blotted out (Psalm 69:28).  For many, therefore, conversion (by grace through faith) is the time that their name is written, or to be more precise, re-written into the Book of Life.  It is possible to reject God, or embrace the false god of your ancestors 5 at the age of accountability and be blotted out of the Book of Life at that time.  Later, a person may respond to the Gospel of Christ and be written back into the Book of Life:

"And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will, be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”   - Romans 11:23

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God,
for He will abundantly pardon.  - Isaiah 55:7

"Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them.  Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts."  - Malachi 3:7


These scriptures reveal that God will forgive, restore and re-write our names into the Book of Life if we forsake false gods, false religions and/or our general unbelief (Luke 15:32).  Such was the case with Naomi in the book of Ruth who returned to the land and the God of her fathers.  Aaron, as a result of his sin at Mt. Sinai, was blotted out of the Book of Life (Exodus 32:1-5,33).  He repented and was later re-entered into the Book of Life (Deuteronomy 9:20).

It is possible to be lost as a result of satanic deception.  There are an untold number of religions and belief systems, designed by Satan himself to entrap men and women.  It is difficult at best to reject and depart from a system that one has been raised in.  Nevertheless, once a person has attained the age of reason (which may vary somewhat from person to person) and makes a choice to embrace the false belief system taught them from childhood, they will be blotted out of the Book of Life.  Why?  Because they have made a conscious choice to opt for a provision other than that attained at the Cross of Calvary by Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:1-9).  The Gospel has gone out to the entire world. 6 Therefore, those who are outside of Christ are without excuse and without remedy, for all have heard the Gospel, either directly (or indirectly through their forebears).

At the new birth, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and made a new creature in Christ Jesus.  “However, one name after another had been blotted out of the book of life as people had lived and died without validating their entry, as it were, through personal appropriation of Christ by faith.” 7 We validate our name in the Book of Life by accepting Christ and we ensure its permanency by continuing to believe (Romans 11:22, Colossians 2:22,23).  Our name is not written for the first time when we acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior.


The Heresy of Pre-Existence
There are a growing number of teachers within the Christian Church who espouse the false doctrine of Pre-Existence; that is, we existed before conception - even that we always existed!  This is a fundamental teaching of the Mormon Church and as the Bible says, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies...Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking misleading things, to draw away the disciples after themselves”  (2 Peter 2:1, Acts 20:30).  As I explained earlier, God does have foreknowledge of everything that will ever happen and He knows in advance who will eventually be born.  However, he does not know, i.e., have a mutually responsive relationship, with people before they exist.  It is an oxymoron to say that a non-existent person can know (have a personal relationship with) God.  So when does a person come into existence for the first time?  The Bible, as it does with all things, tells us clearly in Psalm 139, verses 13-16:

"For you have formed my inward parts; you have woven me in my mother's womb.
l will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,
marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret,
and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me,
when as yet there were none of them."

These scriptures satisfactorily and fully explain when we come into existence . . . woven me in my mother's womb and states when our names are written into the Book of Life: In your book they were all written.

A careful and thorough exegesis of these scriptures reveal some amazing facts.  In the thirteenth verse, my mother's womb, the word Womb (BETEN) means "innermost or lowest part." The fifteenth verse, “I was made...in the lowest parts of the earth,” is referring to the womb, mentioned in verse 13 (“lowest part”).  God apparently considers the womb to be the lowest, deepest place of anything on earth.  Being made in the lowest part of the earth is not a reference to the center of the earth, as revealed in verse eight of the same chapter.  In Psalm 139:8 we learn that the center of the earth, or inside of the earth, is described by a completely different Hebrew word.  That word is hell, or more accurately “Sheol,” translated hell and meaning the place of the dead.  The psalmist mentioned "ascending" into heaven and “descending” into Sheol, which is inside the earth.  If God had meant that people are created inside of the earth, He would have used the word Sheol in verse 15.  Since He did not, the “lowest part” mentioned in verse 15 must refer to some place on the earth.  According to verse 13, that place is the womb of a woman!

The sixteenth verse of Psalm 139 uses the Hebrew word GOLEM (1564) for “substance.”  GOLEM means "embryo,” which is the new life in its most basic form.  It is yet unformed, just as the psalmist says.  We learn here precisely when life begins - not a moment before, nor a moment after the point of conception.  David attests to life commencing in the womb (spiritually and physically):  “The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  He clearly says that he had not lived one day before his embryonic genesis - in any form.  His spirit and soul and body all came into existence for the first time, in the womb (Job 10:12). 8  Proponents of pre-existence, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, claim that life began before the womb, but they don't say when it began, implying that we always existed.  This is a blasphemous conclusion in that it makes us equal to God Himself, who alone had no beginning.  Moreover, the Bible tells us in Genesis 1:26-31 that the human race began on the sixth day of creation (which was just six thousand years ago).

The answers to both when life began and when our names are written into the Book of Life are given in this Psalm.  The sixteenth verse of Psalm 139 verifies that our names are written into the Book of Life at the time of conception:

“Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed and in your book they all were written.”

Thus we see, (1) our names are written into the Book of Life at the time of conception, and (2) the moment of conception marks the beginning of life, the start of our existence in any form.  It is a good thing to rightly divide the Word of Truth.  By so doing, we will escape the manifold snares and deceptions of the evil one.


ENDNOTES  ___________________________

1.    See author's The Bible: What Is It? for an examination of seeming contradictions in the Bible.

Five point Calvinism” refers to the five fundamentals that John Calvin allegedly held to, the acronym of which is TULIP:
Total Depravity - Human beings are so affected by the negative consequences of original sin that they are incapable of being righteous, and are always and unchangeably sinful; human freedom is totally enslaved by sin so we can only choose evil.
Unconditional Election - Since human beings cannot choose for themselves, God by His eternal decree has chosen or elected some to be counted as righteous, without any conditions being placed on that election.
Limited Atonement - The effects of the Atonement, by which God forgave sinful humanity, is limited only to those whom He has chosen.
Irresistible Grace - The grace that God extends to human beings to effect their election cannot be refused, since it has been decreed by God.
Perseverance of the Saints - Since God has decreed the elect, and they cannot resist grace, they are unconditionally and eternally secure in that election.,
   
2.    The following scriptures further refute pre-determined/selective salvation and substantiate God’s desire “that all would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth:” Titus 2:11, John 3:16, Revelation 22:17, Isaiah 49:6; 55:1.

3.    Dr. Henry Morris, The Revelation Record, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1983), p. 451.

4.    lbid, p. 69.

5.    This is why many religious practices, such as Catholic Confirmation and the Jewish Bar Mitzvah require that young people embrace the faith they were raised in at the age of 13.  By so doing, they publicly, knowingly and deliberately affirm their belief in a false god/religion and thereby lose their place in the Book of Life.  Practices such as Confirmation and Bar Mitzvah actually mark the time when many names are blotted out of the Book of Life.  It is God's mercy that later reaches some with the truth of the Gospel, and thus re-entry into the Book of Life.

6.    The Gospel has already reached the entire world: Acts 2:5, 19:10, Romans 10:18; 16:26; Colossians 1:6, 23, 1 Thessalonians 1:8.

7.    Morris, p. 244.

8.    Job 4:19 states that our foundation begins with physical substance (“the dust”), indicating that our spirit did not exist before our bodies.  “Remember, I pray, that you have made me like clay.  And will you turn me into dust again?  Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?  You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit. . . Why then have you brought me out of the womb?  Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! I would have been as though I had not been.  I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.” (Job 10:9-12, 18, 19).

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