He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
5. the same shall be clothed ] Read, shall thus be clothed. Perhaps the sense is not so much “thus, as I have promised to the holy remnant in Sardis,” but “thus as I am now.” The colour of Christ’s priestly robe (Rev 1:13) was not stated (and see Pseudo-Barnabas, there quoted) but we are probably to understand that it was white, cf. Dan 7:9.
I will not blot out his name ] See Exo 32:32 sq. (which it seems hard to tone down into meaning no more than 1Ki 19:4: compare rather Rom 9:3), Psa 69:29 (28) (which can more easily be taken in the milder sense), and Dan 12:1. The image seems to be, that everyone on professing himself Christ’s soldier and servant has his name entered in the Book of Life, as on an army list or census-roll of the kingdom. It remains there during the time of his probation or warfare, even if, while he has thus “a name that he liveth,” he is dead in sin: but if he die the second death it will be blotted out if he overcome, it will remain for ever. See Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15.
I will confess ] A repetition of Mat 10:32.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that overcometh – See the notes on Rev 2:7.
The same shall be clothed in white raiment – Whosoever he may be that shall overcome sin and the temptations of this world, shall be admitted to this glorious reward. The promise is made not only to those in Sardis who should be victorious, but to all in every age and every land. The hope that is thus held out before us, is that of appearing with the Redeemer in his kingdom, clad in robes expressive of holiness and joy.
And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life – The book which contains the names of those who are to live with him forever. The names of his people are thus represented as enrolled in a book which he keeps – a register of those who are to live forever. The phrase book of life frequently occurs in the Bible, representing this idea. See the notes on Phi 4:3. Compare Rev 15:3; Rev 20:12, Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27; Rev 22:19. The expression I will not blot out means, that the names would be found there on the great day of final account, and would be found there forever. It may be remarked, that as no one can have access to that book but he who keeps it, there is the most positive assurance that it will never be done, and the salvation of the redeemed will be, therefore, secure. And let it be remembered that the period is coming when it will be felt to be a higher honor to have the name enrolled in that book than in the books of heraldry – in the most splendid catalogue of princes, poets, warriors, nobles, or statesmen that the world has produced.
But I will confess his name, … – I will acknowledge him to be my follower. See the notes on Mat 10:32.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 3:5
He that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment.
The battle, the victory, and the reward
I. A conflict engaged in. The Christian has the peace of God, and is at peace with God; but just because he is so, he is at war with everything that wars with God.
1. The first of the Christians enemies is his own sinful nature. And I am not sure but that is the most dangerous of all his enemies. A foe in the citadel is a thousand times worse than an enemy without. The particular form which this warfare may assume in the individual depends very much upon the natural temperament and previous habits of the man. We have all some sin which most easily besets us. This is the key to the position, like the farmhouse on the field of Waterloo; and, therefore, each principle is anxious to secure it as its own. Nay, not only this; it is here that the new nature is weakest; for as, when one has had a severe inflammation, it leaves, on recovery, a local weakness, which makes itself felt on the least exposure to cold or damp; so, when a man has been addicted to some sin, then, even after his conversion, there, where he formerly was worst, is now his weakest point, and it is in connection with it that his sorest conflicts are. In the light of these things, we cannot wonder that our life is called a fight.
2. But there are other enemies without the fortress, cunningly seeking to tempt us to yield to their entreaties. I mention, therefore, secondly, among our adversaries, the evil men of the world, who approach us ever in a most insidious style. They come under colour of being our servants, and ministering to our pleasure; but alas! it is only that they may remain to be our lords.
3. I mention as another foe the great arch-enemy of God and man–Satan. His efforts, indeed, are inseparably connected with those other two of which I have spoken, He is the general by whom evil men are marshalled for the fight; and as a spiritual being, intimately acquainted with our spiritual nature, he knows how best to take advantage of our still remaining sin.
II. A victory won.
1. The agent by whom this victory is won. In one sense it is the believer who wins it; in another, it is won for him; and it is to the latter aspect of it that I would first look. This conquest is obtained for us by the Great Captain of our Salvation, Jesus Christ; and there are two ways in which He vanquishes our enemy. In the first place, He has already overcome him on the cross; so that we have not now to deal with a foe in his pristine strength, but rather with one crestfallen and defeated. Nor is this all; it was as our representative that Jesus vanquished him; and so he cannot really harm us, however much he may annoy and disturb. Then this death of Christ has also slain the enmity of our hearts; for, if we really believe in Him, our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin should be destroyed. Hence our union to Jesus Christ ensures our victory. But Jesus vanquishes our enemy for us, secondly, by the gift and gracious indwelling of His Holy Spirit. He so quickens our conscience, that we shrink from sins of which formerly we would have thought but little; and He works in us a kind of instinctive intuition, by which we know that we are in the presence of evil, and hasten away from its influence. Thus, in Christ for us, and Christ in us, the victory is won!
2. But a word or two as to the means on our part by which the agency of Christ and His Spirit is secured on our behalf. That means on our part is faith. This may be illustrated by the case of one travelling in a foreign land. He is a British subject, and as such he has the weight and influence of the whole British empire at his back, so that he is safe from injury or insult, and sure, if any such be offered to him, that it will be promptly and efficiently checked. But if he cannot plead that he is a citizen of this favoured land, and has to stand alone, he is sure, in a despotic country, to be very cavalierly and even cruelly dealt with, if he should have the misfortune to fall out with its authorities. Now it is just so here; by faith the believer is connected with Christ–one with Him–and a citizen of heaven. Hence, in his warfare, he has all the power of heaven behind him; and the man who has God on his side is sure to be victorious. But in yet another aspect, faith is seen as the means of victory; for it is the eye of the soul, by which the things of the spiritual world are beheld; and by bringing the soul under the influence of the powers of the world to come, it encourages it in the battle, and determines it not to yield. It shows him the recompense of the reward: the white raiment; the victors palm; the heros crown; and the throne of royal honour. And thus it raises him above the sphere of earths temptations, and makes him proof against the voice of the charmer, charming never so wisely.
3. But now let us look at the time when this victory is obtained. In one sense, the believer is daily winning victories. Israel, of old, crossed the Jordan to fight; but we cross it to reign; and from the moment of our dissolution we have no more to do with temptation.
III. The blessing here promised.
1. The victor shall be clothed in white raiment. This, then, imports that the conquerors condition will be one of pure joy, and joyful purity.
2. I will not blot his name out of the book of life. The allusion of this phrase is supposed to be to the genealogical tables of the Jews, out of which a mans name was blotted when he died; and the meaning is, that Jesus will not blot such a victors name out of the register of His redeemed ones. Now this phrase speaks of many things comforting to the Christian. It tells of salvation assured to him; and it declares, moreover, that Jesus has a care for him as an individual, and has his name enrolled among the denizens of bliss.
