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Characteristics of Saints in Heaven (65 Passages)

Characteristics of Saints in Heaven (65 Passages)

Last updated on: November 3, 2025 at 10:04 am by Dave Armstrong

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Characteristics of Saints in Heaven (65 Passages) 2025-11-03T10:04:54-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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Photo credit: Landauer Altar (1511), by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

Texts in blue are those that appear to be wholly or primarily referring to heaven (or in a few cases, Hades). Green texts include a clear reference to both earth and heaven. The rest, I contend, are referring primarily to processes of the life on earth, with the implication (because processes are involved) that perfection will be achieved in heaven. I believe most or all of these apply to the afterlife before the general resurrection, but I may have inadvertently missed something. All passages from RSV.

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General Descriptions

1 Samuel 28:13-19 . . . And the woman said to Saul, “I see a god coming up out of the earth.” [14] He said to her, “What is his appearance?” And she said, “An old man is coming up; and he is wrapped in a robe.” And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. [15] Then Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Saul answered, “I am in great distress; for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.” [16] And Samuel said, “Why then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy? [17] The LORD has done to you as he spoke by me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, David. [18] Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD, and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Am’alek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. [19] Moreover the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

2 Maccabees 15:13-16 Then likewise a man appeared, distinguished by his gray hair and dignity, and of marvelous majesty and authority. [14] And Onias spoke, saying, “This is a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God.” [who had died by this time] [15] Jeremiah stretched out his right hand and gave to Judas a golden sword, and as he gave it he addressed him thus: [16] “Take this holy sword, a gift from God, with which you will strike down your adversaries.”

Matthew 17:1-3 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. [2] And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. [3] And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli’jah, talking with him.

Luke 16:22-31 . . . The rich man also died and was buried; [23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz’arus in his bosom. [24] And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz’arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ [25] But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz’arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. [26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ [27] And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, [28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ [29] But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [31] He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'”

1 Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,”

2 Corinthians 12:1-4 I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. [2] I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. [3] And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise — whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows — [4] and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Ephesians 1:18-19 . . . the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, [19] . . . the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might

Ephesians 2:7 that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.

Catholics believe that the saints in heaven are aware of happenings on the earth. They are not isolated and removed from earthly realities, but intimately involved in them, as Hebrews 12:1 strongly suggests. Witnesses is the Greek word martus, from which is derived the English word martyr. The reputable Protestant Greek scholar Marvin Vincent commented on this verse as follows:

The idea of spectators is implied, and is really the principal idea. The writer’s picture is that of an arena in which the Christians whom he addresses are contending in a race, while the vast host of the heroes of faith . . . watches the contest from the encircling tiers of the arena, compassing and overhanging it like a cloud, filled with lively interest and sympathy, and lending heavenly aid (Word Studies in the New Testament. 4 vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1946, IV, 536).

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; (cf. 8:3-4)

Revelation 5:11-13 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, [12] saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!”

Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; [10] they cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” [11] Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Theosis / Fullness

John 1:16 And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.

1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Ephesians 1:9-10 For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fulness of God. (cf. 1:22-23)

Ephesians 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;

Colossians 2:6-7, 9-10 As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, [7] rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, . . . [9] For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have come to fulness of life in him, . . .

2 Timothy 2:11-12 . . . we shall also live with him; [12] if we endure, we shall also reign with him; . . .

Hebrews 6:4 . . . partakers of the Holy Spirit,

2 Peter 1:4 . . . you may . . . become partakers of the divine nature.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (cf. post-resurrection passages: Lk 20:36: “they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection”; Mt 22:30 / Mk 12:25: “like angels in heaven”)

Perfect Knowledge

1 Corinthians 2:5-7 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. [6] Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. [7] But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. [11] For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. [14] The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [15] The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. [16] “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; [10] but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. . . .
[12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, [18] having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, . . .

Colossians 1:9-10 . . . asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, [10] to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Colossians 2:2-3 that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, [3] in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (cf. Is 55:9)

Colossians 3:9-10 . . . you have put off the old nature with its practices [10] and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

God Shares His Glory

Proverbs 28:12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; . . .

John 17:22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,

Romans 2:7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; . . .

Romans 2:10 but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, . . .

Romans 5:2 . . . we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

Romans 8:16-18 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17] and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. [18] I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 9:23 . . . the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory,

2 Corinthians 4:17 . . . an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, (cf. 3:18)

1 Thessalonians 2:12 . . . God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (cf. 1:12)

1 Peter 4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

1 Peter 5:1 . . . a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. . . . [4] And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory. . . .

1 Peter 5:10 . . . the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ . . .

2 Peter 1:3 . . . through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

“In” God

John 6:56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

John 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 15:4-5, 7 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] . . . He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, . . . [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us . . .

Acts 17:18 . . . In him we live and move and have our being; . . .

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. . . .

Romans 8:9 . . . you are in the Spirit . . .

1 Corinthians 1:30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus . . .

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things in him who strengthens me.

2 Thessalonians 1:12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him:

1 John 2:24, 27-28 you will abide in the Son and in the Father. . . . [27] his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. [28] And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

1 John 3:6 No one who abides in him sins . . .

1 John 3:24 All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. . . .

1 John 4:13, 15-16 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. . . . [15] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. [16] . . . God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Body of Christ

Acts 9:5 . . . “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;” (cf. 9:2: “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”; 8:3: “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison”; 22:4: “I persecuted this Way to the death”; Gal 1:13: “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it”)

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Ephesians 1:22-23 . . . the church, [23] which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 5:23, 29-30 . . . Christ is the head of the church, his body . . . [29] For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, [30] because we are members of his body.

Colossians 1:24 . . . in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

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Photo credit: Landauer Altar (1511), by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

Summary: Compilation of 65 scriptural passages regarding what heaven will be like, and what abilities and characteristics and power and blessings the saints in heaven will possess.

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