The Book of Life

And I saw the dead, the great and small, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the [Book] of Life. (Revelation 20:12a)

In Revelation: Four Views, Steve Gregg notes:

There is a noted differentiation between the books from which the dead were judged and the Book of Life... The latter was mentioned in the promise made to the overcomers in the church of Sardis (Rev 3:5). It is apparently the register of all those whom the Lamb has redeemed. Jesus told the disciples, "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20). The church is composed of those "who are registered in heaven" (Heb 12:23).

The idea of a divine book of life has an Old Testament that is found in several texts. In a prayer of intercession for Israel, Moses prays that God would forgive Israel's sins, and if not, that God would blot Moses himself out of the book God had written (Exo 32:32-33). In an imprecatory section of Psalm 69, David prays that his enemies would be blotted out of the book of the living (Psa 69:28). In a prophecy concerning the remnant in Zion, Isaiah praises God that those whom He has "recorded for life" will be called holy (Isa 4:3). More specifically, Revelation 20:12 is an allusion to Daniel 12:1-3, a text that involves the General Resurrection and the Final Judgment, and which proclaims deliverance for "everyone whose name shall be found written in the book" (Dan 12:1). In each of these Old Testament verses–from the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets–the idea of a book of life or record of the living seems to involve a list of names for those who will be preserved through divine judgment.

In the Book of Revelation, prior to Revelation 20:12, having one's name written in the Book of Life is seen as the ground for (not merely the result of) faithfulness to God through persecution. In Revelation 13:8 and 17:8, the beast accomplishes universal deception, causing people everywhere to commit idolatry, and only those who have had their names written in the Book of Life will be able to resist following the beast. The names are written into the Book of Life by God prior to the deception of the beast, and the writing of the names into the Book of Life is effective to preserve God's people through the deception of the beast.

Both Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 make it clear that the names of the redeemed have been written in the Book of Life "from the foundation of the world." This is consistent with the Apostle Paul's statement from Ephesians 1:4 about the saints being chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world." Preservation through the Final Judgment is a matter of God's sovereign grace.

At the Final Judgment, books that record the works of each person will be opened. Everyone will be judged according to his or her works. But the most crucial book is the Book of Life, for it is only through having one's name written in this book that a person will be spared from the torment described in the following verses.