“John’s vision of the Last Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15 is one of awesome and sobering impressiveness. He sees a great white throne. All the dead, without respect of persons, are brought before the judgment seat of God. “The great and the small,” that is, those who were important and those who were unimportant in this life, are assembled together. There are no absentees and there are no exemptions. Next John tells us that the books are opened. One book can be called the Book of Merit, for it contains a record and remembrance of all the deeds of each one who stands before the throne of God. Another book is the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb (13:8; 21:27). This can be called the Book of Mercy. Here the work of Christ, who died to ransom his people and save them from their sin, is put on the credit side of the ledger, along with the names of all who are destined for acquittal and blessedness. This heavenly register of the chosen is mentioned in various parts of the Old Testament (Exod.32:32,33; Ps.69:28; Dan.7:10; Mark 3:16). John refers to it five times throughout Revelation. St. Paul mentions it in Phil.4:3. All are judged by what they had done, for there is no other way that judgment can be made (see 1 Cor.3:11-15).

Finally the two great enemies of humankind – Death and Hades, which are here personified – are destroyed after giving up the dead that were in them (20:13). These voracious monsters that devour mortals are now overcome and have no more power over humankind. They are thrown into the lake of fire, appropriately called ‘the second death’. The first death (which is but the shadow of death) is of the body alone; the ‘second death,’ which is absolute unmitigated death, is final and complete separation from God, the source of life (Matt.10:28). ‘Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.’

The account in these few verses, in spite of their brevity, is one of the most impressive descriptions of the Last Judgment ever written. John’s vision presents these truths better than any reasoned argument could ever do. The opening of the books suggests that our earthly lives are important and meaningful, and are taken into account at the end. But the consultation of the book of life shows that our eternal destiny is determined by God’s decision, by God’s grace, by God’s amazing goodness.”

(Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation, Bruce, M. Metzger, pp.95-97)

“In Romans 2:1-16 we read that God’s judgment is righteous. What he is affirming is that, although justification is indeed by faith, judgment will be according to works. The day of judgment will be a public occasion. Its purpose will be less to determine God’s judgment than to announce it and to vindicate it. Such a public occasion on which a public verdict will be given and a public sentence passed, will require public and verifiable evidence to support them. And the only public evidence available will be our works, what we have done and have been seen to do. The presence or absence of saving faith in our hearts will be disclosed by the presence or absence of good works of love in our lives (cf. James 2:18; Gal.5:6). The basis on which this judgment is made will be the combination of what we seek (our ultimate goal in life) and what we do (our actions in the service either of ourselves or others) cf.Matt.6:31ff.; 7:24ff. Those who seek God and persevere in goodness will receive eternal life, while those who are self-seeking and follow evil will experience God’s wrath.

God’s judgment is impartial. The greater our moral knowledge, the greater our moral accountability will be. God knows our hearts. The law is a basis of divine judgment. Both Jew and Gentile have some knowledge of God’s law. No one can plead complete ignorance. We have all sinned against a moral law we have known. The point is that all human beings have known something of God (1:20) and of goodness (1:32;2:15), but have suppressed the truth in order to indulge in wickedness (1:18;2:8). So we all come under the righteous judgment of God. The purpose of Romans 1-3 is to prove that all human beings are guilty and inexcusable before God (3:9,19), and in particular that nobody can be justified by observing the law (3:20).”

(Ted Schroder, John Stott: A Summary of his teaching, p.133)