In this study today, I would like to take a look at the concept of Christ’s love for His Bride, the love for His elect people. I would like to open this study up with a verse from Ephesians 5 and discuss this concept of how deep, amazing, and intricate God’s love for His people really is.
As we open up to Ephesians 5:25, we read:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This statement tells us that husbands, on the earthly plane, are to love their wives as Christ loved His church and gave Himself for it.
The question to be asked then is how did Christ love His Church? Also, is it possible to define this type of love? How is this described in the Bible? What does it mean that He loved His Church and gave Himself for it?
These questions are actually answered within the verse. Again it says:
…even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
So this love has to do with Him giving Himself for His Church in some way, shape, or form.
We find the definition of what this true love is in the Gospel of John. So let us go to the Gospel of John to define this great love that God has for His people, His Bride. We are breaking into a rather large teaching here in chapters 14 and 15 of the Gospel of John. In the middle of this teaching, Jesus says in John 15:13:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So this is how He gave Himself for His Church. In this case, the Bible says that He laid down His life for His friends. This is because there is no greater love, and God loved His Bride, the Church, with the greatest possible love that there is.
How did He do this? He did this by laying down His life for His friends. His friends are equivalent to His Church, His elect. These are terms that are synonymous when talking about God loving His people. These are who His people are. This is the Church that is made up of His elect people, not the building, not the church members, but the eternal Church of God, those who are elect, those who are saved; and here it says that He calls them “His friends.”
So now we ask another question. If Christ gave His life for His friends, His church—the greatest possible love—why did He have to do this?
The simple answer to this is found in Romans 6:23 where the Bible says:
For the wages of sin is death…
He did this because we sin. Adam and Eve were the first to sin. Our great-great-great-grandparents and on down the line sinned. Because of sin, there is death then that would follow.
Think about death in this sense. If you had a pet that lived with you for a number of years and then died, what happened to it? It is no more. It is no longer with you and it does not exist anymore.
So the consequence of sin was death, which means that we would simply cease to exist and no longer live. However, because of this, Christ gave up His life. He is the One who laid down His life for His friends.
Now we ask another question. This great love that Jesus Christ showed for His people, when did He do this? When did He lay down His life for His friends? When did He give His life so that His friends, His people, would not have to go through what we could refer to as ceasing to exist or no longer being alive?
Did He do this in 33 A.D.? Is that when this happened? No. What He did in 33 A.D. was a demonstration of what He had done before the foundation of the earth.
We read about this in Revelation 13 where there is one verse that describes this for us. In Revelation 13:8, we read:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb…
We need to pay attention to this. The Lamb is referring to Jesus, and it says that He was:
…slain from the foundation of the world.
He was not slain twice in the sense that He did not make payment for sin twice. When He made payment for sin, it was “once for all” [note: for all of His elect], and this was done before the foundation of the earth. This is one of the verses that proves that Jesus Christ paid for the sins of His people before the foundation of the world. He died in their place and demonstrated this great love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” and He did this before the foundation of the world.
So even before God created the world, the sins of His Bride were paid for. This is a concept that we need to get straight. We need to make sure that we understand that before God created the world, the sins for His Bride were already paid for. This is because that is when He was slain. That is when He made payment for sin. Therefore, the suffering that He endured on the cross was simply a demonstration of Him making payment for the sins of His people.
This means that these individuals, this Bride, these elect, His friends, the ones whom He endured the wrath of God for, they were at that time justified, each one of them, each person whom He elected, that Bride of His. When He suffered before the foundations of the earth, those people were justified regardless of the grievousness of their sins; therefore, the demand of the Law could be justified.
Remember that Romans 6:23 says:
For the wages of sin is death…
So the demand of this Law was satisfied. To be just means that you are no longer guilty. Those individuals were now officially and legally made just.
When was this? It was before the foundation of the world. That is when He was slain. Therefore, each one of these people were born into the world. As they were born into the world through the 13,000 years of history, what happened?
One thing is for sure. It was guaranteed from the moment that they were conceived in the womb of their mother that they would never be punished for their sins. This was guaranteed. Instead, at some point in their life, God would apply His Word to their heart and give them that new soul. Even before they were born, there was this guarantee because Christ had already paid for the sins of His people. He was already slain before the foundations of the earth.
