Context No. 2814 of 4322 · Revelation

Revelation 20:7-15: in context

7And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison 8and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. 10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away. There was found no place for them. 12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

After the thousand years Satan is released, deceives the nations one final time, and gathers them like the sand of the sea against the beloved city. But there is no battle to speak of: fire comes down from heaven and consumes them, and the devil is thrown into the lake of fire forever. Then John sees the great white throne. Heaven and earth flee from the face of the One seated there, the dead great and small stand before him, and the books are opened, along with one more book, the book of life.

This is the final reckoning, and it is sobering. Every life is laid open and judged by what it did; nothing is overlooked. But notice that second book. The works are all weighed, and yet the decisive question is whether a person's name is written in the book of life, the record of those who belong to the Lamb. Judgment is thorough and real, and grace has been keeping a book of its own all along.

Is my name written in the book of life, my hope resting not only on my works being weighed but on belonging to the Lamb?

Sources

Revelation 20:15: "If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:12: "The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works."
Philippians 4:3: "Help these women... whose names are in the book of life."