Here are some Questions and Answers taken from "Ask A Bible Teacher" (www.gracethrufaith.com)
which have helped me very much: Q: Am I An Overcomer? ~~~ and Q: The Book Of Life ~~~

Am I An Overcomer?

Q. I’m unclear on a word that appears in all the letters in Rev. 2-3 and that is the word: overcomer
or who overcome, etc. That is what I want to understand more fully. What do I need to overcome, or is it
because I believe and am saved that I already am an overcomer? …… Also, in Rev. 3:5 it says that if
people overcome, God will not blot them out of the book of life. Who are the overcomers this passage is
talking about?

A. The current focus in some circles on being an overcomer has a definite air of works about it.
It comes from the fact that the word is mentioned in each of the seven letters of Rev. 2-3 in connection
with a promise of blessing. There’s an idea floating around the Church that the “overcomers” are some
elite class of Christian for whom the rewards promised in the Bible are reserved exclusively. The rest of
us will escape punishment but won’t receive any rewards. The term is used in each of the 7 letters of
Rev. 2-3 to identify those who resist the criticism high lighted.

At Ephesus they overcome religious work.
At Smyrna it’s the fear of persecution.
At Pergamum and Thyatira it’s idolatry,
At Sardis it’s dead orthodoxy,
At Philadelphia it’s drifting from the truth.
At Laodicea it’s apathetic worldliness.

In each case the overcomer is one who successfully either avoids the criticism the Lord has for the
particular church or heeds His exhortation to remain faithful. It’s clear that the overcomer is the one
who stays true to the simplicity of the Gospel, that we’re saved by grace through faith, neither adding to
nor subtracting from it. As with everything else in the Bible, it’s a matter of keeping the faith.

This is confirmed by John in his first letter to the Church, and reinforces the idea that we’re saved
because of what we believe, not because of how we behave.

"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,
even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."
(1 John 5:4-5)

In John 16:33 the Lord said that we would face trials in this world but to take heart because He has
overcome the world. He wasn’t asking us to do it, but to keep the faith because He already has.

As for Rev. 3:5 the Lord was simply exhorting those from the Church at Sardis to wake up from their
dead religion, be born again in their faith and energized by His Spirit. He said that once they did this they
would be saved forever because He would never blot their names out of the Book of Life. You can’t use this
verse to say that He will blot some names out, because those who don’t have the Spirit of God in them were
never in the Book in the first place. There’s no indication that those He’s warning had ever received the
Spirit even though they had heard the Gospel.

The Church of Sardis represents the mainline denominations of today. There are many there who hear the
gospel and agree with it intellectually, but they’ve never obeyed the Lord’s commandment to be born again.
(John 3:3). Others, a much smaller group, have done so, are saved, and will never be rejected. The letter
to Sardis presents one of the clearest arguments in Scripture that we must choose to be saved and once
we do nothing can reverse it.


The Book Of Life

Q. In the Old Testament, people talked about “blotting out" of names from the book that God
had written. Is this the same as the “Lamb’s Book of Life”? I’ve read different views and commentaries
on the Book of Life plus Scripture and some of it sounds kind of “predestinationalist”. Would you comment
on the “Book of Life”, when the names are there, whose they are, how they get there, do you have to
be an overcomer to stay there? etc.

A. According to Jewish theology, God keeps a record of everyone’s deeds good and bad. The books
are opened every year on Rosh Hashanna and those who’ve led exemplary lives are written in the Book
of Life and appointed another year of life. Those whose lives are completely without merit are scheduled
for death, and those who are in between are given 10 days to tip the balance in their favor. These are called
the Days of Awe and Jews go around trying to right all the wrongs they’ve done, seeking forgiveness for
their sins and and reconciliation with their adversaries, all in an effort to have their names inscribed in the
Book of Life for another year. On the 10th day, Yom Kippur, the books are closed and their fates are sealed.
In Exodus 32:31-32 Moses asked the Lord to blot him out of His Book instead of punishing the Israelites
for their sins. He was offering his life for theirs, a model of the Redeemer.

The Lamb’s Book of Life is different…..

According to Rev. 13:8 it was written before the foundation of the world and contains the names of every
believer in the history of man. In Rev. 2:5 Jesus told the Church that He would never blot the names of
those who overcome out of his book of life. In 1 John 5:5 John said that those who overcome are those
who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In John 3:16 He said that God so loves the world that He gave
His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will never perish but have everlasting life. If you’re in
the Lambs Book of Life it’s because you believe that God gave His son’s life for yours. And once you’re
in it you’re in it forever.

Another Book of Life question:

Q. Today, I caught the tail end of a show on TV and the man was talking about where in the Bible
it talks about The Lord removing names from The Book of Life. He said for a name to be removed, it
had to be put there in the first place. That got me to questioning again, somewhat. Does our name get
put into The Book of Life at our salvation or is it there at our conception? When does a person’s name
get blotted out or removed? And what would cause The Lord to do that?

A. Many, myself included, believe that our names were written in the Book of Life before the
foundations of Earth were laid. Rev. 17:8 helps to confirm this. The Lord, knowing the end from the
beginning, knew all who would choose Him, and reserved a place for us in Heaven before He created
Adam. But whenever He wrote them there, to blot them out again would mean that He’s not all knowing
and made a mistake in putting our names there in the first place. Crazy, huh?

That person was misquoting Rev. 3:5 which says that the overcomers will walk with the Lord dressed
in white and He will never blot our names out of the Book of Life. Earlier John had described overcomers
as those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:5)

Rev. 3:5 is a promise straight from the Lord that if you believe in Him, He’ll never blot your name
out of the Book of Life.