Will People Be Blotted Out of the Book of Life?

One of the most interesting (and terrifying) topics in the Bible is the Book of Life. If someone’s name is written in the book, they will go to heaven for eternity, and if their name is not written in the book, they will be thrown into the lake of fire. Beyond just this truth, there is also the yearning of prophets to have people’s names blotted out of the book, and even threats by God for people’s names to be wiped out. The major questions to answer in forming a biblical understanding of this topic are the following: (1) when were names written in the Book of Life, (2) whose names were written in the Book of Life, and (3) will believers names (or anyone's names) be blotted out?

In so far as I was able to obtain from my research, the Arminian view is that everyone’s name was written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world, those who will be saved and those who will ultimately die unsaved, and that someone’s name is only blotted out when they experience one of two things: (1) a judicial hardening (i.e., reprobation), or (2) they die without Christ after an age of accountability.

The Calvinist view agrees that the names are written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world, but where it differs is that it claims that only the names of those who are the elect are written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, which would mean that those who die without Christ were never in the Book of Life to begin with.

From my research, I could only find about twelve verses that speak to the Book of Life, and some of them don’t refer to it explicitly. You might see the phrase “the book of the living” or perhaps just “the book”. So, I will try my best to base my view on the verses that are the clearest and most explicit.

I was able to find six major truths pertaining to the Book of Life. I will go through them in what I believe to be a logical order (I have provided a summary chart below the references at the end of this paper if you would like to see or download it).

Truth #1: Believers Names are Written in the Book of Life
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Luke 10:20 (NASB2020) says, “20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Here we see Christ speaking to the seventy-two that He had sent out beforehand, they come back rejoicing that they were able to have power of demons, but Christ would rather them rejoice that their names are recorded in heaven. Here we see a direct statement that the followers of Christ, and I would say all believers in Christ, are recorded in Heaven. But where in Heaven are their names recorded?

Philippians 4:3 (NASB2020) tells us, “3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also, help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement as well as the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”

Here we see Paul speaking of his coworkers in the Gospel, which I would think have the same orientation of their hearts towards Christ, and here we see explicitly that their names are written in the Book of Life. From these verses, it appears that at least believers’ names are written in the Book of Life.

And if you think about it, if everyone's names are in the Book of Life as Arminianism might suggest, shouldn’t everyone rejoice? But Christ is clearly speaking to believers, they should rejoice because they have received the grace of salvation. There is a special record in Heaven for the believers, and I think it would make sense that the record Christ is referring to is also the Book of Life.

And in Revelation 21:27 (NASB2020), only those written in the book of life will enter the New Jerusalem, “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” So here we see even more evidence that it is the believers’ names that are written in the Book of Life, for why would unbelievers enter the New Jerusalem?

There are Other Books:
David writes in Psalm 139:16 (NASB2020),

“Your eyes have seen my formless substance;
And in Your book were written
All the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”

Here we see David expressing that His days were ordained by God in one of His books. To ordain can mean decreed or ordered. God decreed David's days before he lived them, and there is some record of these days already written. Perhaps this is a book in Heaven that records the decreed days everyone will live in their lifetime, but is it referring to the Book of Life?

One of the issues with verses that don't specifically say the Book of Life, is that there are multiple books to consider. And these other books will also be revealed one day, so sometimes it’s hard to tell if the author is talking about the Book of Life or another book.

For a place in the Bible where we see proof that there are numerous books, we can look to Revelation 20:12 (NASB2020), “12 Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

So there are multiple books that will be opened along with the Book of Life in the end. Perhaps David is referring to one of these other books in the Psalms. And since God has perfect foreknowledge of everything that will occur in someone’s lifetime, it is easy to see the possibility that the days David would live, and even the deeds he would do, could already be written before he was born in other books. If God chose to write them in beforehand, He certainly is capable of doing so, and Him writing them in beforehand clearly doesn’t mean that God forced David to commit any sins or do any evil. But it does clearly reveal God’s perfect foreknowledge.

Now, while we might not like to think of God ordaining, or decreeing, the number of days someone might live, the text does say that at least the days of David's life were ordained by God, and this was written before he was ever born.

So When We’re Believers Names Written in the Book of Life?

