Book of Life
5 min read
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 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. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15
The new creation begins with Christ. There is no place for the old creation when Christ returns. And if I am a new creation in Christ, there ought to be no place for the things of this world in me. And yet I so often find myself driven by the things of the world rather than Christ. What hope do I have except to trust in Christ—to trust that He will make me a new creation, even if there is little evidence in me that that is so?
One way to think about this text is that the books are not necessarily a ledger of all our deeds. Rather, the books represent the books of Scripture, and we are judged according to our deeds up against what has been revealed to us in Scripture. Of course, that doesn’t get us off the hook with regard to our deeds (or rather, misdeeds). In fact, Scripture is the rubric by which our deeds are judged.
The gospel unfolds in Scripture with a tension between faith and works. And it is true that faith without works is not really true faith (James 2:17, 26). But it is also true that what matters more is faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Faith guides our conscience. And while we can clearly see the sins that we commit because of faith, we can confidently repent of our sins also because of faith—even if we have repented for the same sins 10,000 times.
Should we then continue in our sin in order to prove the grace of God? No way (Romans 6:1, 15). But because we continue to sin (1 John 1:8), God’s grace must overcome our sin (Romans 5:20-21). I cannot trust myself to overcome my sin. My hope is Christ alone. That is my faith.
Father, Forgive me for my sins. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your mercy, born of Your grace. Your word is a testimony of Your grace and the faith that saves me. May my name never be blotted out from the book of life. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
