Is it possible for a person’s name to be erased from the Book of Life?

Answer

Revelation 22:19 states, “And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the book of life, and in the holy city, and in the things written in this book” (KJV). This verse is often discussed in the debate about eternal security. Does Revelation 22:19 imply that once a person’s name is inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life, it can later be removed? In other words, can a Christian forfeit their salvation?

Firstly, Scripture clearly states that a genuine believer is securely kept by God’s power, sealed until the day of redemption «And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. », (Ephesians 4:30), and that all those given by the Father to the Son will not be lost «And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. », (John 6:39). Jesus Christ declared, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29b). Salvation is the work of God, not ours «not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; », (Titus 3:5).

If the individuals mentioned in Revelation 22:19 are not believers, who could they be? In other words, who might seek to alter the words of the Bible by either adding to or subtracting from them? This distortion of God’s Word is likely not carried out by genuine believers but by individuals who claim to be Christians and assume that their names are recorded in the Book of Life. Generally, the two primary groups that have historically interfered with God’s revelation are pseudo-Christian cults and those who adhere to extremely liberal theological views. Many cults and theological liberals profess to follow Christ, yet they are not truly “born again”—the definitive biblical term for a Christian.

The Bible provides various instances of individuals who believed they were believers but were ultimately proven to be false. In John 15, Jesus describes them as branches that did not abide in Him, the true Vine, and consequently did not bear fruit. Their falseness is evident because “by their fruits you shall know them” «Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? », (Matthew 7:16,20) «Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. », (Matthew 7:16,20); genuine disciples will manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them «But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, », (Galatians 5:22). In 2 Peter 2:22, false professors are likened to dogs returning to their vomit and a sow that “after washing herself returns to wallow in the mire” (ESV). The fruitless branch, the dog, and the pig symbolize those who claim to possess salvation but in reality have nothing beyond their own self-righteousness.

It is the grace of God that individuals should rely upon, not the righteousness of Christ that truly saves. It is doubtful that those who have repented of their sin and been born again would willingly tamper with God’s Word in this way—adding to it or taking from it. Purposefully corrupting God’s Word reveals a lack of faith.

There is another important consideration about the meaning of Revelation 22:19, and it involves translation. Most manuscripts do not even mention the “book of life”; instead, they have “tree of life.” Here is how Revelation 22:19 reads in the NIV: “If anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” Other translations with “tree” instead of “book” are the NASB, ESV, NLT, HCSB, ISV, NET, and ASV, among others. The KJV stands nearly alone in translating it as the “book” of life. The error arose when Erasmus, in compiling his Greek text, was forced to translate the last six verses of Revelation from the Latin Vulgate into Greek. The “tree” became a “book” because a scribe had accidentally replaced the Latin lingo (“tree”) with libro (“book”). All translations that follow the Textus Receptus, such as the KJV, thus incorrectly say “book” instead of “tree” of life.

Arguing for the “tree of life” translation instead of the “book of life” translation are two other verses in the same chapter: Revelation 22:2 and 14. Both mention the “tree of life” and the “city” together, the same as verse 19 does. Also, the word portion or share is significant. The one who corrupts the Word of God will be deprived of access to the tree of life, despite whatever claim he thinks he has to that fruit.

Revelation 3:5 is another verse that impacts this issue. “He who overcomes . . . I will never blot out his name from the book of life.” The “overcomer” mentioned in this letter to Sardis is the Christian. Compare this with 1 John 5:4: “Everyone who is born of God overcomes the world.” And verse 5: “Who is he.”

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, dear children, because you know the Father.”, (See also 1 John 2:13:) All believers are “overcomers” as they have been given victory over the sin and disbelief of the world.

Some individuals interpret Revelation 3:5 as an image of God’s pen poised, prepared to erase the name of any Christian who sins. They infer something along these lines: “If you make a mistake and fail to achieve victory, then you will lose your salvation! In fact, I will remove your name from the Book of Life!” However, this is NOT the message of the verse. Jesus is offering a promise here, not a threat.

Nowhere in Scripture does it state that God will remove a believer’s name from the Lamb’s Book of Life—there is not even a hint that He is considering it! The marvelous assurance of Revelation 3:5 is that Jesus will NOT erase someone’s name. Addressing the “overcomers”—all those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb—Jesus pledges that He will not erase their names. He confirms that once a name is inscribed, it remains there eternally. This is founded on God’s faithfulness.

The pledge of Revelation 3:5 is aimed at believers who are secure in their salvation. In contrast, the admonition of Revelation 22:19 is aimed at unbelievers who, instead of changing their hearts towards God, seek to alter God’s Word to suit their desires. Such individuals will be deprived of the right to eat from the tree of life.