Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Who knows? | Rev 21:27 | Morant61 | 7372 | ||
Greetings Charis! I appreciated your comments! There is nothing wrong with being firm in one's beliefs. However, we all too often become dogmatic on things that Scripture is not dogmatic about. The "book of life" occurs six times in the book of Revelation. They are: 1) Rev. 3:5 - "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels." 2) Rev. 13:8 - "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world." 3) Rev. 17:8 - "The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come." 4) Rev. 20:12 - "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." 5) Rev. 20:15 - "If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." 6) Rev. 21:27 - "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." There are only a couple of statements of fact that can be made from these references. a) The "book of life" is more than just the "book of the living." I have heard some say that the "book of life" is nothing more than a list of those who are or have been alive. However, the references above make it pretty clear that it refers to a list of believers. (How a believer is listed in the book is not explained!) b) Those who are listed in the book will not worship the Beast. c) Those whoare listed in the book will not be astonished (like the world) when the Beast appears. d) The "book of life" will be instrumental at judgement in some fashion. e) Those who are not listed in the "book of life" will face eternity in hell. f) Only those recorded in the "book of life" will enter the Kingdom of God. This seems to be about all that can dogmatically be said about the "book of life." Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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2 | Who knows? | Rev 21:27 | kalos | 7379 | ||
Tim: Thank you for providing us with relevant and enlightening scripture references and for sharing with us your excellent observations. May I just add the following: Rev 3:5 "Book of Life." A divine journal records the names of all those whom God has chosen to save and who, therefore, are to possess eternal life ( Rev 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27,: 22:19; compare Dan 12:1; Luke 10:20). Under no circumstances will He erase those names . . . , as city officials often did of undesirable people on their roles. (MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1996) Phil 4:3. "Book of Life." In eternity past, God registered all the names of His elect in that book which identifies those inheritors of eternal life . . . (MacArthur Study Bible, p. 1828). When were our names written in the book of life? "From the foundation of the world." Before the first man was ever born, the names of the elect were written in the book of life. Rev 17:8 NASB "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 dwell on the earth, whose name has 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." Rev 13:8 (NASB) All 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. "Lamb slain". The Lord Jesus who died to purchase the salvation of those whom God had chosen was fulfilling an eternal plan. "from the foundation of the world". According to God's eternal, electing purpose before creation, the death of Christ seals the redemption of the elect forever (compare Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28). Antichrist can never take away the salvation of the elect. The eternal registry of the elect will never be altered, nor will the saved in the Antichrist's day worship him. (MacArthur Study Bible, p. 2010) |
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3 | Who knows? | Rev 21:27 | Morant61 | 7384 | ||
Greetings JVHO212! Since we approach the issue of election from different perspectives, I'm sure that we would not agree on how the names are written in the Book of life. However, we can definitely both agree that there is a tremendous amount of confidence that comes from knowing that nothing can remove us from God's grace. Charis made an excellent point earlier when He asked (to paraphrase) what practical use is this issue. Here is one answer to that question: To give us assurance that our salvation is in God's hands, not the Anti-Christ's. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | Arminian view of Called Rm 8:30? | Rev 21:27 | Chris | 7398 | ||
Hey Tim, I wanted to ask some questions about the Arminian view. I will be focusing my comments on Romans 8:29-30. I want to clarify some definitions according to this view: Foreknowledge (v29) - GOD knowing before hand who would be justified before Him through accepting Jesus Christ (believer’s acceptance) and who would be damned based upon their rejection of Jesus Christ. Correct? Called (v30) - Divine Call unto Salvation? (Strong’s #2564) I know that the word is used in Matthew 22:14 as ‘invited,’ but in Paul’s writing, how is this word defined? Do you believe this ‘call’ is revocable, as used in 8:29-30? I have always been bent toward freewill, and I probably always will be, but what I don’t understand is, if GOD foreknew who would choose Him of their own freewill, why did He ‘call’(2564) them(us)? And, if #2564 as Paul uses it is a ‘Divine Call’ unto Salvation, wouldn’t the fact that GOD ‘called’ all He foreknew still lead us to the conclusion of Eternal Security? GOD foreknows who will remain faithful to the end, but He only ‘calls’ those who do finish the course. So, wouldn’t the folks who fall short not be ‘Genuine Christians’ because they were never ‘called’ by GOD? As I’ve mentioned before, I am an Election/Responsibility person. As I understand it, this view fully recognizes man’s responsibility considering the unlimited atonement of Christ and the clear teaching that ‘whosoever will’ can be saved. This view completely rejects the idea of GOD predetermining some to hell, if someone goes to hell s/he holds the blame. However, this view also recognizes the Sovereignty of GOD in the Election of the saints (personal and corporate). How these two truths come together is beyond our realm of comprehension, but they are both clearly taught in Scripture (according to this view:-). |
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5 | Arminian view of Called Rm 8:30? | Rev 21:27 | Morant61 | 7432 | ||
Greetings Charis! You have asked some great and indepth questions here. I do not approach the Romans the way that most Arminians do, but I will try to lay out my understanding of Romans in general (Part One) and then address your specific questions (Part Two). I believe that Paul was not writing a compendium of his theology in Romans, but specifically dealing with the issue of why the Jewish people were not accepting Christ, and why Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. After all, the Messiah was a covenant promise to the nation of Israel. If Christ is the Messiah, why weren't the people of Israel coming to Him in faith? Were God's promises to Israel false? If God's promises did not hold true for Israel, then what assurance could Gentiles have that God would be true to them? Had God rejected Israel in extending the Gospel to the Gentiles? The great scholar F. F. Bruce once said of this situation, "..it was a paradox, not to say a scandal, that the very nation which had been specially prepared by God for this time of fulfillment, the nation which could glory in so many unique privileges of divine grace (including above all the messianic hope), the nation into which in due course the Messiah had been born, should have failed to recognize him when he came, while men and women of other nations, which had never enjoyed such privileges, embraced the gospel eagerly the first time they heard it. How could this be harmonized with God's choice of Israel and his declared purpose of blessing the world through Israel?" (Quoted from Beasley-Murray, G. R. "The Righteousness of God in the History of Israel and the Nation: Romans 9-11". Review and Expositor 73. April 1976, pp. 437-438.) These questions lead to what I believe is the thesis of Romans: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Romans 1:16) This phrase or a variation of it is repeated in: Rom. 2:9, 2:10, 3:9, 3:29, and 10:12. I believe Romans 1-11, in particular, is an attempt to answer the question of the relationship between the Gentiles and Israel within God's plan of salvation. With this in mind, I would roughly outline Romans in the following way. I. Introduction and thesis: Romans 1:1-18. II. Gentiles and God's wrath: Romans 1:19-32. III. Jews and God's wrath: Romans 2:1-29. IV. All under God's wrath: Romans 3:1-20. V. The Gift of Salvation: Romans 3:21-31. VI. Salvation through Faith: Romans 4:1-8:39. VII. God's Plan for Israel: Romans 9:1-11:36 VIII. Concluding Remarks to the church: Romans 12:1-16:27. This is only a very broad outline. The main point that I am making is simply this: Election cannot be understood outside of the context of the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles in salvation. Every great "Election" passages deals with this issue in it's context. Cont. in Part II Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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