THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT.
“But ye are come,” says Paul, “unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the
living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are
written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of
Abel.” Heb. 12:22-24.
With a great show of confidence, either pretended or real, the advocates
of man’s immortality bring forward this text in proof of their position.
That portion of the forgoing quotation upon which they hang their theory
is the expression, “the spirits of just men made perfect,” which they
take to be both a declaration and proof thereof, that the spirits of men
are released by death, and thereupon are made perfect or glorified in
the presence of God in Heaven. A little further examination of the
language will, we think, show that such an assertion is not made in the
text and that even such an inference cannot justly be drawn.
That Paul is here contrasting the blessings and privileges enjoyed by
believers under the gospel dispensation with those possessed by the Jews
under the former dispensation, will probably not be questioned on either
side. Ye are not come to the mount that might be touched [Mount Sinai]
and the sound of a trumpet, &c., that is, to that system of types and
ceremonies instituted through Moses at Sinai, of which an outward
priesthood were the ministers, and Old Jerusalem the representative
city; but ye are come to Mount Zion, to the New Jerusalem, to Jesus, and
to his better sacrifice. These things to which we are come are the
superior blessings of the gospel, over what was enjoyed under the former
dispensation. But where or how does the fact come in, as one of these
blessings, that man has a spirit which is conscious in death, and is
made perfect by the dissolution of the body? It will be seen that if
this be a fact, it is brought in, at best, only incidentally. There is
no proof of it in the expression, “spirits of just men made perfect,” in
itself considered; for they could be made perfect at some future time,
without supposing them conscious from death to the resurrection. The
only proof that can here be found, then, lies in the fact that we are
said to have _come_ to these spirits. This is supposed to prove that
they must be spirits out of the body, and that they must also be
conscious. Then we inquire, How do we come to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and what is meant by the expression?
It is not difficult to determine how we come to all the other objects
mentioned by Paul in the three verses quoted; but how we come to the
spirits of just men made perfect, according to the popular view of that
expression, is not so clear. If we mistake not, the common view will
have to be modified, or the explanation remain ungiven.
Let us see: “Ye are come [or, putting it in the first person, since Paul
brings these to view as present blessings all through the gospel
dispensation, we are come] unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” That is, we in this dispensation no
longer look to Old Jerusalem as the center of our worship, but we look
above, to the New Jerusalem, where the sanctuary and Priest of this
dispensation are. In this sense we are come to them.
“And to an innumerable company of angels.” Angels are the assistants of
our Lord in his work, who now mediates for his people individually. Dan.
7:10. They are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of
salvation. Heb. 1:14. They are therefore more intimately concerned in
the believer’s welfare in this dispensation than in the old. We have
thus come to their presence and ministration.
“To the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written
in Heaven.” That is, we have now come to the time when believers of
whatever nationality, whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s book of
life in Heaven, constitute a general assembly, or compose one church. We
do not now look to Jewish genealogies to find the people of God, but we
look to the record in Heaven. And God now takes his people into covenant
relation with himself as individuals, and not as a nation. Thus we are
come in this dispensation to the general assembly, the church of the
firstborn.
“And to God the Judge of all.” Directly, through the mediation of his
Son, we draw near to God. Passing over for a time the expression under
discussion, the spirits of just men made perfect, we read on:--
“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” We now come to Jesus,
the real mediator, instead of to the typical priesthood of the former
dispensation.
“And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of
Abel.” That is, there is now ministered for us the blood of Jesus, the
better sacrifice, which takes away from us sin in fact, instead of the
blood of beasts, which took it away only in figure.
It can readily be seen how we come to all these things under this
dispensation; how these are all privileges and blessings under the
gospel, beyond what was enjoyed in the former dispensation. But now, if
the spirits of just men made perfect mean disembodied spirits in the
popular sense, how do we come to these as a gospel blessing? This is
what we would like to have our friends tell us. In what respect is our
relation to our dead friends, the supposed spirits of the departed,
changed by the gospel? If there is any sense in which we may be said to
have come to these, we would like to know it.
But again, when do we come into closest contact with a man’s spirit? Is
it when that spirit is disembodied, and has gone far away to dwell in
the presence of God, and is to have no more to do forever with anything
that is done under the sun? Eccl. 9:6. Is it not rather when the spirit
of a man through the eyes of that man looks upon us, through his mouth
speaks to us, and through his hands handles us? Outside the hell-doomed
hosts of spiritualists, will any one say that we enjoy more intimate
relations with a spirit when it is out of the body than we do while it
is in the body? A consideration of this point must convince any one that
the idea of _coming_ to the spirits of just men made perfect cannot
possibly be applied to spirits out of the body.
It will be noticed further that the text does not speak of spirits made
perfect, but of men made perfect. The Greek (και πνεύμασι δικαίων
τετελειωμένων) shows that the participle, “made perfect,” agrees with
“the just,” or “just men,” and not with “spirits.” When, then, we
inquire, are men made perfect? There is a certain sense in which they
are made perfect in this life through the justification of the blood of
Christ, and sanctification of his Spirit; and they are made perfect in
an absolute sense, as in Heb. 11:40, when they experience the final
glorification, and their vile bodies are made like unto Christ’s most
glorious body. Phil. 3:21.
If it is said that the text refers to this latter perfection, then it is
placed beyond the resurrection, and affords no proof of a conscious
disembodied spirit. If it refers to the former, then it applies to
persons still in this state, and not in death. To one or the other it
must refer; and apply it which way we may, it does not bring to view a
spirit conscious in death. Therefore it fails entirely to prove the
point in favor of which our friends produce it.
In harmony with the context, we apply it to the present state, to men in
this life, to a blessing peculiar to the gospel, to the justification
and sanctification which the believer now enjoys through Christ. And in
this sense we see how we come to it, as to all the other things
mentioned by Paul. We come to the enjoyment of this blessing ourselves,
and to communion and fellowship with those who are also in possession of
it.
Finally, to show that this not a view devised to meet any exigency of
our position, we will bring to its support a name which with all will
have great weight, and with many will be final authority. Dr. Adam
Clarke, on this passage, says:--
“In several parts of this epistle [to the Hebrews], τελειος, the just
man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who
is justified and saved by Christ Jesus; and τετελειωμενοι are the _adult
Christians_, who are opposed to the νεπιοι or babes in knowledge and
grace. See chap. 5:12-14; 8:11; Gal. 4:1-3. _The spirits of just men
made perfect_, or the _righteous perfect_, are the full-grown
Christians; those who are justified by the blood and sanctified by the
Spirit of Christ. Being _come_ to such implies that spiritual union
which the disciples of Christ have with each other, and which they
possess how far soever separate; for they are all joined in one Spirit,
Eph. 2:18; they are in the unity of the Spirit, Eph. 4:3, 4; and of one
soul, Acts 4:32. This is a unity which was never possessed even by the
Jews themselves, in their best state; it is peculiar to real
Christianity; as to _nominal_ Christianity, wars and desolations between
man and his fellows are quite consistent with _its_ spirit.”
The reader is also referred to Dr. C.’s note at the end of Heb. 12.