“But another scroll was opened; it is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:12b,

The Scroll of Life

11. (a) What is “the scroll of life,” and whose names are recorded in this scroll? (b) Why will the scroll of life be opened during the Thousand Year Reign?

¹¹ John speaks of “the scroll of life.” This is a record of those in line to receive everlasting life from Jehovah. The names of the anointed brothers of Jesus, of the great crowd, and of faithful men of old, such as Moses, have been recorded in this scroll. (Exodus 32:32, 33; Daniel 12:1; Revelation 3:5) As yet, none of the “unrighteous” resurrected ones have their names in the scroll of life. So the scroll of life will be opened during the Thousand Year Reign to permit the writing of names of others that come to qualify. Those whose names do not get written in the scroll, or book, of life are “hurled into the lake of fire.”​—Revelation 20:15; compare Hebrews 3:19.

12. What will determine whether a person gets his name written in the opened scroll of life, and how did Jehovah’s appointed Judge set the example?

¹² What, then, will determine whether a person gets his name written in the opened scroll of life at that time? The key factor will be the same as it was in the days of Adam and Eve: obedience to Jehovah. As the apostle John wrote to beloved fellow Christians: “The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:4-7, 17) In the matter of obedience, Jehovah’s appointed Judge set the example: “Although [Jesus] was a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered; and after he had been made perfect he became responsible for everlasting salvation to all those obeying him.”​—Hebrews 5:8, 9.