Ephesians 1:3-6 (NASB1995) tells us, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

From Ephesians we see that God predestined the saints. He made a divine election of those who would believe in Him. Paul tells us that this decision of God is akin to adoption. God chose to adopt us, just like a good father goes to an orphanage and adopts a child that is helpless and in need, so too did our Heavenly Father do that for us on Earth. And just as a good father might do in our world, God performed our adoption with the purest intentions, according to the good pleasure of His will, which is perfect and holy and blameless. And He did this for the glory of His grace, without reference to any work on our part. Thus, God performing this act of adoption glorifies Himself. And when did He make this loving, adoptive choice? Before the foundation of the world.

So, if God chose us before the foundation of the world to be adopted as sons, why would he write everyone’s name in the Book of Life, and then blot out almost everyone’s names when they become judicially hardened, or when they die without Him? It seems more likely to me that God, at least in His divine foreknowledge, would simply write the names of those whom he foreknew would come to saving faith (Arminianism); or, He would write in those whom He chose for adoption (Calvinism).

Truth #2: Membership in the Book of Life Means Eternal Life & Rescue

Daniel 12:1 (NASB2020) tells us, “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”

Here we see a reference to “the book”, and it says that those who are in it will be rescued. This doesn’t explicitly say book of life, but it appears to be referring to it. It’s possible that many of these Old Testament verses that say “the book” could be referring to the Book of Life, and if they are, it seems that they would be completely consistent with New Testament teaching on the Book of Life.

In Revelation 21:27 (NASB2020), as we saw before in reference to those who will enter the New Jerusalem, we see an explicit reference to the Book of Life, “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

From these verses we see that your name being in the Book of Life means eternal life as well as entry into the New Jerusalem, which I think forms a beautiful thread from the prophet Daniel, to Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, and to John with his writing of Revelation.

John Calvin himself, in his second commentary on the Book of Daniel, connects “the book” that the prophet Daniel mentions to divine election as outlined in Ephesians 1. He writes, “The word book refers to that eternal counsel of God, whereby he elected us and adopted us as his sons before the foundation of the world, as we read in the first chapter of Ephesians, (Ephesians 1:4.).”[1]

This connection of the Book of Life to God’s adoption and divine election (i.e., salvation), is a biblically justified linkage that is explicitly taught in Scripture.

Truth #3: God Promises Not to Blot Out the Names of Overcomers

Revelation 3:5 (NASB2020) says, “4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Here it says that those who overcome will not be blotted out, they will be confessed by Christ before the Father and before the angels. So, who will overcome?

According to 1st John 5:4 (NASB2020), “4 For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.”

Those who overcome are those who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ. So that means that true believers will not be blotted out; they simply will not do anything that would cause God to blot them out. But how is that possible?

Well, since Christ promises us that overcomers will not be blotted out, it makes sense that He will supernaturally preserve us in Him until the end. Christ will be the source of strength that causes us to persevere in the faith. This is consistent with what we read in John 6 and John 10 (as we will see later).

Truth #4: Threats & Calls for People’s Names to be Blotted Out

Exodus 32:31-33 (NASB2020) says, “31 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves! 32 But now, if You will forgive their sin, very well; but if not, please wipe me out from Your book which You have written!” 33 However, the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will wipe him out of My book.”

This is a threat from God to wipe out of His “book”. So if this is talking about the book of life, which I think it could be, then this is a real threat to wipe out someone’s name out of the book of life, otherwise, God wouldn't say it. But, we already see in Scripture that genuine believers will be preserved and will not be wiped out. So, then does this mean that everyone’s name is already written in, and God is going to judicially harden a group of unrepentant sinners? It’s possible, but all we know for sure is that this is a threat for names to be blotted out, but no record of names actually being blotted out.

Psalm 69:28 (NASB2020) explicitly refers to the Book of Life (in some translations), “May they be wiped out of the book of life, And may they not be recorded with the righteous.”

The KJV says the “book of the living”, but I think this is actually talking about the Book of Life, because this book is apparently where the righteous are recorded.

If it is the Book of Life, why does the writer desire that people’s names be wiped out? Does this mean that nonbelievers names are also written in there and could be blotted out? It would seem to suggest this, and this is where the Arminian reading seems to do a better job of explaining these verses than the Calvinistic reading, but let us go further together to see which view can make the best sense of all the Scripture on this topic.

