Harvest 1874
Well-Known Member
Had you taken the time to discover how the OT saints entered Heaven, you would not have wondered about this.
Prior to the resurrection of Christ, all the OT saints were in Sheol/Hades. After the resurrection of Christ, He took them all to Heaven when "He led captivity captive", and perfected them in Heaven. Although we are not told explicitly that they all received the gift of the Holy Spirit, we know implicitly that just as the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all believers on the day of Pentecost, those in Heaven would also have received the gift of the Spirit and thus rendered "perfect" (complete).
After the resurrection and ascension of Christ all the NT saints entered the presence of Christ in Heaven immediately. The first to do so was Stephen (Acts & & 8) and subsequently Paul says that for the Christian to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So to deny that any saints are in Heaven is to deny Bible truth.
The complete picture is presented to us in Hebrew 12:22-24, which speaks of the New Jerusalem, which is in Heaven. Also note that what you quoted from Heb 11 is clarified in Heb 12.
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, [THE NT SAINTS] and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made *perfect [Gk teteleiōmenōn = perfected], [THE OT SAINTS]
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
*Strong's Concordance
teleioó: to bring to an end, to complete, perfect
Original Word: τελειόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: teleioó
Phonetic Spelling: (tel-i-o'-o)
Short Definition: I complete, accomplish, make perfect
Definition: (a) as a course, a race, or the like: I complete, finish (b) as of time or prediction: I accomplish, (c) I make perfect; pass: I am perfected.
You asserted all these same points once before under the thread, The thief on the cross!?, which we in turn responded so we will not waste the time here going over them all over again, however for any who are interested they are post #'s 123, 124, 158, 161-163