Can't Be Erased From The Book of Life

Does God's pencil have an eraser? This is the question we ask the Securist, and the response is, NO! God wrote our names in the Book of Life at the beginning of time and therefore if your name is in it, you are eternally secure.

"He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life." Revelation 3:5 

Our first point to counter the Securist is Revelation 3:5. Jesus is talking of those that overcome not having their name erased from the Book of Life. By implication, a logical mind would accept that if Jesus says He will not erase a name from the book, then He must possess the power to erase names. And if He possesses the power to do so, then it should logically follow that it can be done. If true, the Securist is applying a form of legalism to demand that God CAN NOT erase a name. Too bad for the Securist that man can not be the one to dictate to God, but God is one that dictates to man. 

For the Securist to state that the verse doesn't imply that a name can be erased also leaves the question of what the verse must mean. It would be entirely fruitless for God to have given this scripture only to fill space on a Bible page. To NOT assume that your name can be erased leaves the verse lifeless and without meaning other than knowing that those that overcome will be clothed in white garments. 

Jeff Paton made a very good analogy in his refutation of Charles Stanley's book in which he states, "If these words do not have any application whatsoever, God might as well have written that if we overcome, He will not dress up in a Bozo suite and jump up and down on us while wearing golf shoes!"

The next hurdle to overcome is the Securist's claim that these names were written at the foundation of the world, but the Bible doesn't state this.

"And who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has Not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." Revelation 13:8

"And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world." Revelation 17:8

If you will notice, the verses do not read "at the foundation", they read "from the foundation". So what's the significance of this? The word "from" does not denote a point in time as the word "at" does. If God had meant for us to understand that names were written in the book AT the foundation of the world, don't you think the inspired writer would have chosen a word that would better be rendered as "at" rather than "from"? In fact, the Greek word rendered "from" is apo, and does not carry the idea of "at". It is logically possible that the meaning of these verses denote that God has continually added and/or removed names from the book of life SINCE the foundation of the world. FROM denoting a starting point of an action that has continued up until the present and shall continue into the future.

So far, we can easily debate and refute the Securist's claims as to when the names are written and whether they can be erased. But why would we assume that the names are written during the course of time and can be erased? LOGIC. Logically it makes total and absolute sense to approach it in this manner. Let's look at the reasoning.

The first verse given above (Revelation 3:5) is dealing with a promise to those that overcome. The first half of the verse tells what they will receive and the second tells what they will avoid. This is a promise, if we overcome, we will not be blotted out of the book. But in order to be blotted out, we must first be IN the book. If we AREN'T in the book, then we aren't saved and our names would not be found there anyway, so this verse MUST be dealing with believers. And as we've already stated, it is logically implied that if Jesus says He won't blot us out, then He must have the power to do so, and if He has the power to do so, then it must be possible!

Another thing to consider is that most Securist are walking into contradiction by claiming "no eraser". These same Securist's profess (and I concur) that children are not held responsible for their sins until they reach an age of accountability. They are covered by the atonement. If this is true, and most Securist's agree that it is, then all children must have their name written in the book of life. And if they are no longer covered by the atonement when they reach the age of accountability, then their names must be erased from the book until they accept Christ. Here lies the contradiction. How can the Securist claim that names can not be removed from the book of life and yet believe that children are covered until the age accountability. If the names were placed in the book at the foundation of the world, as they claim, never to be added to or removed, then how do these names get deleted from the book? If we can't enter into heaven unless our name is in the book and if all children have their names in the book, and if names can NOT be erased, how then can anybody NOT make it into heaven. Don't forget, you were once a child, your name was in the book, if your name was already in the book doesn't it stand to reason that your faith is not needed. If it were, then ALL people should have faith in Jesus since ALL people must have their name in the book. The Securist is once again flirting with Universalism.

It's pretty easy to see that the manmade doctrines of the Securist, at least in this case, don't stand up to any logical scrutiny, yet the Securist fights tooth and nail to protect them. And in this case, they are fighting to protect a doctrine derived from one of the most misunderstood books in the Bible. May God open our eyes to the truth in His word.

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