3. I will confess his name before my Father and His angels; that is, He will own the conqueror as His, and claim salvation in His name. Nay, it is more than this; it is a public introduction of the believer to heaven, and a proclamation there of the victory which he has obtained. Compared with this, what are earthly decorations for valour? (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The blessedness of overcoming
I. What are we to overcome?
1. Self.
(1) In its hostility (Rom 8:7).
(2) In its indifference (Act 24:25).
(3) In its insincerity (Jer 17:9).
2. World.
(1) In its frowns (Jam 4:4).
(2) In its flatteries (Pro 1:10).
(3) In its applauses (Act 12:22).
3. Death.
(1) In the fears of his approach (Heb 2:15).
(2) In the pains of his attack (1Co 15:55).
(3) In the desolations of his triumph (Joh 11:25-26).
II. How are we to overcome?
1. By thought. I thought on my ways.
2. By purpose.
3. By faith.
(1) Lively.
(2) Progressive.
(3) Saving.
4. By effort.
(1) Cheerful.
(2) Continual.
(3) Mighty.
III. The results of overcoming.
1. A pure and spotless nature.
2. An enduring name.
3. A public honour. (C. L. Burdick.)
Earnestness in religion
Such a topic has great difficulty to lay any hold on the mind-almost even to engage the attention. We all know the effect of perfect familiarity and endless reiteration. But more than so;–this great familiar truth seems to suffer in its power of interesting men by the very fulness of its evidence, and of the conviction with which it is admitted. Whatever be the explanation, the fact is evident, that the actual power of this great principle of truth (namely, the absolute necessity of being in earnest about our highest interest) seems to be repressed, in consequence of the ready and complete acknowledgment it obtains in the mind. It seems to go to sleep there, because it holds its place certainly–is not contradicted-and cannot be expelled. If some serious doubts could be raised upon it, they might make the matter interesting–they might turn and fix thought upon it. Perhaps another thing that causes this general solemn admonition (to be in earnest about our highest interests) to come with less force, is the circumstance that it is applicable and pertinent to all. It concerns me, not more than all these millions. Again, there is far too little of the serious practice of bringing as near together in view as thought can do it, the two orders of things which both belong to us–so belong to us that they must both be taken into our practical adjustment. There is the world we are in, the object of our senses; and a world to which we are to go, the object of our faith. There is this short life–and an endless one. There are the pains and delights of mortality–and the joys or woes of eternity. Now unless a man really will set himself, in serious thought, to the comparative estimate of these, and that too as an estimate to be made on his own account, how powerless on him must be the call that tells him he must be in earnest! Another thing may be added to this account of causes tending to frustrate the injunction to be in earnest about our highest concerns; namely, that the mind willingly takes a perverse advantage of the obscurity of the objects of our faith, and for the incompetence of our faculties for apprehending them. There is a willingness even to make the veil still more thick, and reduce the glimmering to utter darkness, as strengthening the excuse. We do not know how to carry our thoughts from this scene into that. It is like entering a mysterious and visionary wilderness. It is evidently implied to us, by the fact as it stands, that the opening of that scene upon us now would confound us in all our business here. Were it not best to be content to mind chiefly our duty here; and when it shall be Gods will and time, He will show us what there is yonder! Partial truth thus perversely applied, tends to cherish and excuse an indisposition to look forward in contemplations of hereafter; and this indisposition, excused or protected by this allegation, defeats the force of the call, the summons, to be in earnest about our highest interests. There is another pernicious practical deception, through which the force of this call to earnestness is defeated, and the strong necessity which it urges is evaded: that is, the not recognising in the parts of life, the grand duty and interest which yet is acknowledged to belong to it as a whole. This day is not much, a man thinks, nor this week–a particle only in so ample a thing as all life. We add only one more description of delusive feeling tending to frustrate the admonitions to an earnest intentness on the great object–namely, a soothing self-assurance, founded the man can hardly explain on what, that some way or other, a thing which is so essentially important, will be effected, surely must be effected, because it is so indispensable. A man says, I am not mad. I surely–surely–shall not lose my soul. As if there must be something in the very order of nature to prevent anything going so far wrong as that. Sometimes particular circumstances in a mans history are suffered to excite in him a kind of superstitious hope. Perhaps, for instance, in his childhood or since, he was saved from peril or death in some very remarkable manner. His friends thought that this must surely be a propitious omen; and he, too, is willing to persuade himself so. Perhaps very pious persons have taken a particular interest about him; he knows he has been the subject of many prayers. So many deceptive notions may contribute to a vague sort of assurance that a man will not alway neglect religion, though he is doing so now, and is in no serious disposition to do otherwise. And, in addition to all, there is that unthinking and unscriptural manner of considering and carelessly throwing ourselves upon the infinite goodness of God. (J. Foster.)
I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.
The Book of Life
I. The book. There is a great deal in the Apocalypse about this book of the living, or of life. And, like the rest of its imagery, the symbol finally reposes upon the Old Testament cycle of metaphor (Exo 32:32; Psa 69:28; Psa 87:6; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1). Coming to the New Testament, we find, outside of the Apocalypse, comparatively few references. But see Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Heb 12:23). So then, to be written in the Book of Life is to be included amongst those who truly live. St. John, in his Gospel and Epistle, dwells with even more emphasis than the other writers of the New Testament on the great central thought that the deepest conception of Christs work to men is that He is the Source of life. He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son hath not life. This symbol implies, too, that they who truly live, live by Jesus Christ, and by Him alone. It is the Lambs Book of Life. In His character of the Lamb–that is, of the Sacrifice for the sins of the world–slain for us all, He has made it possible that any names should be written on that page. Then, again, note how this symbol suggests to us that to be enrolled in the Book is to be a citizen of heaven. The name being written in heaven implies that the true native soil of the man is where his name is written. He is inscribed on the register of the community to which He belongs. He lives in a far-away colony, but he is a native of the metropolis. Again, let me remind you that to be written in that Book implies being the objects of Divine energy and Divine love. I know thee by name said the Divine voice, through the prophet, to the Great Conqueror before He was born. I know thee by name, saith the Lord, to each of us, if our hearts are humbly trusting in His Divine power.
II. The inscription of the names. Now there are two passages in this Book of the Revelation which seem to say that the names are written before the foundation of the world. I am not going to plunge into discussions far beyond our reach, but I may remind you that such a statement says nothing about the inscription of the names which is not true about all events in time. So, leaving that ideal and eternal inscription of the names in the obscurity which cannot be dispelled, we shall be more usefully employed in asking what, so far as concerns us, are the conditions on which we may become possessors of that Divine life from Jesus Christ, and citizens of the heavens? Faith in Christ brings us into the possession of eternal life from Him, makes us citizens of His kingdom, and objects of His care. Jesus calls us all to Himself. Do like the man in the Pilgrims Progress, who went up to the writer at the table, with the ink-horn before him, and said to him, Set down my name, and so subscribed with his hand to the mighty God of Jacob.
