Is your name written in God's book?

Is your name written in God's book?   The bible mentions the Lamb's book of life directly two times.   What is the Lamb's book of life you ask?   It is the book in which everyone's name who has accepted the gift of eternal life from Jesus is written.  

Revelation 20:15 tells us that "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." I would call the book of life a pretty important book to make sure your name is in. In fact, I would say it is THE MOST IMPORTANT book to be sure your name is written in.

To reinforce what is said in Revelation 20:15, Revelation 21:27 goes on to say: "Nothing impure will ever enter it (Heaven), nor will anyone who does what is shameful and deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Revelation 20:12 gives us a view into the judgement that is to come - "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works.

You may be sitting back and saying "Wait a minute!   I am a good person!   I just went to church last week!   I don't drink or smoke, I don't curse or use the Lord's name in vain!  In fact, I volunteer and the local homeless shelter, food pantry, all the time!   Are you telling me that I still won't get into heaven?"   

In short, if all you are relying on is being a good person to get into heaven, then I am saying that you will fall short.  Works alone are not enough.  You see, Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."   So, to go with your good works, you also have to have faith and believe in Jesus and follow Jesus to be accepted into Heaven.  

Matthew 19:16-24 says the following:

"Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?  Why do you ask me about what is good?  Jesus replied, There is only One who is good.  If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.  Which ones?  he inquired.

Jesus replied: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and lover your neighbor as yourself.

All these I have kept, the young man said, What do I still lack?

Jesus answered, If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come follow me.

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

This doesn't mean that you have to sell everything and be homeless to follow Jesus and gain entry into heaven.   In my opinion what Jesus is getting at here is similar to what I touched on in the post "What is success?"   as Jesus told us in Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   Jesus knew that the individual loved his wealth and status and would never be able to put his relationship with Him (Jesus) first.  Jesus doesn't just want part of us, he wants ALL of us.  

Oswald Chamber's wrote in "Jesus wants all of me" - "God doesn't care how good we act on the outside.  He doesn't care how many nice things we have.  He just wants us to be like Jesus.  He doesn't want any of us to keep our lives closed up like a bottle with the top on.  He wants us to take the top off and pour ourselves out.   He wants us to share ourselves."

When you look at the life of Jesus, he came to serve and set an example of us all as well as to provide us THE path to salvation.   Jesus didn't close himself off and only pay attention to those who followed him.   He came to the sinners.   He didn't recoil when a prostitute came to him looking for help/forgiveness (Luke 7:36-50), He also didn't run the other way when someone with leprosy asked to be healed (Matthew 8).   

You see, Jesus came to save sinners - not run from them.  This is stated in Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."  That is something we all loose site of from time to time.   To lead other people to Jesus, we have to be the examples of Jesus' love.   We have to let the light shine from within us.   We have to stop looking down our noses at others and chose to love them and help lead them to Jesus.   Until we begin using Jesus as an example of how to live our lives again, we will continue to push people away from Jesus!

Having said all of that, I want to leave you with this.   We are all sinners and required God's grace.   Even those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior are not perfect.   We are still sinners and still mess up - just like everyone else.   The big difference is we have a relationship with Jesus and recognize that we must confess our sins and ask forgiveness.  

If you haven't yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I strongly encourage you to do so.   Salvation is the work of God.  It came through Jesus by the shedding of his blood on the cross:

John 3:17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Romans 5:9 - Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

Those who experience salvation are given eternal life as a gift of grace they receive by faith:

Ephesians 2:5 - ...made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

This gift comes because of Gods mercy, not as a result of human effort.

2 Timothy 1:9 - He saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace.  This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 

Titus 3:5 - ... He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

The gift of eternal life is just that - a gift.   It is given to us freely and out of love.  It is up to each of us to make a decision regarding if we will accept God's gift.   So I leave you with these questions - is your name written in God's book of life?   If not, what stands in the way and are those things that are in the way worth you soul?

Romans 8:11 - And if the spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His spirit who lives in you.