God Will Not Take Away Your Part out of the Book of Life!
Tim LaHaye is presenting
a dangerous message in his book, Revelation
Unveiled. He is essentially telling his
readers that the solemn warning in Revelation 22:19 does not really mean what it clearly states.
Let us look at the words of the passage:
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. 22:19
The Bible is absolute truth, and the warning is plain that anyone who takes away from the words of Revelation will have his part (his name) taken out of the book of life.
The passage I am citing next is from Revelation Unveiled, chapter 37. In this chapter, Tim LaHaye tried to convince the reader that there are two books of life. He asserted that there is a book of life which has the names of all who are born, but only those who die without being saved are blotted out, and there is another book of life called the Lamb's book of life in which only the saved are written and who can never be blotted out.
Contrary to Jesus' words, Tim LaHaye teaches that under no circumstances will a person's name ever be blotted out of the Lamb's book of life.
Tim LaHaye had to address Revelation 22:19 because this verse obviously refers to the Lamb's book of life, and it forthrightly teaches that a particular sin can cause the Christian to lose his part 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. 22:19
In order to be consistent with his false teaching that a believer cannot be blotted out of the Lamb's book of life no matter what he does, Tim LaHaye first wrote this statement:
It is therefore possible to have one's name blotted out of the Book of Life because of sin. But it is impossible to have one's name blotted out of the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation Unveiled p. 352)
The Christian reader wonders how Tim's assertions can possibly be submitted to Revelation 22:19:
And if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life.
Tim used a diversion tactic to steer the reader away from his inconsistency. First he quoted the verse he needed to "work on" to make it mean what it does not say:
And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Rev. 22:19) NIV
Here is the complete verse in the King James Bible:
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. 22:19) King James Bible
Then, Tim LaHaye told his readers that Revelation 22:19 is not the somber warning it plainly states that it is. He wrote:
Some try to tell us that this reference to God's taking away a person's "share" out of the Book of Life suggests that anyone who detracts from the book of Revelation and its prophecy will lose his or her rewards, but this cannot be, for the only "share" we have in the Book of Life is our name. We have no indication in Scripture that anything but our name is written in the Book of Life, for our deeds are not recorded there, but in the books of our works. (Revelation Unveiled p. 353
Christians have always known the plain meaning of the grave warning in Revelation 22:19, but Tim LaHaye diverted the reader's attention to something else (he mentioned deeds being recorded somewhere else) and also sent the message that because our only "share" in the book of life is our name, then we will not reap the eternal consequences for taking away from the words of this prophecy.
According to Tim LaHaye's not-submitted-to-scripture manipulations, he asserted that you will not lose your salvation if you take away from the words of the book of Revelation because the only share you have in the book of life is your name, not your deeds. He wants us to believe that if God removes a Christian's name from the book of life for taking away from the words of this prophecy, then it does not mean the Christian will be blotted out of the book of life!
God inspired John to write in Revelation 22:15, that outside the heavenly city are those who loveth and maketh a lie. Tim LaHaye is making a lie and trying to convince you to love it.
Adding
to the words of the prophecy of Revelation brings plagues upon the person who does this:
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: (Rev. 22:18)
There is also a punishment to any man who takes away from the words of Revelation:
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 that are written in this book. (Rev. 22:19)
Whoever has his part (his name) taken out of the book of life will go to the lake of fire:
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:15)
The scripture teaches that if you are not found in the book of life you will be cast into the lake of fire. The Holy Bible also warns that there is a deed you can do to have your part (your name!) taken out of the book of life. That deed is this: "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."
Tim LaHaye is actually teaching,
"Don't worry, the only share you have in the book of life is your name, so don't worry if it gets blotted out. You will still go to heaven."
The Bible answer to that is:
If God takes your part (your name) out of the book of life, you will be cast into the lake of fire.
God's Word means what it says. Tim LaHaye says we cannot lose our salvation if we take away from the words of this prophecy, but the Bible says we can! The church is at a crossroads. We must continue in Jesus' word and not believe anyone who goes against the clear warnings of scripture.
Tim LaHaye also teaches that if a Christian denies Jesus Christ before men in order to save his own life in this world, (but inwardly believes in Jesus) he is still saved! See: THE CROWN OF LIFE April 19, 2002
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False Doctrines in Tim LaHaye's writings |