III. The purging of the roll. It seems to me that the fair implication of the words of my text is that the victors name remains, and the name of the vanquished is blotted out. Why should we be exhorted to hold fast our crown, that no man may take it, if it is impossible for the crown ever to drop from the brow upon which it was once laid? No man can take it unless we let him, but our letting him is a conceivable alternative. And therefore the exhortations and appeals and warnings of Scripture come to us with eminent force. And how is that apostasy to be prevented, and that retention of the name on the roll-call to be secured? The answer is a very plain one–To him that overcometh. The only way by which a man may keep his name on the effective muster-roll of Christs army is by continual contest and conquest.
IV. The confession of the names. There comes a time of blessed certainty, when Christs confession will transform all our hesitations into peaceful assurance, when He shall stoop from His throne, and Himself shall say, in the day when He makes up His jewels, This, and that, and that man belong indeed to Me. Men have thrown away their lives to get a word in a despatch, or from a commanding officer; and men have lived long years stimulated to efforts and sacrifices by the hope of having a line in the chronicles of their country. But what is all other fame to Christs recognising me for His? (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The Book of Life
I. As its name implies, this is the roll of the living members of His Church. Very much as in some of our ancient cities there is a register kept of the freemen, from which their names are struck off at death, so the true citizens of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, are registered on high. There is only this important difference between the two cases. Christs freed men never die. They shall not be hurt by the second death.
II. Perhaps we long to obtain one glance at its contents, and think it would afford us exceeding comfort if we might read our own name, and the names of those dear to us, inscribed on its pages. But this may not be. The discovery would probably lead to self-confidence and presumption as regards ourselves, and a fatal indifference to the eternal welfare of others. We might cease to watch and pray, and might neglect the appointed means of grace. Is, then, that Book so high above our present reach that we have practically nothing to do with it at all? If so, why should it be so often mentioned, and what is the value of this promise? Assuredly there is one way in which we may obtain some insight into its contents. The Lord, as it were, writes a duplicate of them on the hearts and lives of His people.
III. This now mysterious record will be referred to by the Judge of quick and dead, and read out before the assembled myriads of mankind. What astounding disclosures will then be model (W. Burnett, M. A.)
Written in heaven
I. There are names written in heaven which are unknown on earth. Who are the worlds greatest men? Those who are doing the noblest acts, living the purest lives, suffering the most for righteousness sake, making the greatest sacrifices for the common good; the greatest men are not necessarily notorious politicians, vocalists, tragedians, capitalists, orators, and soldiers. Now of these really greatest men we know little or nothing; they live in simplicity, obscurity, and poverty; the world is not aware of them, bestowing upon them neither titles nor rewards. But they are known by Him whose eye seeth every precious thing. A hue art critic entering a second-hand shop will detect a master piece when it is nearly buried in confusion and rubbish. It may be covered with dust, the colours blackened by neglect, boasting no gold frame, and the crowd pass it by with contempt, as not worth sixpence, but the true critic discerns it at a glance. So God recognises merit before it gets into a gold frame; He knows the glorious work of His own hand when found in obscurity, want, suffering, and deepest obloquy and humiliation. Thousands of names are written in heaven as heroes which are not found on Fames eternal bead-roll.
II. If our names are written in heaven, we need care little whether they are written elsewhere. We have a name. That is a grand thing, it means much. We are not numbered, we are all called by our names. We have a distinct and an immortal personality, we are not merely links in a series. We require that our name shall be written somewhere; we are not content to drop out of the universe, and be lost; we must be registered, recognised, remembered. To be written in heaven is supreme fame. It is high above all earthly peerages as the stars are above the mountain tops. To be written in heaven is immortal fame. By strange accidents a mans name once written in great bead-rolls may get obliterated.
III. If our names are written is heaven, they ought to be written there as labourers.
IV. If our names are written in heaven, let us take care that they are not blotted out. Let us watch lest our name should be struck from the roll of honour.
V. If our names are not written in heaven, let us at once get them written there. How near many people come to the kingdom, and yet never get into it! Some of these are written in the reports of the Church, and yet do not get their names inscribed in the book of life. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. I will not blot out his name] This may be an allusion to the custom of registering the names of those who were admitted into the Church in a book kept for that purpose, from which custom our baptismal registers in Churches are derived. These are properly books of life, as there those who were born unto God were registered; as in the latter those who were born in that parish were enrolled. Or there may be allusions to the white raiment worn by the priests, and the erasing of the name of any priest out of the sacerdotal list who had either sinned, or was found not to be of the seed of Aaron. In Middoth, fol. 37, 2: “The great council of Israel sat and judged the priests. If in a priest any vice was found they stripped of his white garments and clothed him in black, in which he wrapped himself, went out, and departed. Him in whom no vice was found they clothed in white, and he went and took his part in the ministry among his brother priests.”
I will confess his name] I will acknowledge that this person is my true disciple, and a member of my mystical body. In all this there may also be an allusion to the custom of registering citizens. Their names were entered into books, according to their condition, tribes, family, c. and when they were dead, or had by unconstitutional acts forfeited their right of citizenship, the name was blotted out, or erased from the registers. See Clarke on Ex 32:32.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; he that overcometh in the spiritual fight, shall be honoured as a triumpher.
And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; that is, I will give him everlasting life: the phrase is an allusion to men who use to keep books, and in them the names of persons to whom they will show kindness. The book of life; applied to God, signifieth his eternal predestination, or purpose to bring some to heaven; out of which book, though none can be blotted out whose name is once wrote in, yet those whose names are in this book may be under some fears and apprehensions to the contrary. Christ assures them to the contrary, that they shall certainly be saved, but lets them know that this assurance depends upon their perseverance; of which also some make this phrase a promise.
But I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels; in the day of judgment I will own them, and acknowledge them as mine before my Father and all the angels, Mat 10:32; Luk 12:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. whitenot a dull white, butglittering, dazzling white [GROTIUS].Compare Mt 13:43. The bodytransfigured into the likeness of Christ’s body, and emitting beamsof light reflected from Him, is probably the “white raiment”promised here.
the sameGreek,“THIS man”; heand he alone. So one oldest manuscript reads. But two oldestmanuscripts, and most of the ancient versions, “shall THUSbe clothed,” c.
raimentGreek,“garments.” “He that overcometh” shall receivethe same reward as they who “have not defiled their garments”(Re 3:4) therefore the two areidentical.
