God wished that all would be saved so everyone's name was written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Names are only blotted out when someone refuses Jesus Christ. This is why we don't see any Scripture that says, "your names are added to the book" and you don't see any Scripture that says names that were blotted out were added back.
When Christ changes us into a new creation we are a completely different person and our names will never be blotted out.
Luke 10:20
"Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Psalm 67:27-28 "…27 Add iniquity to their iniquity; let them not share in Your righteousness. 28 May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not listed with the righteous."
Revelation 3:5
"Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels."
Hebrews 6:5-6 "…4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Those who have been in church all their lives, having tasted the good fruit but did not eat it, are the pretenders. They knew the gospel, walked with those who were born again but were never born again themselves.
These were the Judas of the world who have been with believers but have no interest in being changed into a new creation by Christ. These people are even used of the devil to disrupt the gathering of believers through false doctrine and contention. Sadly the number in this group is far more than those who have authentically trusted in Christ and have been changed by Him. They come in speaking the right things some of the time to confuse people.
Hebrews 10:29
"29 How much more severe punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?"
We are living in an apostate age in which many people think all they have to do is "say" they are Christian and everyone else should just believe them.
God makes it clear that we are to test the spirits of people to see if they walk with God. Judas was proven to be a pretender, Christ said he was a "devil", meaning he was controlled by the devil and yet the other apostles didn't know it.
When Christ said "one of you is a devil," they asked Him, "is it I, Lord." Judas looked just like them, he was even the treasurer of the group, and yet he was controlled and motivated by the devil. The apostles didn't know who the devil was even though they spent much time with him.
We live in an age when the Holy Spirit lives in us, we can know what He knows.
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
God told us we can know who the pretenders are by their fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Matthew 7:16-18 "…16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.…"
Those who love the Lord and have been changed by Him will live a lifestyle of goodness. When they mess up it is out of weakness not hate. They hate that they have displeased God and desire to make it right through confession and forgiveness.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
One who is a pretender is not sorry for their hate and rudeness, they justify it and even demonstrate pride that allows them to blame others for their own sin.
Those who have been born again no longer think the way they thought before Christ changed them. They hate the evil in the world and have empathy for those who need to be saved from their sin and hell.
If there is no desire to see souls saved there probably isn't salvation in the heart of the one who claims to be a Christian.
Those who have confessed their sinfulness desiring to be changed by Christ want very much for others to experience the same blessing. We know the amazing peace, purpose, and inheritance we have when we have trusted Christ and we want everyone we know to have the same thing, so we pray for them. We cannot hate someone for whom we are praying.
May the Lord bless those who have been cleansed by the knowledge of the love Christ has for them. May those who have not yet trusted Christ, may the Lord bring many things into their lives that will help them see their need for Him.
There is nothing more important than a person's salvation, eternity is far longer than this short life on earth.
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