Does, or could, to ‘teleion’ ever refer to heaven in the New Testament?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1995.
You ask if to teleion ever, or could it ever, refer to heaven in the New Testament. My comments here would be two:
- If we think of heaven as a place, then of course it would surely be impossible to use to teleion as a description of heaven itself. Heaven itself is not gradually progressing until it becomes full grown or mature.
If, on the other hand, you are thinking of our state, both in character and in knowledge when we arrive in heaven, then it seems to me that to teleion could be a very appropriate word to describe it.
- The adjective teleios and the verb teleioō are certainly used to describe some aspects of our present state as believers. Hebrews 10:14 tells us that Christ, by his one offering, has perfected us, and done so for ever. Again, in 1 Corinthians 2:6, Paul says that he does speak God's wisdom among those who are perfect, that is, spiritually mature. Scripture, therefore, certainly allows that believers can, in some sense, reach spiritual maturity in this life.
On the other hand, in Philippians 3:12, Paul denies that he is already perfected. Now, none of us would wish to say that Paul at the time that he was writing to the Philippians was spiritually immature. If he was not spiritually mature at that time, no believer has ever attained to spiritual maturity on this earth.
What, then, is Paul speaking about when he says 'in that I am already made perfect'? And in that sense, when was he expecting to be made perfect, if not at the Lord's coming, when, to use John's phraseology, 'we all shall be like him for we shall see him as he is'? Incidentally, why in 1 Corinthians 13:10 does Paul uses the phrase to teleion in the neuter? 'Scripture' in Greek is feminine, 'the law'—as in James 1:25—is masculine, and 'revelation' is feminine.
Yours very sincerely in Christ,