With this idea in mind, let us now take a look at this concept. We have people who are alive today that I will categorize into three separate groups to see where each individual falls. As I do this, ask yourself which category you fall under. Each one of us, however old or young, falls into one of these three categories.
You might be thinking that on the spiritual level there are really only two categories: the saved and the unsaved. Actually, there are three. Obviously, there are the saved. This is one category. You could be a saved individual currently living as a child of God. You are saved. You have your brand new resurrected soul already and you are living as a child of God on this earth.
The second category that you could possibly be in is unsaved and not chosen of God. This means that your sins were not paid for before the foundation of the world. Your sins were not in view because Jesus only paid for the sins of His Bride, His elect, His friends. Eventually, you will wind up in the lake of fire. Whether you die ahead of time or you are still alive on October 21, 2011, your body, dead or alive, will be part of that big inferno.
Let us read about this second category of human beings in Revelation 20. We read in Revelation 20:14-15:
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire…
This will be October 21, 2011.
…This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
So anyone not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire. When was this Book of Life written? It was written before the foundation of the world. When was Jesus slain? He was slain before the foundation of the world. This means that these unsaved people who were not chosen of God will not be saved regardless.
You may not know whether or not this applies to you because you may not know if you are saved. If you are saved, that is the first category that you could be under. If you are unsaved and you are not chosen of God, you will eventually be cast into the lake of fire.
The third category that a living human being could potentially be under today is as one who is unsaved but chosen of God. You have not received your new resurrected soul as of yet; however, eventually you will. You will before you die because this is guaranteed. This is guaranteed because before the foundation of the earth, Jesus paid for your sins through His death, through His suffering of God’s wrath. He suffered in order to make payment for the sins of His people, His Bride, His elect, His friends.
Let us look at Ephesians 2 to look at those who fall under this category. Maybe you are in this category. Hopefully, if you are not saved today, you can pray that you are in this category and that God will eventually save you. In Ephesians 2:1-3, we read:
And you hath he quickened…
This means to be made alive.
…who were dead in trespasses and sins: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our [conduct]…
I am translating the word “conversation” as “conduct.” It continues:
…in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
What is Paul saying here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? These people who were made alive were once just like everybody else. They were unsaved.
Paul is discussing here these individuals who were made alive but who were before dead in their trespasses and sins. These people were living like those in category two, the unsaved person who is not the elect of God, and yet these people are under category three. They were unsaved as yet but the elect of God.
This means that something had to happen. What happened? What happened is that they became saved. God was pleased and merciful enough to have written them in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world and then He finally saved them. Before salvation, they were just like everybody else.
So we can see why if we are unsaved today that we cannot differentiate between an unsaved person who is elect or an unsaved person who is not elect. One of them is going to become saved and given a new resurrected soul and be forgiven of their sins, and yet the other one is not. However, before this happens, they both look and act the same.
This is what Paul is saying here. They were:
…by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Those in category three are acting identically to those in category two.
Look now at Ephesians 2:4-5:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Remember, Ephesians 5:25 said:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
God is reiterating this love in Ephesians 2:4:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
This is an incredibly intense love, the best and greatest love that anyone could ever have.
Remember that Jesus said in John 15:13:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And God did this before the foundation of the world for those whom He wrote into the Book of Life, the Lamb’s Book of Life. Those people had this incredible mercy and love extended to them, and then God saved them at some point during their life.
When was John the Baptist saved? The Scriptures tell us that he was saved in his mother’s womb, and so he was blessed and very fortunate to have become saved before he was even born.
Many people, however, are saved much later, for example, like Paul. As an adult, Paul had been railing against the church of God, and yet he was finally saved. This means though that Paul had been living as an unsaved man, just like the other Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day. You would not have been able to tell any difference between him and these others, but then suddenly God saved him. This means that Paul’s name had been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world even though he had been in category three. He was unsaved when he was younger, but he was chosen of God even though he did not know it at the time. God knew this, though.
So now let us look at what God says in the Scriptures about these people who are in this intermediate state, which is that they are unsaved and in category three but they are chosen of God. They are not saved yet. They are unsaved now, but they are chosen of God. Their name is in that Book.
What about this intermediate state? What does God have to say about these people? What is His focus on them?