Truth #5: Lack of Membership means Eternal Damnation

This truth is quite simple and all Christians appear to agree on this point, according to Revelation 20:15 (NASB2020), “15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

If your name’s not in there, you are going to eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

Truth #6: Those Who are Not in the Book Were Never in the Book

Revelation 13:8 (NASB2020) tells us, “8 All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.”

Here, John says that these individuals who worship the beast, their names have not been written since the foundation of the world in the Book of Life, meaning they were never written in the book to begin with. Now, here in the King James Version, the wording is quite different.

Revelation 13:8 (KJV), “8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

“Are not written” and “has not been written” can mean two different things. The former could be indicative of blotting out by God, while the latter would indicate that their names were never written in the Book of Life to begin with. Now, which translation is more accurate? The major contemporary translations read in line with the NASB2020, probably because most are based on the Nestle-Aland text, whereas the KJV is based on the few manuscripts used to compile the Textus Receptus.

Reading an explanation on the translation of Revelation 13:8 by a Reformed Baptist (who would certainly be biased to read the text a certain way), found that both translations have an argument that can be supported by the Greek and other similar Scripture, “Both are possibilities with support and an interpretation must be decided upon to translate this phrase. The first choice has appeal as it would be a parallel to 17:8 which implies that the elect were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world. However, the second option is also viable as paralleled in 1 Peter 1:19-20 and also because of its proximity to the phrase.”[2]

Just from reading Revelation 13:8 in isolation, you might come to different conclusions based on the translation you are reading, and as someone who doesn’t read Greek I couldn’t tell you which is better, but if you take Revelation 17:8 into consideration (in any translation), in my view, it is clear as to when names were written or not written. 

Revelation 17:8 (NASB2020) says, “8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will come.”

And the same verse in the King James Version says, “8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

No matter which translation you choose, both say in Revelation 17:8 that the names of those who are not in the book were either (1) “not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” or (2) “have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”. Which, I think these translations mean the exact same thing. When the Book of Life was written, the elect were written in, and those who were not elect were not written in.

Now, doesn’t this mean that God predestined some for salvation, and others for destruction, thereby eliminating the free will of man to choose God? Not necessarily. I think you could simply say that God in His foreknowledge wrote the names of those whom He foreknew would come to saving faith in Him, and those whom He foreknew would reject Him, He didn’t write their names down. It doesn’t necessarily mean that God chose certain individuals for salvation, although that is my personal conviction since God choosing us in Him before the foundation of the world is precisely what Ephesians 1 teaches us.

That’s a Lot of Blotting Out:

If God’s all knowing, why must he write in and blot out so many billions of names? I don't know how many people in the history of the Earth were genuine believers, but I would think it would be a very small fraction of everyone who has lived. If this is true, then the Book of Life is basically going to be >90% blotted out names with a small number of names sparingly throughout the book. It’ll mostly be white pages.

There have been an estimated 109 billion people who have lived and died on this Earth, added to those currently on the Earth, that number comes to 117 billion.[3] Let’s say Christ comes back when that number reaches 120 billion. What percentage of those will be saved?

If we're generous and 10% of the world’s population will accept Christ by that point, that means 12 billion people will be in the Book of Life, and 108 billion will be blotted out. To blot out means to make obscure, so I imagine that those pages could still be there, just the names would be smudged out or erased. That’s a lot of smudging and erasing for a God with perfect foreknowledge.

Why wouldn’t He just either write in accordance with His foreknowledge those whom He foreknew would be saved (which is still consistent with an Arminian soteriology), or simply write in the elect?

Now, to me it’s clear that God is the one who chose us in Him prior to us ever having lived on this Earth (Ephesians 1); those who ultimately will be lost never had their names written in the book of life to begin with (Revelation 17:8); those who are overcomers through faith (1st John 5:4) have their names written in the Book of Life, theirs will never be blotted out (Revelation 3:5), and theirs were written from the foundation of the world (Revelation 17:8).

Eternal Security & the Preservation of the Saints:

Some might say that the threats of God to blot a name out means genuine believers are capable of losing their salvation. But Scripture clearly promises overcomers will not be erased. And since we receive salvation by faith and not works, it doesn’t stand to reason that we would have to work to maintain something that we didn’t earn to begin with. Beyond this, we see in Scripture over and over again that God promises to preserve us in Him.

