In Matthew 25:31-46, you proposed an interpretation that the Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats immediately upon his return. While we can understand the passage in that way, it does not require that interpretation, nor does it exclude other possible interpretations.
They clearly are gathered before the throne at the same time. Agree? With that being the case, why would they not be separated to His right and left hands immediately at that time? There is nothing to suggest that there is any kind of significant delay between the judgment of the sheep and the judgment of the goats.
Of course, in my view, this all happens in eternity rather than Jesus judging billions of people one by one for who knows how long, so I don't think we should even view the judgment of the sheep and goats in relation to time as we know it.
In fact, according to amillennialist theology, the separation of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46 does not happen immediately after Christ takes His throne. Instead, they believe that Christ already reigns spiritually from heaven, and the final judgment—including the separation—will occur at the end of history.
Matthew 25:31-46 is not talking about the first time Jesus takes His throne. It only is talking about the time when He will finally judge the world while sitting on the throne that He's already been on for almost 2,000 years.
Therefore, given that the sheep/goat separation takes place at the end of history, the presence of Mortals during the Millennial Period is not a problem for either point of view.
You continue to miss the point I'm making in this thread, which is not about the idea of mortals being on the earth during the thousand years, but rather is about the idea of mortals inheriting the kingdom of God when Jesus returns at the last trumpet. That contradicts both 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and Matthew 25:31-46.
Even under the Premillennial system, this event is linked to the Great White Throne judgment rather than an immediate separation upon Christ's enthronement.
Maybe under your Premillennial system, but a vast majority of Premills that I'm aware of do not make any link between Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20:11-15 and instead see those as describing completely different events.
But it defeats your point. It is always more convenient to ignore ideas that defeat your point isn't it?
It did not defeat my point at all. But, there is nothing wrong with me preferring to actually talk about what I intended to talk about when I created this thread. Hello?
There is no sense in which someone can be partially transformed into an immortal being.
I never said otherwise. Please try to talk to me instead of your strawman.
I disagree. The kingdom of God that is to be inherited isn't a spiritual condition; it's a physical condition.
You say you disagree and then you proceed to say the same thing I have been trying to say all along. Inheriting the kingdom of God in its fullness in the future is something we will do bodily. We will have immortal bodies at that point, but we obviously don't have immortal bodies yet right now.
The transformation from mortal to immortal is generally understood as a physical condition in Christian eschatology.
Right. When did I say otherwise? When you look at what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15 it relates to our BODIES. That's what I'm talking about. When we inherit the kingdom of God at the last trumpet when Christ returns, we will inherit it with immortal BODIES.
Even Amillennialists interpret passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 to mean that believers will receive glorified, incorruptible bodies at the resurrection.
Yes, Amillennialists like me. What is the name of the strawman you're talking to here? I have never said otherwise.
There is no Kingdom of God in the Spiritual sense that exists apart from the Physical Sense.
What do you mean by that? We do have physical bodies, but, as Paul said about the current kingdom of God that we're in:
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit
It does not seem that you understand what Paul was saying in this verse.
Then we agree on the main point that I'm making in this thread which is that mortal flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God when Christ returns at the last trumpet since that contradicts passages like 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and Matthew 25:31-46. But, you can't be satisfied with that. You have to find a way to argue with me about something instead.
Perhaps you haven't noticed, but I have stopped calling it the "Millennial Kingdom" a long time ago because of you and WPM. For many years now, I have been calling it the "Millennial Period" because the aim of the Millennial Period is God's purpose to vindicate his name among the nations in the presence of Israel.
I think we should stop calling it that because scripture never does. It refers to the thousand years and refers to Jesus reigning during the thousand years, but the reality is that He will reign forever and not just for a thousand years (Isaiah 9:6-7). So, it's not a Millennial kingdom, it's an eternal kingdom that Jesus reigns over. The thousand years is the time during which Satan is bound.
Spiritual happenings don't cut it with regard to fulfilled prophecies.
This says it all about you. Peter would definitely disagree with you about this because He related the spiritual happening on the day of Pentecost long ago directly with Joel 2:28-32. God pouring out His Spirit is a spiritual happening that started almost 2,000 years ago and that was prophesied by Joel long before that.
Jesus often provided physical, observable miracles—such as healing the sick, raising the dead, and controlling nature—to validate His messianic identity. These miracles served as objective evidence that He was fulfilling prophecy and demonstrating divine authority. The same will be true of God when he vindicates the holiness of his name. Ezekiel 36:23 is not a spiritual happening.
When someone is spiritually made a new creation in Christ, is that a physical, observable miracle? Your indifference about spiritual things is disturbing.