Let us look at five quick things about these people who are in this intermediate state. The first passage is from the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah where we will read two verses. It says in Isaiah 44:21-22:
Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
When did He redeem them? He redeemed them before the foundation of the world. He is telling them to return unto Him because they have been sinning. But He is focusing on His people, “O Israel,” the Israel of God, the chosen of God. He is telling them to return unto Him because He has already paid for their sins. So He is drawing them. He is calling them to Himself because they are elect of Him. They are chosen of Him and they are His people, the Israel of God. These are not just the blood descendants of Abraham. They are God’s Israel, the spiritual Israel.
Let us look at a second Bible passage about this intermediate state, these people who are unsaved as yet but who are the elect of God. Let us turn to the book of Jude in the New Testament. Jude is the book that is right after 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. This is a beautiful verse about God’s promise to His people whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world. We read in Jude 1:1:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
What does it mean to be sanctified? It means to be set apart. This is the right definition for sanctification. “Sanctify me”; set me apart. When were these people set apart? They were set apart before the foundation of the world. This is when God separated them. All the people who were ever to be saved [note: the speaker inadvertently said “created” instead of “saved”] were written in this Book, the Lamb’s Book of Life, before the foundation of the world. This is when they were sanctified and set apart.
They were also:
…preserved in Jesus Christ…
What does this mean? This is referring to salvation. Just picture something that you let go and do not preserve. It is going to decay and finally rot, right? But if you preserve something, it stays. It continues to have its vitality and life. This is what He means. “Preserved in Jesus Christ” means that when Christ paid for someone’s sins, that person was preserved from death because:
…the wages of sin is death…
This is referring to the second death that we read about in Revelation 20 [note: the speaker referred to “Revelation 13”], which is that lake of fire. The unsaved will be cast into the lake of fire. This is referred to as the second death. But before the foundation of the world, Jesus Christ preserved those who were written in this Book.
So they were set apart by God, they were preserved by God, and then He says:
…and called:
When were they called? How were they called? This is just as we read in Isaiah 44. God is calling them through the Word and through the witness of His people.
When someone becomes saved—those in category one, those who are already saved—what do saved people desire to do? What is their innate desire? Their desire is to witness and share the Word with others, those who are being called by this Gospel call that goes out into all the world. This is what we are trying to here in our fellowship.
Let us go to Hebrews 9 that talks about this calling. We read in Hebrews 9:14-16:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Do you see what God is saying here? This is like a will:
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
If you have a will today, when does this take affect? A will does not take affect until that person dies. When did God die for the sins of His people? He died before the foundation of the world.
Again, He says here in Hebrews 9:15:
…they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
When does man who is unsaved as yet, those in category three, receive this? He already has this guarantee, but when will he personally receive this? He receives this upon salvation at the moment when God gives him that new resurrected soul. He has been called. The Gospel call, the reading of God’s Word, the preaching of God’s Word, the sharing of God’s Word through tracts, through being witnessed to verbally or through the witness of one’s life, however that person hears the Gospel, God gives that person a new resurrected soul. At that time, they receive this eternal inheritance because they have a new resurrected soul that will live forever. Whether they die physically or not, from that moment on, they are alive forevermore.
Another verse is found in Ephesians 2. Again, we are looking at this intermediate state of people who are as yet unsaved but who have been written into the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. We read in Ephesians 2:11-15:
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ…
When were they without Christ? This is when they were still as yet unsaved. They were living as unsaved mankind:
…being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh [near] by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
This was all done by Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, even though we were living like Ephesians 2:11-12 said:
…ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision…having no hope, and without God in the world:
So Christ does this Himself. At some point in their life, He finally calls and saves that person.
There is one more verse that I would like to look at before we make a transition. It is found in Colossians 2. This is the fifth and final look at this intermediate state of unsaved man who will eventually become saved because His name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We read in Colossians 2:13-14:
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Here is the figure of the demonstration of the cross, whereas the reality was before the foundation of the world.
What did He blot out in Colossians 2:14? What was the handwriting of ordinances that was against us? It was the Law. And what was its demand? Its demand was death, that lake of fire, but He blotted it out. When did He do this? He did this before the foundation of the world, and we need to get this straight. Before the foundation of the world, the handwriting of the Law was blotted out.
