This is day 3 of a video series called 21 Days of Once Saved Always Saved Salvation Assurance. It’s January 2022 and, in honor of the new year, my church in Marietta GA has asked us to dedicate 21 days to the Lord to draw closer to Him.  Over these 21 days, I’m going through 1 passage of Scripture a day that proclaims our salvation assurance in Christ and shows how salvation can never be lost or forfeited, but is held securely in place for us by our heavenly Father so we can have confidence that we are eternally saved.

Today’s passage is Revelation 3:5:

“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.” (Revelation 3:5 KJV)

These are the words of Jesus, spoken to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos concerning the church at Sardis. This is one of the strongest verses that proves Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS). The key to understanding this verse and interpreting it correctly is identifying who Jesus is speaking of when He starts off with the phrase, “He that overcometh.”

Who is an overcomer?

There are those in the Lordship Salvation movement who would define an “overcomer” as a believer in Christ who has put away all sin and is walking obediently before God, obeying all of Christ’s commands. To walk in obedience is to overcome, overcoming sin. This is a lie and a total distortion of this verse. An overcomer is not someone who puts away sin and is walking obediently. That’s not what the word means. Lordship Salvationists have invented this definition of the word “overcome” because they reject the Gospel that we are saved by God’s grace through faith alone and not of ourselves. They think salvation is up to us to walk in obedience, establishing our own righteousness before God. So they have created their own meaning of the word, “overcome.” This is a rejection of the Gospel.

To understand this verse correctly, we need to let Scripture define and tell us what the phrase, “He that overcometh,” means. The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. The same author John wrote the book of 1 John, where he clearly defined for us what it means to overcome. We looked at this in detail in Day 2 of this series, but I’ll summarize it here. Here’s what John wrote about what it means to overcome.

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God… For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1, 4-5 KJV)

John starts of by saying whoever believes in Jesus is born of God. We are born again or born spiritually when we believe in Jesus for our salvation, believing that He is God’s Son Who died on the cross to pay for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. Then John says, “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.” So, an overcomer is someone who is born of God. When we are born of God, we have overcome the world.

Then John says, “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” We overcome the world not by our own obedience or by putting away sin, but by our faith in Christ, by believing in Him. 

Then, just to make sure it’s crystal clear, John sums it up with this: “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” An overcomer is someone who believes in Jesus. That’s it.

Overcomers are not a special class of believers, those who have put away sin and are walking obediently. According to John, every single person who believes in Jesus for their salvation is an overcomer. We overcome this world and are victorious because of our faith in Christ. Our faith, believing in Christ, makes us overcomers.

So, when we look at Revelation 3:5, the meaning becomes clear:

“He that overcometh (He that believes in Christ), 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.” (Revelation 3:5 KJV)

We can also see that this is the correct definition of an overcomer from the context of chapter 3, which starts with this in verse 1:

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” (Revelation 3:1 KJV)

The people in the church of Sardis were not saved believers who were living in disobedience. It says they were dead. They were never saved. This verse doesn’t give any indication that they were saved at one time and lost their salvation. It says they were dead. They were gathering as a church and thought they were saved and had a reputation for being saved, but they were in fact dead, never saved.

We see this also in verse 3:

“Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:3 KJV)

These are people who had received the Gospel. They had heard it, but they didn’t hold fast to it. They didn’t believe it. They heard the truth about Jesus, but they never committed to believing in Him for their salvation. So, Jesus tells them to repent. 

The word “repent” does not mean turn from sin. Look it up. “Repent” in the Greek is the word, “metanoeō,” and it means “to change one’s mind.” In other words, “to believe.” Jesus is telling them to believe in Him.

Also, look at the last phrase: “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” This is a description of how God will come upon unbelievers. We never see God telling His children that He will come upon them as a thief. In fact, God’s Word says the opposite concerning those who believe in Christ:

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4 KJV)

So, the context of Revelation 3:5 is clear. When Jesus says, “He that overcometh,” He is speaking of those who believe in Christ. To believe in Christ makes you an overcomer.

Now that we’ve identified that an overcomer is simply someone who believes in Christ, let’s look at the rest of the verse:

“He that overcometh (He that believes in Christ), 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.” (Revelation 3:5 KJV)

Jesus first says that the one who believes in Him shall be clothed in white raiment. White raiment speaks of righteousness. We who believe will be clothed in righteousness. Notice that we don’t clothe ourselves through our own obedience. We don’t establish our own righteousness. The white clothing is given to us. It is done to us. We are clothed in white raiment. This clothing is not something we earn. When we believe, we are imputed, or credited with, the very righteousness of God and are clothed in His righteousness, not our own. Our obedience does not cause us to be clothed in white. Our faith in Christ does.

And then there’s the clincher, the conclusion of this whole matter. Jesus said that every single person who overcomes by believing in Him, He will not blot out his name from the book of life. That’s a guarantee from Jesus that not one single person who believes in Him will lose their salvation. That’s rock solid proof of Once Saved Always Saved. The one who believes in Christ will never have their name blotted out of the book of life. 

At this point, a Lordship Salvationist would say, “But you can give up your salvation by turning to unbelief.” No, you can’t. In the days to come in this series, we’ll look at verses that also show how it is impossible for a believer in Christ to fall into unbelief so as to forfeit their salvation. God has taken it upon Himself to keep His children from falling. We’ll look at that in days ahead. He is a good Father and not even one of His children will be lost. 

So, it comes down to this:

Salvation = God’s Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Nothing more. Nothing less. There are no other requirements to be saved than to believe in Jesus.

Once you believe, you are born again and you are forever an overcomer, forever victorious. And Jesus promises to never blot out your name from the book of life. 

So how about you? Can you say with certainty that you are an overcomer and that Jesus will never blot out your name from the book of life? Do you have that kind of absolute certainty that you are saved? Time is getting very late. Don’t take the chance of missing out on God. Prophetically, the current “Age of Grace” where God is giving people time to turn to Him for forgiveness is almost over. When it ends, it will be too late. God’s judgment is coming. Those who are not saved will be separated from God for all eternity. Don’t take chances with God. Don’t play with Him. Take Him seriously.

If you are not 100% sure you are saved, don’t put it off any longer. You can know with certainty that you have eternal life today. Do it now before it’s too late.

Making Sure You Are Saved Is As Easy As ABC

Admit to God that you have sinned.

Believe that Jesus, God’s Son, died to pay for
your sins 100%, was buried and rose from the dead.

Call upon Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and save you.

If you make that decision to call upon Him, God gives you this assurance:

“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13 KJV)

If you are still not sure, I’ll include a link to a video I did called, “What is the Gospel (in 6 Words)?”

Thank you for watching.