I will notGreek,“I will not by any means.”
blot out . . . name out of .. . book of lifeof the heavenly city. A register was kept inancient cities of their citizens: the names of the dead were ofcourse erased. So those who have a name that they live and aredead (Re 3:1), are blottedout of God’s roll of the heavenly citizens and heirs of eternal life;not that in God’s electing decree they ever were in His book of life.But, according to human conceptions, those who had a high name forpiety would be supposed to be in it, and were, in respect toprivileges, actually among those in the way of salvation; but theseprivileges, and the fact that they once might have been saved, shallbe of no avail to them. As to the book of life, compareRev 13:8; Rev 17:8;Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15;Rev 21:27; Exo 32:32;Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1.In the sense of the “call,” many are enrolled among thecalled to salvation, who shall not be found among thechosen at last. The pale of salvation is wider than that ofelection. Election is fixed. Salvation is open to all and is pending(humanly speaking) in the case of those mentioned here. But Rev 20:15;Rev 21:27, exhibit the book ofthe elect alone in the narrower sense, after the erasure of theothers.
before . . . beforeGreek,“in the presence of.” Compare the same promise of Christ’sconfessing before His Father those who confessed Him, Mat 10:32;Mat 10:33; Luk 12:8;Luk 12:9. He omits “inheaven” after “My Father,” because there is, now thatHe is in heaven, no contrast between the Father in heaven andthe Son on earth. He now sets His seal from heaven upon manyof His words uttered on earth [TRENCH].An undesigned coincidence, proving that these epistles are, as theyprofess, in their words, as well as substance, Christ’s ownaddresses; not even tinged with the color of John’s style, such as itappears in his Gospel and Epistles. The coincidence is mainly withthe three other Gospels, and not with John’s, which makes thecoincidence more markedly undesigned. So also the clause, “Hethat hath an ear, let him hear,” is not repeated from John’sGospel, but from the Lord’s own words in the three synoptic Gospels(Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9;Mar 4:9; Mar 4:23;Mar 7:16; Luk 8:8;Luk 14:35).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that overcometh,…. The deadness, formality, and imperfection of this church state; gets over these things, and is among the few names in it:
the same shall be clothed in white raiment; the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, “thus shall he be clothed in white raiment”; he shall have abundance of spiritual peace and joy, great success and prosperity, both inward and outward, in himself, and in the church; and triumph over all his enemies, sin, Satan, the world, death, and every other enemy; and not only be clothed with change of raiment, the pure and spotless righteousness of Christ, but shall enjoy eternal glory and happiness! the allusion seems to be to the custom of the Jewish sanhedrim in judging of priests fit for service l;
“they examined the priests concerning their genealogies and blemishes; every priest in whom was found anything faulty in his genealogy, he was clothed in black and veiled in black, and went out of the court; but everyone that was found perfect and right, , “he was clothed in white”, and went in and ministered with his brethren the priests.”
And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; by which is meant the choice of persons to everlasting life and salvation; and this being signified by a book, and by writing names in it, shows the exact knowledge God has of his elect, the value he has for them, his remembrance of them, his love to them, and care for them; and that this election is of particular persons by name, and is sure and certain; for those whose names are written in it shall never be blotted out, they will always remain in the number of God’s elect, and can never become reprobates, or shall ever perish; because of the unchangeableness of the nature and love of God, the firmness of his purposes, the omnipotence of his arm, the death and intercession of Christ for them, their union to him, and being in him, the impossibility of their seduction by false teachers, and the security of their persons, grace, and glory in Christ, and in whose keeping this book of life is; which respects not this temporal life, that belongs to the book of providence, but a spiritual and eternal life, from whence it has its name.
But I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels; which shows that Christ has an exact and perfect knowledge of all the chosen ones, he knows them by name; and that he has a strong and affectionate love for them, and is not ashamed of them, of their cause, of their persons, and of their relation to him; and that he does and will own, acknowledge, and approve of them, both here and hereafter: and the confession he will make of them will be in their praise; in praise of their persons and the comeliness of them, which he has put upon them; and of their graces, though they are his own; and of their good works as the fruits of grace: and this will be made before his Father, who chose these persons, and gave them to him to preserve and save; and before the angels, who rejoice at their salvation and happiness; and this will be at the last day;
[See comments on Mt 10:32].
l Maimon. Biath Hamikdash, c. 6. sect. 11, Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 19. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall be arrayed (). Future middle indicative of , to fling around one, here and in 4:4 with and the locative, but usually in this book with the accusative of the thing, retained in the passive or with the middle (Rev 7:9; Rev 7:13; Rev 10:1; Rev 11:3; Rev 12:1; Rev 17:4; Rev 18:16; Rev 19:8; Rev 19:13).
In white garments ( ). Apparently the spiritual bodies in the risen life as in 2Cor 5:1; 2Cor 5:4 and often in Revelation (Rev 3:4; Rev 3:5; Rev 6:11; Rev 7:9; Rev 7:13; Rev 19:8).
I will in no wise blot out ( ). Strong double negative and the first aorist active (or future) of , old word, to wipe out (Ac 3:19).
Of the book of life ( ). Ablative case with . This divine register first occurs in Ex 32:32f. and often in the O.T. See Luke 10:20; Phil 4:3; Rev 13:8; Rev 20:15; Rev 21:27. The book is in Christ’s hands (Rev 13:8; Rev 21:27).
His name ( ). The name of the one who overcomes ( ). Clear reminiscence of the words of Christ about confessing to the Father those who confess him here (Matt 10:32; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Luke 12:8). Whether John knew the Synoptic Gospels (and why not?) he certainly knew such sayings of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Book of life. Lit., the book of the life. For the figure, see Exo 32:32; Psa 69:28; Dan 12:1; Phi 4:3. Compare Luk 10:20; Heb 12:23.
I will confess [] . Openly confess [] . See on Mt 11:25; Act 19:18; Jas 5:16.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “He that overcometh,” (ho nikon) “The one conquering,” or overcoming, overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil, Mat 7:21; Rom 12:1-2; Rev 12:11.
2) “The same shall be clothed in white raiment,” (houtos peribaleitai en himatiois leukois) “He shall be clothed thus (like this) in white garments,” the conqueror’s robe of glittering, dazzling white, of brightness, symbolizing moral purity and honor in triumph for a noble cause, Ecc 9:8; Rev 19:8.
3) “And I will not blot out his name,” (kai ou me eksaleipso to onoma autou) “And I will not by any means, under any circumstances blot out his name,” remove his name, or identity or existence.
4) “Out of the book of life,” (ek tes biblou tes zoes) “Out of the scroll of life,” of those living; He shall not be chastened to the point of death at all, so that his name will be removed from among the living citizens of the earth, 1Co 11:30-32; Heb 12:9.
5) “But I will confess his name,” (kai homologeso to onoma autou) “And I will confess (acknowledge) his name,” vouch for his reputation, character, and conduct. I will stand up as a witness on his belief, when his name is called, Mat 10:32-33.
6) Before my Father,” (enopion tou patros mou) “in the face-presence of my Father; before the throne at the judgment seat of the believer, Mat 12:32; Rev 22:11.