We are going to see an interesting concept in just a minute. Before we do this and see how the Law—the handwriting of ordinances—was taken out of the way, we are going to read a few verses about this Book. If you are in the Lamb’s Book of Life, you are either saved now, someone from the first category, or you are in the third category. If you remember, the people in the second category are unsaved and will not be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The third category of people are those who are as yet unsaved but chosen of God.
So let us look at this Book. There are a couple of passages in the Bible that tell us that God wrote this Book before the foundation of the world. This is where He placed the names of His Bride. He did this at that time, not after they were born. He did not place their names in this Book because He saw how good they were. For example, He did not decide to save someone in the year 2009 because he noticed how good they were, and so He then decided to save them at that time. No, this was decided before the foundation of the world, before 13,000 years ago.
We will look at a couple of passages about this Book. Let us go to Exodus 32. If you remember, Moses was pleading for the people because they had sinned greatly. We read in Exodus 32:32:
Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.
Moses was saying, “Lord, take me. Forgive their sin and blot me out of the Book. I would rather have them, Your people, be forgiven.” So Moses made reference to this Book.
Isaiah also makes reference to this Book. Let us go to Isaiah 4:3-4:
And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Did you notice what it said in Isaiah 4:3?
…every one that is written among the living…
They were called “holy” and they were “written among the living.” Is this not an interesting way for God to put this? This is that Book of Life that we read about in Revelation. It was called the Book of Life and here it says that it will contain the names of these people who were “written among the living.”
So these people are forever alive and will not die the second death. They might die physically. They may have died one hundred years ago, but their soul is with Christ today and they will get that glorified spiritual body on May 21 in 2011.
God is talking, again, about His spiritual Jerusalem, His people. They are holy because their sins have been forgiven, right? And their sins were forgiven when? Was it when they were saved? They were forgiven before the foundation of the world. The handwriting of ordinances was blotted out before the foundation of the world. They were already forgiven.
Daniel also spoke about this Book. We read about this in Daniel 12 in the Old Testament. We read in Daniel 12:1:
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation…
What does this make you think of? This makes us think of the Great Tribulation because we find this same language in Matthew 24:21-22. So Daniel is making reference to the Great Tribulation of our day
Daniel 12:1 continues:
…and at that time thy people shall be delivered…
Who is going to be delivered by the end of the Great Tribulation on May 21 in 2011? Everyone who shall be found written in the Book. These are the people who will be delivered. This is why it is guaranteed.
If you are still unsaved as of today but your name is written in that Book, then you are going to become saved before the Rapture. This is good news. If your name is in that Book, this is going to happen within the next year and a half because you are going to be delivered. Daniel 12 tells us that if your name is written in that Book and you are unsaved as yet, you are going to be delivered “at that time,” which is the time that we are living in today.
Did you know that this Book is also spoken of in the book of Luke? Let us go to Luke 10. If you remember, the disciples of Jesus were excited because they were casting out demons and evil spirits. In doing this, they were like Christ. They were casting them out and they were really excited because the spirits were listening to them, just like they had listened to Jesus. These evil spirits were coming out of people who were possessed, and then we read in Luke 10:20:
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
He told them that this was the real reason to get excited. This is because if your name is written in Heaven, then you are going to live forever. This is our cause to rejoice.
Rather than just referring to the Book, now God is saying:
…your names are written in heaven.
This is referring to God’s dwelling place where He wrote this Book.
Turn to Hebrews 12 where we will also read about this Book. We read in Hebrews 12:22-23:
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all…
If you remember, Jesus said through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:25:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This was the verse that we started with today. Now notice again what we read in Hebrews 12:23:
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven…
Was Jesus talking about loving the physical church, the First Baptist Church, the Free Presbyterian Church? Is this what He was talking about? No. He was talking about the people who make up His Church, which is not an external building. It is those whose names are written in Heaven. This is where His great love for His church was established. It was before the foundation of the world when His church was composed of the names that He had put in this Book. This was already decided before He even said, “Let there be light.”
One final verse to look at concerning this Book is found in Revelation 17. If you are saved today, your name is in this Book. If you are unsaved as of today, then your hope is that God has written your name in His Book. Revelation 17:8 says:
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
So these people will be deceived because their names are not written in this Book of Life from the foundation of the world.
