A
brother asks, “Since we, Calvinists, believe that God predestinated
some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation to the glory of His
rich mercy and just power (Rom. 9:22-23), what does God mean when He
refers to some as being blotted out of His book (of life)?”
Next
follow the three texts to which the reader refers. “And Moses returned
unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and
have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—;
and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast
written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me,
him will I blot out of my book” (Ex. 32:31-33).
“He that
overcometh, 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” (Rev. 3:5).
“And if any
man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy
city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:19).
The
Arminians are fond of appealing to these passages and others like them
to prove their terrifying doctrine of the falling away of true saints. I
remember talking to a lady once who was brought up in Arminian circles
who told me that she had accepted Christ at least six times and had been
baptized three times, because every time she had accepted Christ,
though she was sincere, she had fallen away again.
Such nonsense
is contradicted by Scripture in John 10:27-30, a passage, by the way,
that convinced the lady with whom I spoke that there could be no falling
away of a true saint. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,
which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” Another passage
is Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ.” Thus the Arminian denial of the preservation of the saints
would rob the child of God of all his comfort.
The expression in
Scripture, “the book of life,” is indeed the book God writes that
contains in it the names of all the elect. It is written before the
foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). The reader is correct in his
assumption that the reference is to the doctrine of eternal election.
But we must remember that it is a figurative expression. We must not
think of it in earthly terms, as if God really has a book on some
bookshelf, and in it are the names of all those whom He saves, and which
book He consults from time to time to refresh His memory as to whom He
must save. The expression is a very graphic way of referring to the
truth of sovereign election, according to which God has determined
eternally in Christ who are His people and who are not.
The
references to God blotting people out of His book of life look at the
term from the point of view of the church here in the world. Generally
speaking, the church, which bears the marks of the true church (Belgic Confession
29), is composed of elect. But there are in the church those who, while
they claim to be elect and to have their names written in God’s book of
life are, nevertheless, not in that book at all.
Thus Moses, as
an Old Testament type of Christ as mediator of God’s people, tells
Jehovah that he wants so badly to have His people go to heaven that he
is willing to go to hell to gain that end. That is, of course,
impossible, but it tells us of the greatness of Moses concern for the
people of God. It is a great confession on Moses’ part and one that few
ministers, if any, would dare to make. But Christ did!
Where God
points out great sins that are or might be committed by men in the
church, He accompanies the description of these sins with this warning:
“Those who do these things will be blotted out of My book.” That is,
their names were never in that book, for they are not elect; but they
claim to be elect and claim to be on their way to heaven. They claim to
have their names written in the book of life. But they shall learn that
the sins that they commit deprive them of heaven and show that they are
not truly God’s people. This terrible threat is uttered to these wicked
people that their just punishment is hell, and so they are urged to
repent.
This is the meaning of these texts. The doctrine of
election is a great comfort to the believing child of God, but knowing
that our names are written in the book of life does not make us careless
and profane. It rather brings us to our knees in humble thanksgiving
for our heavenly Father’s rich mercy towards us in Christ Jesus.
Covenant Reformed News - September 2014
http://www.cprf.co.uk/crnews.htm
http://www.cprf.co.uk/
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