7) “And before his angels,” (kai enopion ton angelon autou) “And in the (very) presence of his angels,” with ministering angelic servants looking on, Luk 12:8; 2Co 5:10-11; Luk 15:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) He that overcometh.The promise is repeated to all who overcome; all, not who have never fallen, or failed, but who conquer, shall be clothed in glistening white raiment. On this glistering appearance comp. Dantes words, robed in hue of living flame, and the description so frequent in the Pilgrims Progressthe shining ones. Trench, who reminds us that this glistening white is found in the symbolism of heathen antiquity, says: The glorified body, defecated of all its dregs and impurities, whatever remained of those having been precipitated in death, and now transformed and transfigured into the likeness of Christs body (Php. 3:21), this, with its robe, atmosphere, and effluence of lights, is itself, I believe, the white raiment which Christ here promises to His redeemed. Professor Lightfoot thinks (see his Epistle to Col. p. 22) that there may be a reference to the purple dyes for which Sardis, as well as Thyatira, was celebrated.
I will not blot out . . .The negative is emphatic, I will in no wise blot out. This figure of speecha book and the blotting outwas ancient. (See Deu. 32:32; Psa. 69:21; Dan. 12:1; comp. also Luk. 10:20; Php. 4:3.) The name shall not be erased from the roll or register of the citizens of heaven. A process of erasure is ever going on, besides the process of entering. When the soul has finally taken its choice for evil, when Christ is utterly denied on earth and trodden under foot, when the defilement of sin has become inveterate and indelible, then the pen is drawn through the guilty name, then the inverted style smears the wax over the unworthy characters; and when the owner of that name applies afterwards for admittance, the answer is, I know thee not; depart hence, thou willing worker and lover of iniquity (Dr. Vaughan).
But I will confess his name.Another echo of Christs words on earth (Mat. 10:32-33; Luk. 12:8-9).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. White raiment A full and joyous expansion of the promise hinted in Rev 3:4. On the brilliant white here implied the whiteness of glory, the celestial coruscation see note on Rev 3:18. On this Trench beautifully remarks: “As we cannot conceive of any room in heaven for raiment, in the literal sense of the word, we must understand by this that vesture of light, that clothing with light as with a garment, which shall be theirs who shall then ‘shine out ( Mat 13:43) as the sun in the kingdom of their Father;’ their ‘raiment,’ and yet for all this, not something external to them, but the outward utterance of all which now, inwardly, they are who have left all sin behind them forever. The glorified body, defecated of all its dregs and all its impurities, transformed and transfigured into the likeness of Christ’s body, (Php 3:21,) this, with its robe and atmosphere of light, is itself, I believe, the ‘white raiment,’ which Christ here promises to his redeemed.” Compare our note on 1Co 15:43-44.
Blot out his name When the glorious vestments of the resurrection are put on, the citizenship in the New Jerusalem is sure, and the name in its city census, the book of life, can never be blotted out. For this image of blotting, see our note on Luk 10:20.
Will confess his name When the man presents himself in resurrection array there is his record in the book, and the Lord will confess that blessed owner of the name, will remember how unspotted was his vestment in the Church below, and will acknowledge his “title clear to mansions in the skies.”
Before my Father angels In presence of the celestial court shall he be introduced and recognised as belonging to the holy society of God, angels, and heaven. Such was the prospect of, alas! but few in this great city, the once rich capital of Lydia. The many, both in the Church and out, were facing toward a reverse future.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘He who overcomes will thus be arrayed in white garments, and there is no way I will blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.’
In Rev 6:11 we are told of those who are given white robes. They were martyrs who had died for Christ’s sake. What it means to be arrayed in white garments is illustrated in Rev 7:9. This describes those who are before the throne, who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Arrayed in these white garments they have entered the presence of God in Heaven. So to be arrayed in white garments is one more guarantee of eternal life for overcomers.
When Christ Himself was transfigured His garments became dazzling white (Mat 17:2 and parallels). So the overcomer is to be made like Christ in His glory, and like the angels who faithfully serve God (Rev 15:6; Rev 19:14). White robes are an indication of heavenly status reflecting purity.
‘There is no way I will blot his name out of the book of life.’ The overcomer’s name is in the book of life and he can be sure that nothing will remove it. This does not necessarily mean that other names will be blotted out from the book. It is merely guaranteeing his absolute security.
The Old Testament knows of at least two records maintained by God (we must of course recognise that the earthly description as ‘records’ must not be too strictly applied. What they are saying is that in some way God has ‘recorded’ knowledge of such things). The first is ‘the book of life’ in which were recorded the names, probably of all Israel, – possibly of all men, who were still alive (Exo 32:32-33; Psa 69:28). That Moses was prepared to have his name blotted out shows that blotting out meant physical death.
It was commonplace for cities at various times to have a record of their inhabitants and to blot out the names of those who in some way disgraced the city or who had permanently left it (consider Isa 4:3), or had died. This would favour the idea that the book in Exodus was the record of the names of all Israel. Names could be, and were, blotted out of this book, and this would seem to signify either death or expulsion for sin of the most dreadful kind. It may be that such a book is in mind here.
The second is the book of remembrance containing the names of the righteous (Dan 12:1; Mal 3:16). In the New Testament Jesus tells the disciples to rejoice that their names are written in Heaven. This must surely refer to the book of remembrance, the book of those who are recorded as being righteous. Compare also Php 4:3 where the book of life is the roll of Christians.
But in Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8 we learn of a book in which the names of the redeemed have been entered from the foundation of the world. This book is also called the Book of Life. The usage in Rev 13:8 must strongly support the idea that the book of life referred to in Rev 3:5; Rev 20:12; Rev 20:15 is the same book, in which case removal is impossible and being blotted out is merely a theoretical idea. This book may well be connected with the book of remembrance.
Once we accept the record mentioned in Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8, however, it renders controversy unnecessary. That book is the guarantee that the truly righteous are written in Heaven in a way that can never be changed. Any other book therefore does not really matter.
Thus this reference may be to the book of the living with a real possibility that men’s names will be blotted out of it through irrevocable death, or the Book of Life from which no name can ever be blotted out because they have been written there from eternity.
There is incidentally also a book of the deeds of men (Rev 20:12).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘But I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels.’