Do you see how Satan can have this dominion over the church of our day? It is because their names were not written in this Book, and so they are able to be deceived. God allows this to happen because this is part of His judgment process.
Overriding all of this is the immeasurable love of God. This extends to what people? To those whose names were written in this Book before the foundation of the world.
As we draw to a close here today, let me read Jeremiah 31:3. This is that love that God has for these people whom God has put in that Book. This is a beautiful verse. Jeremiah 31:3 says:
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Do you understand why you were drawn? Have any of you ever been drawn out of alcohol or drugs or a sexual addiction, anything that we deem today as being the most rotten and heinous crimes that can be committed?
Well, we need to look at this verse. The person who was saved by God was loved with an everlasting love. This means that this love started beyond 13,000 years ago. It started when God wrote that person’s name in His Book. He is saying, “Because I have loved you all that time during all your sin, through the sin of your youth and even into adulthood, even though you have done all of that, I have always loved you and have never taken My love from you. This is why I drew you. This is why I drew you to Me and finally gave you a resurrected soul. It is because I have loved you since the foundation of the world when I wrote your name in My Book.” This is a beautiful concept.
To bring this to a close, I would like to touch on one final concept. We say that the people who are unsaved but who have their names written in this Book are in an intermediate state. Did you know that there is a name for them in the Bible? They are also known as widows. Have you ever considered this term and the phrase “widows and orphans” in the Bible? What is God talking about when He uses these terms? Is He talking about the poor woman whose husband has died?
Here is what God means spiritually about “widows,” these people who are in category three, which means that they are not yet saved but their names are written in this Book of Life. Why are they widows then? Let us see.
Turn to Romans 7 where we read about this idea of a “widow.” We read in Romans 7:1-4:
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
This is a tough analogy that God is giving us. But who does the Law of God represent here? Is it the wife? Is it the husband? It is the husband. The husband is representing the Law of God.
Who is the wife representing? The wife is representing unsaved man. This wife that is married to the Law of God are those who fall into category two. They were not written in this Book. And this Law, represented by the husband, will throw you into death, into perdition, because you have adulterated that marriage. You have violated the Law of God, represented by the husband. This means that you have committed adultery against your husband.
Deuteronomy 22:22 says:
If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die…
This is what is going to happen to unsaved man who falls into category two. He is unsaved and not written in this Book of Life. This person is called the wife here and will be cast into the lake of fire for her adultery.
How do I know that this is referring to spiritual adultery? Does not James 4 say this? James is right after the book of Hebrews. James 4:4 says:
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Spiritual adultery is what is in view here. When a man sins, he is committing adultery against his spouse, the Law of God. This is spiritual adultery.
But unsaved man who is married to the Law of God is never widowed. He stays married to the Law of God. The Law of God is the husband of the unsaved. Throughout his entire life, he is married to the Law of God. In this case, this person will be cast into the lake of fire at the end.
What about unsaved man who falls into category three? Who is he or she represented by? He is unsaved as yet but he is written in this Book of Life. This person is someone who does not have a husband. Why? This is because this person is represented by the widow.
So what happened? The husband represented the Law of God, remember? But the Law of God was dead to her. This is because she was “dead in Christ.” We read about the death of this husband in Romans 7. The Law of God was dead to her before the foundation of the world if her name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Therefore, those in category three are not committing adultery; they are widowed. Because they are widowed, they are eligible to marry another, which is Jesus Christ. This relationship is represented by Christ as the Bridegroom and them as the Bride.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This is because they are “dead to the law by the body of Christ,” as Romans 7:4 declares.
The beauty of this is that from the time that someone from category three is conceived in the womb, all the way to the point of salvation, they are considered a widow. They are unsaved as yet but their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
This is why people witness to others. Those who are saved and who are in category one witness for the sake of these people. This is why God mandates, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is how God uses His people.
Remember, He said in Jude 1 that you are “sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” You are being called as the Gospel goes out and as you read the Bible. This is when God can save you, through hearing the Word of God, “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
This is the beauty of the mandate that you have if you are saved today. It is for the benefit of those people who fall into category three, those who are yet unsaved but whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. God wants you to be His mechanism and vehicle to call them.
If you are unsaved today, you can pray that your name might be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that you, too, would receive eternal life and not suffer the pains of death. Amen.