Bible Gem 1993 – Who Was Clement & What is the ‘Book of Life’? (Phil 4:3)

And you too, my faithful partner, I want you to help these women; for they have worked hard with me to spread the gospel, together with Clement and all my other fellow workers, whose names are in God’s book of life.

Phil 4:1-3

• Paul refers to Clement. Who was he and why is he mentioned by name here?
• Why did Paul tag Clement and all his fellow workers in the way he did?

Clement

Now we come to the matter of: which Clement was Paul referring to?

• Clement of Philippi, mentioned here in Philippians 4:3
• Clement of Rome, who became the third Bishop of Rome, (read Pope)
• Clement, the Church Father, who wrote two letters to the believers in Corinth

The name Clement was a very common name in the time of Paul and in the early church. There are some who believe the short list above is one man. i.e. that the Clement, Paul mentioned here is the Clement who later became the third Bishop of Rome and wrote the letters to the Corinthians which are found among the Letters of the Church Fathers. The claim is that he was named in the list because he later went on to be the Bishop of Rome. That is merely conjecture, yet some say it was tradition because Clement is mentioned by Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome’s writings. But that is an unproven supposition. As to whether the Clement of Rome was indeed the third Pope is disputed by the Catholic authorities. The remoteness of both place and time suggests this is an assertion and nothing more, in an attempt to link this Clement who was one of those present in Philippi with the more famous name from Corinth or the even more famous name from Rome.

The saner approach, without appeal to Apostolic or Roman (RC) traditions is to suppose this Clement was simply a follower of Christ in the church in Philippi and nothing more. Why did Paul mention him here in his letter to the Philippians? Ask Paul when you see him.

The Book of Life

• Just whose names are written in the Book of Life?
• What is the Book of Life anyway?
• Is it a reference to departed saints as some suggest?

If you look back at the Propositional Analysis I used back in Gem 1992 you will be able to work out the answer to the matter of whose names were written in Book of Life. The punctuation of the passage makes it clear that all of the aforementioned names were in the Book of Life.

Not only is it clear from the punctuation and the layout of the Propositional Analysis, but Paul also states clearly, “all whose names are in the book of life“.

Just what is or was the Book of Life? There are seven references in Scripture, six of which come from the book of Revelation and two of which are labelled as the Lamb’s Book of Life. There are two more references in the Book of Psalms (Ps 69:28 and Ps 139:16) which refer to the book of the living. i.e. those who were in the land of the living at the time.

And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Phil 4:3

All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

Rev 3:5

And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

Rev 13:8  

The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.

Rev 17:8  

I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.

Rev 20:12  

And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Rev 20:15  

Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Rev 21:27  

There is one more reference which some take to be referring to the Book of Life. I don’t agree (hence, I have not coloured it) but I add it to the list so that you have the full list.

And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

Rev 22:19  

Furthermore, there are some who interpret the Book of Life reference in Phil 4:3 as the Book of the living, but they interpret the Phil 4:3 reference to mean departed saints, which to me seems extremely odd. Especially so when Paul’s focus has been on the Life of the Age to Come back in Philippians Chapter Three. Why would you switch the obvious reference for something else?

Let me state my interpretation clearly. I believe the Book of Life and the Lamb’s Book of Life are referring to the names of all those who Christ knows to be His faithful followers, covered by His blood and having been given the robe of righteousness and whose names will not be blocked out of the Book of Life. I.e. those who can be assured of their salvation. See the Gem series on this beginning with Gem 160 Unwaivering Abraham Gems and the Nuggets I wrote on this: Unwaivering Abraham

Phew! I have now covered the questions related to this Sparkling Passage.

Next Gem we will move on to some of Paul’s classic statements.

I say ‘Every day above ground is a good day’. However there is something far better than this life. That is the Life of the Age to Come; Life as God intended it in the beginning.

Ian Vail

You can have assurance of your name written in the Book of Life. It is not some pie in the sky when we die notion. It’s the sealed real deal. Ask me or any Bible believing Christian you know about it.

Ian Vail

Man’s way leads to a hopeless end…God’s way leads to an endless hope.

Anon

You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me to receive this life. 

John 5:39-40

The G.O.S.P.E.L = God offering sinful people eternal life

B.I.B.L.E = Be informed before leaving earth