Originally posted by josephw
That the Book of Works is a record of good deeds is news to me.
They that stand before the throne, great and small, are all that died in their sin. Correct?
Those that trusted Christ are not the objects of the judgement at the Great White Throne at the end of the millennium. I've always understood that the Book of Works is a record of all the things done by the unsaved that constitutes unrighteousness for which they recieve a just punishment.
The Book of Life
"The book of life mentioned in Philippians 4:3 and Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8,
20; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19 is one thing in eternity past and one thing in time and
something different in eternity future.
In eternity past, the names of every person
that will live in time are in the book of life. Those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ
as Savior in time will have their name removed from the book of life at the
moment of physical death. Only the names of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
will have their names remain in the book of life in eternity future.
The names of those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ in time will not only have their
names removed from the book of life but will have them transferred to the book of works
mentioned at the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation 20:12.
The unbelievers whose names have been transferred from the book of life to the
book of works
will be judged by Christ according to their works or their own
merits which are nothing more than human righteousness and thus inferior to the
righteousness of Christ and His righteous act at the Cross. Since the unbeliever has
rejected the work of Christ on the cross, he must rely solely upon his own merit for
salvation. All the good works of the unbeliever add up to man’s relative
righteousness (Is. 64:6), which are infinitely inferior the righteousness of Christ.
The fact that the unbeliever depends upon his own merits to obtain salvation and
rejects the work of Christ, is the basis for his condemnation at the Great White
Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). Since all personal sins in human history
were imputed to the impeccable humanity of Christ at the cross and judged,
sin is not the issue in their condemnation (Rev. 20:13).
So the book of life is the registry of all believers from every dispensation of history
(Phlp. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 17:8, 20; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19). The book of life means
that you cannot lose your salvation." Pastor/Teacher Bill Wenstrom
http://www.wenstrom.org/downloads/written/doctrines/soteriology/book_of_life.pdf