Rather than their names being blotted out, the names of the overcomers will be announced and honoured before the Father and His angels. They will not be shamed but will receive honour from God (compare Mat 10:32).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 3:5. And I will not blot out his name The same allegory is pursued. This is elsewhere stiled to cast out the name (Luk 6:22.)to reject, to excommunicate, by blotting the name out of the matricula, or catalogue of Christ’s saints, which is here called the book of life; none but saints who are in it being to expect eternal life. See ch. Rev 20:12 Rev 21:27.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 3:5 . . This designation recurring uniformly at the close of every epistle, and therefore not of a conception to be united by means of , results from what precedes. Here is meant the energetic manifestation of the life received in faith, which cannot occur without a victorious conflict with the world and one’s own flesh. An express pointing backward to what precedes is made by the , which makes the promise here bestowed upon the victor ( . . . . .) [1382] appear to coincide with that which (Rev 3:4 ) was given to the one whose garments were not defiled. [1383]
The second promise, . . . . . has likewise reference to what precedes, because not only he who has the name that he lives, but he who besides actually lives, [1384] can remain written in the book of life. The figure of the book of life [1385] is not derived from “the genealogical records of the priests,” [1386] but from lists such as, e.g., the magistrates kept, and from which the names of deceased citizens were stricken. [1387] A man is not written in the book of life [1388] when he becomes participant of new spiritual life (cf. Rev 3:1 ), when he receives the quickening truth (cf. Rev 3:3 ), or becomes a child and heir of God through faith in Christ. [1389] This ethical accommodation referring to the temporal conduct of man is actually not present. In the book of life, which according to its nature is eternal, there is from the beginning of the world [1390] God’s attestation of the eternal salvation which those written in the book are to experience. The rejection of what is deterministic, and the maintenance of what is ethical, lie in the further declaration whereby the of course not to be realized possibility of the erasure of the name from the book of life is stated. Yet it is in reality by the free conduct of the believer, that his name may remain in the book. The name of the victor remaining faithful and walking worthily, will not be blotted out of the book of life; the victor, therefore, will receive hereafter the heavenly gracious reward of eternal life with the Lord, while those not written in the book of life will be rejected by the Lord. [1391] [See Note XXXVI., p. 183.] Still, in a third way, is the promise given the victor expressed: . . . This stands, of course, as the recurrence of already signifies, in connection with what immediately precedes, yet not as Eichh. states: “And as often as recitation is made from it, I will declare his praises.” With the idea of the book of life, that of the frequent reading of the name is not in itself consistent; [1392] and the ., . . ., can only [1393] have the sense that the Lord, speaking as Judge, expressly testifies that he knows the name of the victor (written in the book of life) as the name of one of his own, and, therefore, that the one named belongs to him, the Lord, and on this account shall have part in the glory of his kingdom. [1394]
[1382] Cf. on the , Mat 11:8 . Winer, p. 361.
[1383] Cf. also Ebrard, Volkm.
[1384] Cf. Rev 3:1 .
[1385] Rev 13:8 , Rev 17:8 , Rev 20:12 ; Rev 20:15 , Rev 21:27 . Cf. Psa 69:29 ; Isa 4:3 ; Exo 32:32 sqq.; Dan 12:1 ; Phi 4:3 ; Luk 10:20 .
[1386] Vitr., Schttgen. See on Rev 3:4 .
[1387] Cf. Wetst.
[1388] As was said here in the 2d ed. So also Klief.: cf., on the other hand, Gebhardt, p. 154.
[1389] “In baptism.” C. a Lap.
[1390] Rev 13:8 , and often.
[1391] Cf. Rev 20:15 , Rev 21:27 .
[1392] Cf. also Rev 20:12 sqq.
[1393] Cf. Mat 10:32 ; Luk 12:8 .
[1394] Cf. Rev 21:27 , Rev 19:9 ; Mat 7:23 ; Mat 25:12 .
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
XXXVI. Rev 3:5 .
If an erasure from the book of life be regarded possible, the inscription cannot refer to election, as this is indefectible. But it seems to be pressing the passage too far, to derive from it such meaning; as the expression is, in fact, simply a litotes whereby to emphasize the certainty of salvation, i.e., an assumed, but not a real, possibility.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Ver. 5. Clothed in white ] See Trapp on “ Rev 3:4 “
The book of life ] Wherein the just that live by faith are written.
But I will confess his name ] His well-tried faith shall be found to praise, honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ, 1Pe 1:7 . See Trapp on “ 1Pe 1:7 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Revelation
V. – THE VICTOR’S LIFE-ROBE
Rev 3:5 .
The brightest examples of earnest Christianity are generally found amidst widespread indifference. If a man does not yield to the prevailing tone, it is likely to quicken him into strong opposition. So it was in this Church of Sardis. It was dead. That was the summing up of its condition. It had a name to live, and the name only made the real deadness more complete. But there were exceptions: souls ablaze with Divine love, who in the midst of corruption had kept their robes clean, and whom Christ’s own voice declared to be worthy to walk with Him in white.
That great eulogium, which immediately precedes our text, is referred to in the first of its triple promises; as is even more distinctly seen if we read our text as the Revised Version does: ‘He that overcometh, the same shall thus be clothed in white raiment’; the ‘thus ‘pointing back to the preceding words, and widening the promise to the faithful few in Sardis so as to extend to all victors in all Churches throughout all time.
Now the remaining two clauses of our text also seem to be coloured by the preceding parts of this letter. We read in it, ‘Thou hast a name that thou livest’; and again, ‘Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.’ Our text catches up the word, and moulds its promises accordingly. One is more negative, the other more positive; both link on to a whole series of Scriptural representations.
Now all these declarations of the blessedness of the victors are, of course, intensely symbolical, and we can but partially translate them. I simply seek now to take them as they stand, and to try to grasp at least some part of the dim but certain hopes which they partly reveal and partly hide. There are, then, three things here.
I. The victor’s robes.
‘He that overcometh, the same shall thus be clothed in white raiment.’ White, of course, is the festal colour. But it is more than that: it is the heavenly colour. In this book we read of white thrones, white horses, hairs ‘white as snow,’ white stones. But we are to notice that the word here employed does not merely mean a dead whiteness, which is the absence of colour, but a lustrous and glistering white, like that of snow smitten by sunshine, or like that which dazzled the eyes of the three on the Mount of Transfiguration, when they saw the robes of the glorified Christ ‘whitened as no fuller on earth could white them.’ So that we are to associate with this metaphor, not only the thoughts of purity, festal joy, victory, but likewise the thought of lustrous glory.
Then the question arises, can we translate that metaphor of the robe into anything that will come closer to the fact? Now I may remind you that this figure runs through the whole of Scripture. We find, for instance, in one of the old prophets, a vision in which the taking away of Israel’s sin is represented by the high priest, the embodiment of the nation, standing in filthy garments, which were stripped off him and fair ones put on him. We find our Lord giving forth a parable of a man who came to the feast not having on a wedding garment. We find the Apostle Paul speaking frequently, in a similar metaphor, of putting off an ancient nature and putting on a new one. We find in this book, not only the references in my text and the context, but the great saying concerning those that have ‘washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,’ and the final benediction pronounced upon those who washed their robes, that they may ‘have a right to enter through the gate into the city.’
Putting all these things together – and the catalogue might be extended – we have to observe that the signification of this symbol is not that of something wholly external to or apart from the man, but that it is rather that part of his nature, so to speak, which is visible to beholders, and we may translate it very simply – the robe is character. So the promise of my text, brought down so far as we can bring it to its primary element, is of a purity and lustrous glory of personal character, which shall be visible to any eye that may look upon the wearer. What more there may be found in it when we are ‘clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,’ if so be that ‘being clothed we shall not be found naked,’ I do not presume to say. I do not speculate, I simply translate the plain words of Scripture into the truth which they represent.
