In the judgment-day prophecy of Revelation 20:12-15, the dead who “stand before God” are those who are known by the Lord to have been evil. They are the ones whom Jesus described when he promised that those who “have done evil [shall come forth] unto the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:29, Revised Version) The works  referred to, therefore, must be their works in the kingdom, after they learn, hear, and respond to the message of the open books.

The prophecy says “another book” is also opened. It is styled the “book of life.” The dead who stand before God, and are tried upon the basis of their obedience to the things written in the books, formerly had their names listed, as it were, in a book of death, for they were all in Adam’s “book.” Paul states the thought in a slightly different manner, saying, “As in Adam all die,” but he adds, “even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”—I Cor. 15:22

Thus, Christ’s book of life will then be opened for mankind, and as each individual of the condemned race—awakened from death and enlightened—accepts and obeys the truth, his name will be entered in that book. The opening of this book of life is not to discover whose names are there, but to enter the names of those who, “according to their works,” prove their love for the Truth by which the people will then be judged.—Ps. 96:13