There are all sorts of documents that contain our names. Our names are recorded on our birth certificates, deeds, loans, bank accounts, credit cards, medical records, and any documents of importance. Our names are usually the first words we learn to write.
The most vital record of our name is mentioned in Luke 10:20. Jesus is speaking to his followers. He had just appointed 70 men to go before Him into the cities He would soon go through. They were to preach the gospel. In verse 20, Jesus encourages them not to focus on the things that are about to happen. Not to focus on the powers He has blessed them with but to keep the big picture in mind. Their names would now be written in Heaven! Jesus tells them this is a great reason to rejoice.
Luke 10:20 “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:1 “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.”
The most important place our names can be recorded is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Jesus Christ is the Lamb. He was slain for our sins, and it is only through Him that we can have eternal life. According to Revelation 21:27, no one will enter Heaven unless He has entered their name into His book.
Revelation 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
In Revelation 3:5, we see those whom Jesus honors because they have remained faithful and overcome the temptations of this world. They will be clothed in white raiment, and their names will remain forever in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He will present them before His Father and the angels as they enter Heaven. He promises those who stay true to Him that He will not blot out their names.
Revelation 3:5 “He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
Some may say it is impossible to lose your salvation, but scripture refutes that belief in many places. In I Timothy 4:1, Paul speaks of a time when some will depart from their faith and turn back to the devil. In Hebrews 4:4-6, the writer speaks of those who once knew Christ and turned away. He says that they can no longer be renewed once they denounce their faith. In Hebrews 10:26-29, we see those who have gone back to living a habitual lifestyle of sin, a life that trampled the grace of God and could no longer have their names written down as God’s child. They would be blotted out. In II Peter 2:20-22, we see that those who once tasted the salvation of their souls, experienced true salvation, and allowed themselves to become entangled in sin and overcome, they too will no longer have their name in the Book of Life. These are some sobering passages that many do not want to accept. They look for ways to refute them and figure out how they have been misinterpreted. They use verses like Romans 8:29, which talk about things that cannot separate us from the love of God. We should all be thankful that there is nothing outside of ourselves that can change our position with God. However, this is not a blanket covering to live as we please and think all is well with our souls. We could remove ourselves from God if we chose. God gives us a free will, just as He did Adam and Eve. This verse teaches us the depths of God’s love. He loves those who deny Him. However, loving them does not grant them a home in Heaven. We have a choice: we can reject that love and send our souls to Hell, or we can accept His Son, Jesus, as our Lord and Savior and go to Heaven. While we don’t want to believe our names can be blotted out, they can.
I Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”
Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Hebrews 10:26-29 “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remained no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
II Peter 2:20-21 “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
Romans 8:39 “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So, where is your name written? The most important thing you can do is make sure it is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that it stays there. We serve a merciful, long-suffering God who loves us. He wishes no one to perish. He wants our names recorded so we will spend eternity with Him, but it is up to us. We all have a sinful nature, and we will fail, but when we do, we need to repent and keep our hearts in tune with God.
