The Standing of Jewish Saints in the Bosom of Abraham

To answer, we need to clarify (1) where the Jewish saints in the bosom of Abraham are, and (2) what “with God in their standing” and “seated with Christ in the heavenlies” actually mean biblically.

Location of the Jewish saints in the bosom of Abraham

By “Jewish saints in the bosom of Abraham” we are speaking of believing Jews who lived under the kingdom offer prior to the revelation of the dispensation of grace, who died in faith, and are described (using the language of Luke 16) as being in “Abraham’s bosom” or “paradise.”

The biblical evidence points to this as an intermediate state located in Sheol, conceived as within the earth, in a place of comfort and blessing distinct from the place of torment. Thus:

• They are not in the third heaven in the sense of the believer who dies “in Christ” after the revelation of the mystery.
• They are in a blessed, preserved state—paradise, the bosom of Abraham—awaiting resurrection and the kingdom.

So in terms of location, they are not “in heaven” in the same way as the departed members of the body of Christ.

“With God in their standing”

If by “standing” you mean their spiritual status before God, then yes, they are “with God” in the sense that:

• They are secure.
• They are in a place of comfort, not torment.
• They are under God’s favor and care, awaiting the fulfillment of the promises made to them.

Their standing is righteous in the sense appropriate to the revelation under which they lived. They are not in jeopardy; they are held in a blessed condition, analogous to how we would speak of a believer today as “safe with the Lord,” though the exact arrangement and promises differ.

Are we “seated with Christ in the heavenlies”?

You frame the comparison in terms of our being “seated with Christ in the heavenlies.” The passage often cited here is Ephesians 1:3:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."

Several observations are important:

• “Heavenly places” (literally “in the heavenlies”) describes the sphere of the spiritual blessings, not our current physical location.
• The immediate “us” in Ephesians 1:3–12 most naturally refers to the Jewish believers associated with Paul; the Gentile Ephesians are introduced with “ye also” in verse 13.
• The verse does not explicitly speak of us as physically “seated” in heaven; it speaks of being blessed with spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm in Christ.

The common phrase “we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies” is a theological synthesis rather than an exact quotation. It captures a real truth about our spiritual union with Christ, but it should not be pressed into a detailed geography of the intermediate state.

In short, Scripture teaches that believers in this dispensation have their blessings and position tied to Christ in the heavenly realm. It does not say that we are presently located in heaven, nor that our present intermediate state is identical to that of Old Testament or kingdom-era Jewish saints.

Comparison of standing

With that clarified, we can compare:

• Jewish saints in Abraham’s bosom:
• In a blessed, paradisiacal state in Sheol.
• Secure, comforted, awaiting resurrection and kingdom fulfillment.
• Right with God according to the promises and revelation under which they lived.

Members of the body of Christ who die in this age:

• Absent from the body and present with the Lord, with blessings located “in heavenly places in Christ.”
• Secure, accepted in the Beloved, under the terms of the mystery dispensation.

So:

• In terms of acceptance and safety before God, there is a real similarity: both groups are right with God and in a blessed waiting condition.
• In terms of administration and promise, there is nuance: they are connected to the kingdom program and its resurrection hope, whereas we are connected to the heavenly-oriented blessings of the body of Christ.
• In terms of location, they are not where we would place the departed believer in this age.

Thus, you may say that they are “with God” in their standing in the sense of being secure, blessed, and held for future glory. But it is not accurate to equate their situation in detail with the way Paul describes the blessings of those who are “in Christ” in the heavenly sphere in this dispensation.

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