But now I would have you notice that this, like all the promises of the New Testament in regard to a future life, lays main stress on what a man is. Not where we are, not what we have, not what we do or know, make heaven, but what we are. The promises are clothed for us, as they must needs be, in sensuous images, which sensuous men have interpreted in far too low a sense; or sometimes have not been even at the trouble of interpreting. But in reality there are but two facts that we know about that future, and they are smelted together, as cause and effect, in the great saying of the most spiritual of the Apostles: ‘We shall be like Him’ – that is what we shall be – ‘for we shall see Him as He is.’ So, then, purity of character, when all the stains on the garments, spotted by the flesh, shall have melted away; purity of character, when temptations shall have no more food in us and so conflict shall not be needful; purity like Christ’s own, and derived from the vision of Him, according to the great law that beholding is transformation, and the light we see is the light which we reflect – this is the heart of this great promise.
But notice that the main thing about it is that this lustrous purity of a perfected character is declared to be the direct outcome of the character, that was made by effort and struggle carried on in faith here upon earth. In this clause the familiar I will give ‘does not appear; and the thought of the condition upon earth working itself out into the glory of lustrous purity in the heavens is made even more emphatic by the adoption of the reading to which I have referred: ‘Shall thus be clothed,’ which points us backwards to what preceded, where our Lord’s own voice declares that the men who have not defiled their garments upon earth are they who ‘shall walk with Him in white.’ The great law of continuity and of increase, so that the dispositions cultivated here rise to sovereign power hereafter, and that what was tendency, and struggle, and imperfect realization upon earth becomes fact and complete possession in the heavens, is declared in the words before us.
What solemn importance that thought gives to the smallest of our victories or defeats here on earth! They are threads in the web out of which our garment is to be cut. After all, yonder as here, we are dressed in homespun, and we make our clothing and shape it for our wear. That truth is perfectly consistent with the other truth on which it reposes- that the Christian man owes to Christ the reception of the new garment of purity and holiness. The evangelical doctrine, ‘not by works of righteousness which we have done,’ and its complement in the words of my text, are perfectly harmonious. We cannot weave the web except Christ gives us yarn, nor can we work out our own salvation except Christ bestows upon us the salvation which we work out. The two things go together. Let us remember that, whilst in one aspect the souls that were all clad in filthy garments are arrayed as a bridegroom decketh his bride with a fair vesture, in another aspect we ourselves, by our own efforts, by our own struggles, by our own victories, have to weave and fashion and cut and sew the dress which we shall wear for ever.
II. Notice here the victor’s place in the Book of Life.
‘I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.’ I have pointed out that in the former clause the characteristic ‘I will give’ is omitted, in order that emphatic expression might be secured for the thought that in one aspect the reward of the future is automatic or self working. But that thought is by no means a complete statement of the truth with regard to this matter; and so, in both of the subsequent clauses, we have our Lord representing Himself for it is never to be forgotten that these promises are Christ’s own words from heaven as clothed with His judicial functions, and as determining the fates of men. ‘I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life.’ ‘That is a solemn and tremendous claim, that Christ’s finger can write, and Christ’s finger can erase, a name from that register.
Now I have said that all these clauses link themselves on to a whole series of Scriptural representatives. I showed that briefly in regard to the former; I would do so in regard to the present one.
You will remember, perhaps, in the early history of Israel, that Moses, with lofty self-devotion, prayed God to blot his name out of His book, if only by that sacrifice Israel’s sin might be forgiven. You may recall too, possibly, how one of the prophets speaks of ‘those that are written amongst the living in Jerusalem,’ and how Daniel, in his eschatological vision, refers to those whose names were or were not written in the book. I need not remind you of how our Lord commanded His disciples to rejoice not in that the spirits were subject to them, but rather to rejoice because their names were written in heaven. Nor need I do more than simply refer to the Apostle’s tender and pathetic excuse for not remembering the names of some of his fellow workers that it mattered very little, because their names were written in the Book of Life. Throughout this Apocalypse, too, we find subsequent allusions of the same nature, just as in the Epistle to the Hebrews we read of the ‘Church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven.’ Now all these, thus put together, suggest two ideas: one which I do not deal with here – viz., that of a burgess-roll – and the other that of a register of those who truly live. And that is the thought that is suggested here. The promise of my text links on to the picture in the letter of the condition of the Church at Sardis, which was dead, and says that the victor will truly and securely and for ever possess life, with all the clustered blessedness’ which, like a nebula unresolved, gather themselves, dim yet radiant, round that great word.
But what I especially note here is, not so much this reiteration of the fundamental and all-embracing promise which has met us in preceding letters, the promise of a secure, eternal life, as that plain and solemn implication that a name may be struck out of that book. Theological exigencies compelled our fathers to deny that, but surely the words of our text are too plain to be neglected or misunderstood. It is possible that a name, like the name of a dishonest attorney, shall be struck off the rolls. Do not let any desire for theological symmetry blind you, brother, to that fact. Take it into account in your daily lives. It is possible for a man to ‘cast away his confidence.’ It is possible for him to make shipwreck of the faith. Some of you will remember that pathetic story of Cromwell’s deathbed, when he asked one of his ghostly counselors whether it was true that ‘once in the covenant, always in the covenant? ‘He got the answer, ‘Yes’; and then he said, ‘I know I once was,’ and so died. Brethren, it is the victors whose names are kept upon the roll. These people at Sardis had a name to live, and they thought that their names were in the Book of Life. And when it was opened, lo! a blot. Some of us have seen upon the granite of Egyptian temples the cartouches of a defeated dynasty chiseled out by their successors. The granite on which this list is written is not so hard but that a man, by his own sin, falling away from the Master, may chisel out his name. A student goes up for his examination. He thinks he has succeeded. The pass-lists come out, and his name is not there. Take care that you are not building upon past faith, but remember that it is the victor’s name that is not blotted out of the Book of Life.
III. Lastly, the victor’s recognition by the Commanding Officer.
‘I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.’ There, too, we have a kind of mosaic, made up of previous Scripture declarations. Our Lord, twice in the Gospels – and on neither occasion in the Gospel according to St. John – has similar sayings; once about confessing the name of him who confesses His name ‘before the Father’; once about confessing it ‘before the holy angels.’ Here these are smelted together into the one great recognition by Jesus Christ of the victor as being His.
Now I need not remind you of how emphatically, to this clause also, the remark which I have made with regard to the former one applies, and how tremendous and inexplicable, except on one hypothesis, is this same assumption by Christ of judicial functions which determine the fate and the standing of men.
But I would rather point to the thought that this promise carries with it, not only Christ’s judicial recognition of the victor, but also the thought of loving relationship, of close friendship, of continual regard. He ‘confesses the name’ – that means that He takes to His heart, and loves and cares for the person.