John 10:28 (NASB2020), “28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

No one can snatch us out of the hand of God, not even ourselves, and we will never perish. Praise be to God!

John 6:37-40 (NASB2020) says, “”37 Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.””

Jesus will never cast us out, and He will never blot us out (Revelation 3:5). But why wouldn’t He blot us out? Because everyone who the Father gives to the Son will come to the Son, and they will be raised up on the last day. That last part is often overlooked, but it's extremely important. He won’t blot us out because we have a promise from Him to raise us up on the last day; thus, we will be preserved in Him in this life and the next.

Hebrews 10:38-39 (NASB2020) says, “But My righteous one will live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith for the safekeeping of the soul."

We will clearly persevere in faith in Christ, because we (the saints) are not those who shrink back to destruction, we have faith in Christ for the safekeeping of our souls. And this perseverance we have is a product of God keeping us in Him, it's a gift.

So then why does Christ use the language of blotting out someone’s name if we will persevere in the end anyway? Why mention it if it’s not going to happen?

Perhaps this language is used to show us what we deserve outside of God’s grace in our lives. Outside of God’s gift to preserve us in Him, we would lose faith and be rightfully blotted out. But, in Christ, in our faith, we are overcomers.

God’s threats illuminate the contrast of how bad it could be with how great our God’s saving grace and undeserved love is towards us. He doesn’t have to bring us to Heaven. He doesn’t have to save us. He doesn’t have to preserve us in Him. But He does!

Psalm 115:3 (NASB2020) says, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

He is not forced to do anything; He can do whatever He pleases in Heaven and on Earth, yet He freely chooses to bestow on us a divine perseverance that we do not deserve, to keep us from doing what might cause us to be removed from the Book of Life, because the threats for blotting out are in Scripture and they are real.

John Piper said it best, “Being in the book [of life], having your name in the book, keeps you from doing what would get you erased from the book if you did it - like worshipping the beast…. So the message for us is this: Never, never, never be cavalier or trifling about your perseverance. God uses real warnings to keep us vigilant and to keep us persevering.”[4]

I find this similar to what we see in Matthew 24:23-27 (NASB2020), “23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

This is a real warning to prepare us for the reality that false christs and false prophets will inevitably come to mislead us, but it doesn’t say that genuine believers with genuine faith (the elect) will actually be misled. In fact, it says the opposite, that they will attempt to mislead, if possible, even the elect. But that isn’t possible! A genuine follower of Christ hears the voice of the Shepard and won’t follow another (John 10:1-5). We may fall into sin, but we won’t switch sides, lose our faith completely, and worship a false Christ, a false prophet, or the Antichrist. We will persevere in the faith, and only because God will keep us in Him. Soli Deo Gloria!

With all things considered, I believe it is fully consistent with Scripture to believe that only the elect of God are written in the Book of Life, these were written before the foundation of the world, and these will never be blotted out. It's a beautiful testament to God’s election, love, and foreknowledge.

Cite: Faucett, D. (2024). Will People Be Blotted Out of the Book of Life? Science Faith and Reasoning. Retrieved from: https://www.scifr.com/articles/will-believers-names-be-blotted-out-of-the-book-of-life​ 

References:
1. Calvin, J. (1552). Commentary on Daniel – Volume 2. Pg. 229. Retrieved from https://www.biblestudyguide.org/ebooks/comment/calcom25.pdf 
2. Revelation 13 Translation – What does the original text reveal? | THEOTIVITY. (2021, August 19). https://www.theotivity.com/post/revelation-13-translation/
3. How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth? | Corrections Environmental Scan. (n.d.). Info.nicic.gov. Retrieved May 7, 2024, from https://info.nicic.gov/ces/global/population-demographics/how-many-people-have-ever-lived-earth-0
4. Piper, J. (2016). Can I Be Blotted from the Book of Life? Desiring God. Audio transcript retrieved from https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/can-i-be-blotted-from-the-book-of-life

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Daniel T. Faucett

M.S. Biology
​Director of Science Faith & Reasoning
Host of Science Faith & Reasoning podcast and Coffee With John Calvin podcast