Revelation 22:19 and Eternal Security?

[SoldierOfTheRock]

Ok, you guys deff. know more than I do.
I thank you for the help at the other post. Here is another wierd question.

Revelation 22:19 states "And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book."

It may be that I am missing something, because it seems from Rev. 17:8 that the book was written before the foundation of the world. In Rev. 3:5 it states that God will not Blot a beleivers name out of the book.

Does this mean that a truly saved person can not change or add to the word of God. But, even at that an unsaved person would not be written in the book in the first place right?

I also understand that some texts do not have "book of life" but rather "tree of life." I tend to go with the Received Text myself so it would be a shock to take what the other texts say. If there were enough evidence then I would have to go back and research the texts again, but thats another topic.

Maybe I am getting the two books mixed up. There is the Lamb's Book of Life, and the Book of the Living. I would love if someone would explain this to me.

Thanks

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

This question is not limited to your question above because it houses all sorts of things you have to think thorugh, again. (I know I know thinking takes work...but hey).

Things to think about -

God is spirit - does he really have his very own library?

The Greek for "blot" means "as if it were never there". how does this apply to God blotting somoene out of a book?

Is Revelation a book to interpret literally in this way? If the book is literal, why not a big red dragon too?

Election is not overthrown by an illustrative connotation of blotting from a book.

Brief history: when a papyrus paper is written on, and you make a mistake, there is the "attempted" ability of blotting out the ink VERY quickly before it sets in order to save the document from having a mistake. Jews did not put up with that. They simply burned the scroll and started over again (even if they were three words form the end of the scroll). So when the Psalmist says "blott out my transgressions" or Revelation says "blotted" out of the book of life, you have think about the bigger picture of what God actually does in these matters. He is the only one who can take away sin (i.e. blot out sin that woudl regularly be humanly impossible, even as blotting out an ink stain from a papyrun roll.) Or he blots out of the book of life (i.e. as if he was never written in). maybe these are false professors in covenant with God. Maybe they are people who think they are saved and think they are written in the book. Just remember not to be "too" literalistic in an apocalypic book in this case. otherwise we woudl be looking for big bugs that sting us, and dragons coming up out of the sea with seven heads and ten horns...

 

[sundoulos]

Didn't Hal Lindsey say those bugs were actually helicopters?

:biggrin:

[Edited on 3-30-2004 by sundoulos]

 

[andreas]

***Does this mean that a truly saved person can not change or add to the word of God. But, even at that an unsaved person would not be written in the book in the first place right? ***

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." Rev 22:18-19

The Bible was completed with the book of Revelation about 95 A.D. God declared there would be no more revelation ,and also,

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Deut. 4:2

Everything has finished,there is no more to be added to the word of God,and conversely there is nothing to be taken away.People that are adding or taking away ,to the word ,are the false prophets ,and they will be blotted out of the book of life,which contains both the possessors and the professors.
andreas.