and death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, [even] the lake of fire.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20 ends with one sentence that decides the eternity of everyone standing at the great white throne. What settles it is not a record of deeds but a name in a register. Two kinds of books lie open, and this verse tells us which one settles the matter.
God judges the dead by their works, yet the works are not what seals the outcome. One writer explains why the book of life also lies open at this throne — to show what is missing from it:
This is the "resurrection of judgment" that our Lord speaks of in the gospel of John. It will include all the unsaved, and the unsaved alone. The book of life is there, but there is no sign of any saints to be judged. It is opened to show that the names of those to be judged were not there. So they are condemned on both negative and positive grounds. Their names were not written in the book of life, and their works declared them liable to righteous judgment. So they fall without hope under the everlasting sentence of the lake of fire, which is the second death — a sentence from which there is no appeal and no escape.
Could any name at that throne actually be in the book? One writer answers no, and gives the reason:
Then the book of life is mentioned — but note, not to write anyone's name in it. Could any of their names have been in that book? No. None of those whose names God Himself has written in the book of life appear at this throne. God had raised these saved ones from their graves long before. They had shared with Christ in His reign of a thousand years. So they do not appear at the great white throne at all.
Another writer draws the same conclusion from the wording, which leaves no room for an exception:
The names of the condemned were not there. So it is not a bare statement, but one of awful emphasis, that he adds, "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Not a hint of anyone who was found written there. The book of life matched the books of deeds exactly. Their works called for God's final punishment, and to grace they had been indifferent or actively opposed.
If everything hangs on the register, the practical question is how anyone comes to be in it. The answer given is that nothing a person produces can put it there:
To be written in the "book of life" means to have life in Christ. Not our works, not our character, not our religiousness, not our tears, our prayers or our service can put our names in the "book of life." Grace alone can do it, and grace does it, as we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Reader, is your name written there?
Human records get revised. This one, as writers describe it, belongs to God's own purpose and stands:
The Lamb's book of life contains names written there before the founding of the world. This is the book of God's counsels and purposes. He knows the end from the beginning. Before human responsibility began its course, He wrote in it the names of all who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. These are true, born-again believers in Christ. He calls them, justifies them, and glorifies them. He works in their hearts by His Holy Spirit, who has sealed them and marked them off as His own forever. The Lamb's book of life is the record of reality, and out of that book no name is blotted out.
These people have already died once. The sentence here is described as a second and far deeper thing:
Death and Hades delivered up the dead that were in them: and they were judged each according to their works. And their works condemn them. Not a word is said about them in the book of life, and they are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. They are raised from their first death to be cast for ever into that place of torment, from which there is no escape.
For those whose names are in the book, this warning turns into praise. One writer rests that confidence on a promise from Jesus:
We may well send up a hymn of heartfelt praise to God that we whose names are written in that book of life can never come into that judgment. And rejoice in these good words of the Lord: "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).
- The book decides. Works are read out at the throne, but the sentence turns on one thing: whether the name is in the book of life.
- The book is grace. No effort, character, religion, tears or service writes a name there. Believing on the Lord Jesus is how grace does it.
- The book is permanent. It holds names written before the world began, and no name is blotted out of it.
- The book explains the silence. No one at that throne is found in the book. God raised those who are in it long before, and they never come to that throne.
- The book is open now. Whoever hears Christ's word and believes has already passed from death to life. That person never comes into judgment.