It appears from Scripture that there are two books it now appears that these are two different books with similar names. The first, called "The book of the living," contains all names of all people who are alive. When a person dies, they are blotted out of that book (Psa. 69:28).

The second book is the Book of Life, sometimes called the Lamb’s Book of Life. Unbelievers were never written in this book (Rev. 13:8; 17:8), and never will be if they die in unbelief. This book contains only the names of those who are headed for heaven (Dan. 12:1; Php. 4:3; Rev. 21:27).

But if that is so, is it possible to have our names blotted out of the book of life (cf. Rev. 3:5)?

The best explanation of Revelation 3:5 is that John is using a figure of speech called litotes. Litotes is a form of understatement, or saying something positive in a negative way. We do this all the time. "I will never stop loving my wife" doesn’t mean that I might stop loving her. Rather, it means that I will love her more and more as time goes by. This is what John is saying. Those who overcome "will not be blotted out of the book of life." To the contrary, they will receive more and more of the pleasure of God through their life.

Notice very carefully what Revelation 3:5 does NOT say. It does not say that those who do not overcome will be blotted out. This is a logical fallacy some make. A statement which is true one way is not necessarily true when reversed. Just because all dogs are animals does not mean that all animals are dogs.

Or, to follow the use of litotes, imagine that a loving, committed mother said to her teenage son, "If you mow the yard today, I won't send you to bed without dinner." Assuming that the mother had previously guaranteed that she would never send him to bed without supper, this statement would tell her son that he would get a special meal if he mowed the yard. This is how we should understand Revelation 3:5.