There is no way that the author of a hymn has of knowing just how widely it may be used. In every generation, there are songs which briefly appear and just a few years later they are rarely used. There are other songs which have been around for decades, and there must be a reason for this. There was no way for Daniel S. Warner to know in 1893 that the song he published would be around over a century and be translated and sung in both Russia and Germany and become part of over forty hymnals. It is not sung as much today as it once was, but the message it conveys is timeless.
My name is in the Book of Life,
Oh, bless the name of Jesus;
I rise above all doubt and strife,
And read my title clear.
(Refrain)
I know, I know, My name is there;
I know, I know, My name is written there.
Jesus describes the new birth by which one becomes part of the family of God. The Spirit of God uses the words of God to convict men of sin, righteousness and of the coming judgment (John 16:8) and brings them to a burial in the waters of baptism (John 3:5). The Lord says that if this does not happen, he will never enter the kingdom of heaven. However, when one is baptized, he is added to the kingdom his name is “…registered in heaven (Heb. 12:23). There is a divine book that has within it the names of all who have been born again.
At the final judgment that book which contains the names of all the redeemed will be opened. “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15). It is these words which lie in the background of the hymn written 130 years ago.
Can you know that your name is there? The Holy Spirit has revealed how one becomes a child of God in His family. Believers who repent (decide to turn their lives over to Jesus) are lead by the Spirit to be buried in water, into the death of Jesus, as they call upon God to save them (1 Pet. 3:21).
These words of the Spirit bears witness that if one does obey Jesus his name will be written in that book. The sobering question is whether your spirit can bear witness that you have obeyed the words of the Spirit. There are two witnesses needed to establish truth. The witness has been given from heaven, there is another witness and that is that your spirit (your soul). Can you say that you have obeyed the Lord and I know your name is written there? The Bible does not say “to my spirit,” but says “with my spirit.” The Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am saved (Rom. 8:16).