Hebrews 12:23

The general assembly and church; here distinguished from "the spirits of just men made perfect"; probably meaning therefore the church on earth, so far as it consists of true believers.

The first - born; the word in the original is plural. It describes either all God's true children, as each admitted, in and through Christ, to the privileges of first-born sons, that is, to a preeminent place in God's favor; or, as some think, the more eminent among them, as patriarchs, prophets, and apostles.

Which are written in heaven; enrolled there in the Lamb's book of life.

The spirits of just men; who await in God's presence the resurrection of the just.

Made perfect; they have gone through the conflict with sin and suffering, obtained the victory, and been made perfect in holiness and blessedness; not in the sense of having reached the consummation of their bliss-which is reserved for the final resurrection-but in the sense of being for ever freed from sin and suffering.