Is it not the highest honour that can be given to any soldier, to have honorable mention in the general’s despatches? It matters very little what becomes of our names upon earth, though there they be dark, and swift oblivion devours them almost as soon as we are dead, except in so far as they may live for a little while in the memory of two or three that loved us. That is the fate of most of us. And surely ‘the hollow wraith of dying fame’ may ‘fade wholly,’ and we exult, ‘if Jesus Christ confess our name.’ It matters little who forgets us if He remembers us. It matters even less what the judgments pronounced in our obituaries may be, if He says, ‘That man is Mine, and I own him.’ Ah! brethren, what a reversal of the world’s judgments there will be one day; and how names that have been blown through a thousand trumpets, and had hosannas sung to them, and been welcomed with a tumult of acclaim through generations, will sink into oblivion and never be heard of any more, and the unseen and obscure men who lived by, and for, and with Jesus Christ, will come to the front I Praise from Him is praise indeed.
Now, brethren, the upshot of it all is that life here derives its meaning and its consecration from life hereafter. The question for us is, do we habitually realize that we are weaving the garment we must wear, be it a poisoned robe that shall eat into our flesh like fire, or be it a vesture clean and white? Do we brace ourselves for the obscure struggles of our little lives, feeling that they are not small because they carry eternal consequences? Are we content to be unknown because well known by Him, and to live so that He shall acknowledge us in the day when to be acknowledged by Him means glory and blessedness beyond all hopes and all symbols; and to be disowned by Him means ruin and despair? You know the conditions of victory. Lay them to heart, and its issues, and the tragical results of death; and then cleave, with mind and heart and will, to Him who can make you more than conquerors, who will change your frayed and dinted armour for the fine linen, clean and white, and will point to you, before His Father and the universe, and say, ‘This man was one of Thy faithful soldiers.’ That will be honour indeed. Do you see to it that you make it yours.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
overcometh. See Rev 2:7.
the same. The texts read “thus”.
blot out. Occurances: Rev 7:17; Rev 21:4 (wipe away). Act 3:19. Col 2:14.
book, &c. See Php 4:3.
life. App-170.
but = and.
confess, &c. See Mat 10:32.
Father. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
angels
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
that: Rev 2:7, 1Sa 17:25
the same: Rev 3:4, Rev 19:8
blot: Exo 32:32, Exo 32:33, Deu 9:14, Psa 69:28, Psa 109:13
the book: Rev 13:8, Rev 17:8, Rev 20:12, Rev 20:15, Rev 21:27, Rev 22:19, Phi 4:3
confess: Mal 3:17, Mat 10:32, Luk 12:8, Jud 1:24
Reciprocal: Gen 7:4 – destroy Num 3:40 – General Deu 29:20 – blot out 2Ki 14:27 – blot out Neh 13:14 – Remember me Ecc 9:8 – thy garments Isa 4:3 – written Isa 56:5 – that shall Dan 12:1 – written Zec 3:7 – places Mat 7:21 – my Mat 22:11 – which Mat 28:3 – his raiment Luk 6:23 – your Luk 9:26 – whosoever Luk 10:20 – your Luk 15:22 – the best Gal 6:9 – if Phi 2:11 – every 1Jo 5:4 – overcometh Rev 2:26 – he Rev 3:18 – white Rev 4:4 – clothed Rev 6:11 – white Rev 7:9 – clothed Rev 12:11 – they overcame
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 3:5. He that orercometh is the same as being faithful until death. Clothed in white raiment is explained at the preceding verse. Not blot out his name out of the book of life. It is a universal practice for institutions that consist of individual membership to keep a record of its names in a book. The fact is a basis for the figurative idea of a book of life in which the Lord keeps a list of his people (Mal 3:1 G; Luk 10:20; Heb 12:23; Rev 20:15). The point is that all whose names are there may be considered as those who are in good standing with the Lord. But their names are not put there with “indelible ink” but they may and will be blotted out if they are not faithful. Will confess his name is the same promise that Jesus made while on earth (Mat 10:32).
Rev 3:6. He that hath an ear is commented upon at Rev 2:7.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 5-6.
6. “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life”– Rev 3:5.
This book of life is an allusion to a registry for worthy citizens, but the names of the deceased citizens are erased. This meant exclusion. But there were a few names in Sardis that would not be blotted out of the book of life. It clearly indicates that the names of the unworthy would be blotted out; but a name cannot be blotted out of the book of life, if it had never been recorded in it; so here is positive proof for the possibility of apostasy.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 3:5. He that overcometh shall thus be clothed in white garments. He shall be clothed about, shall be wrapped round and round with the glistering glory of Rev 3:4.
And I will in no wise blot out his name out of the book of life. The book of life is a book conceived of as a register, containing the names of the true citizens of Zion (cp. Exo 32:32; Dan 12:1; Luk 10:20; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; Rev 20:12; Rev 21:27, 12:19. There is no statement here that there is such a process of erasure of names from the book of life as may warrant us in saying that names once admitted to that book are being continually blotted out. Nor is such a thought in harmony with the general teaching of the Apocalypse, which looks rather at the number of the saved and of the lost as being from the first complete. What we are told is, not that some names shall be blotted out, but that certain names shall in no wise be so.
And I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels (cp. Mat 10:32-33). He who has sought no name before men (comp. Rev 3:1) shall have his name con-fessed by his Lord in the great day.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe, Christ doth not say, he that conflicteth, but he that vanquisheth; not he that conquereth once or twice in the spiritual combat, but he that overcomes at last the temptations and persecutions from without, the lusts and corruptions from within: he shall be clothed with white raiment, that is, with robes of glory, as the reward of his eminency of his innocency and virtue, and as a mark of dignity and honour: and farther, I will not blot his name out of the book of life; that is, they shall be enrolled in it, and certainly saved, and I will present them to my Father, yea, I will publicly own them and confess them before God, angels, and men.
Lord, what an honour is this, to know thy people by name, and to call them by name before thy throne, and there publicly to acknowledge them, and proclaim the good done by them! O let it be our care to get first the white garment of grace on earth, and then we shall not miss of the white robes of glory in heaven.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rev 3:5-6. He that overcometh That is finally victorious over his spiritual enemies; shall be clothed in white raiment In the habit of victory, joy, and triumph; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life Like that of the angel of the church at Sardis. See on Php 4:3; Dan 12:1. This passage plainly implies, that some names shall be blotted out from the book of life: that is, some who, in consequence of their adoption and regeneration, were entitled to and fitted for eternal life, shall, through falling from grace, lose these blessings, and come again under guilt, condemnation, and wrath. But I will confess his name Who overcomes to the end, as one of my faithful servants and soldiers; before my Father In the great day of decisive judgment: and as he was enrolled among my believing, loving, and obedient people, he shall continue for ever in their number. He that hath an ear, &c. Let everyone that hears this be animated by so glorious a hope to exert his utmost efforts in this holy and honourable warfare.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 5
Clothed in white raiment; the symbol, in ancient times, of official honor.