Hebrews 12:23

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

and to the church of the firstborn ones [i.e., those who have received an inheritance from their Father], whose names are recorded in heaven. [See Luke 10:20]. [You have come] to God, who is the Judge of all people, and to the spirits of righteous people who have become [morally] perfect [i.e., that great company of God’s people who have gone on to their heavenly reward],

Cross References

Luke 10:20

Nevertheless, do not rejoice over the [evil] spirits submitting to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven [i.e., in the book of life. See Rev. 3:5; Heb. 12:23].”

John 5:27

And He gave His Son authority to carry out judgment [upon mankind] because He is the Son of man [Note: The Greek actually says “a son of man”].

Acts 20:28

So, pay close attention to your [own] lives, and to all [members] of the flock [i.e., the congregation] of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [i.e., elders, shepherds or pastors]. Provide [spiritual] food for the church of the Lord which He purchased by [shedding] His own blood.

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now [i.e., during the church’s infant state] we see in a mirror [Note: God’s word is elsewhere likened to a mirror. See James 1:22-25] indistinctly [i.e., because of having only partial knowledge and prophecy], but then [i.e., when the church matures and has the completed Scriptures], we will see face to face [i.e., clearly]. Now I have [only] partial knowledge, but then I will have full knowledge, just as [God has] full knowledge of me.

1 Corinthians 15:49

And just as we [now] appear [in both a physical and spiritual body] like the man who came from dust [i.e., Adam]; we will also [someday] appear [in both a physical (?) and a spiritual body] like the man who came from heaven [i.e., Christ].

1 Corinthians 15:54

But when this [body] that can decay has been clothed with one which cannot decay, and this [body] that can die has been clothed with one which cannot die, then the Scriptural saying will be fulfilled [Isa. 25:8], “Death has been swallowed up [i.e., eliminated] by victory.” [Note: The reference here is to the time when believers will experience victory over death by being resurrected or taken directly to be with God].

2 Corinthians 5:8

We are encouraged, I say, and would rather be away from our body and at home with the Lord.

Ephesians 1:22

And God placed everything in subjection under His [i.e., Christ’s] feet, and appointed Him to be head over all things to the church,

Philippians 4:3

Yes, and I am asking you also, [my] faithful partner [Note: This person is unknown, but may have been one of Paul’s preacher companions], help those women, for they have worked hard with me in [spreading] the Gospel, along with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life. [See Rev. 3:5; Heb. 12:23].

Colossians 1:12

[May you] give thanks to the Father who has enabled you to share [i.e., eventually] in the inheritance of the saints [i.e., God’s holy people] in [the kingdom of] light.

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in [spite of] my sufferings for your sake, and I am filling up [i.e., completing] in my physical body what was lacking in the afflictions Christ endured for His body’s sake, the church.

1 Timothy 3:5

For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how will he be able to take care of the church of God?

Hebrews 11:4

By [having] faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. [And] because of his faith he was commended by God for being righteous, when God expressed approval of his offerings. By means of his faith, Abel still speaks [to us], even though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:40

because God had planned to give us something better [than they got], so that they would not be complete without us. [Note: The idea here is that these faithful people of Old Testament times did not receive the fullest of blessings until Christ came to make them available to both them and us together].

Hebrews 2:12

for He says [Psa. 22:22], [Note: In the following three Old Testament quotations the writer represents Christ as the speaker] “I will declare your [i.e., God’s] name to my brothers, [and] in the presence of the assembly I will sing [a hymn of] praise to you.”

Hebrews 9:27

And just as it is destined for people to die one time, and [then] after that to be judged,

James 1:18

It was God’s purpose to bring us into being [spiritually] by the message of truth, so that we could become a kind of “first fruits” of those He created. [Note: “First fruits” here suggests either that Christians are the best of all of God’s creatures (Num. 18:12), or that they were the first to be converted, with many more to come].

1 Peter 2:23

When He was spoken to with harsh insults, He did not reply in the same way. When He was made to suffer, He did not threaten [His tormentors], but instead entrusted Himself to God, [whom He knew] would make a righteous judgment [in the matter].

Revelation 13:8

And everyone who lives on earth will worship the beast, [even those] people whose names had not been recorded in the book of life belonging to the Lamb, who was killed [i.e., in prospect] from the creation of the world. [Note: This sentence could also read “...not been recorded from the creation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed”].

Revelation 14:4

These people are the ones who did not practice sexual immorality with women, for they were virgins [Note: This probably has reference to people who avoided idolatry]. These are people who followed the Lamb wherever He went. They were purchased from among mankind to be the first fruits [devoted] to God and to the Lamb.

Revelation 20:15

And if any person’s [name] was not found recorded in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 6:11

And a white robe was given to each one of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the [full] number of their fellow servants and their brothers would be killed like they were.

Revelation 6:9

And when the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for [believing and preaching] God’s message, and for the testimony [about Jesus] which they had maintained.