Is the resurrection of Col 3:1 the millennium?

To understand the parable of Revelation 20 regarding the millennium a person needs to understand that Satan is bound by Jesus (prevented from deceiving them) when the individual Christian is obedient, and loosed to deceive them when they are disobedient.

Re 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

During times of obedience, they are said to "reign" with Christ. During times of disobedience they do not "reign" in this life, Rm 5:17.

Ro 5:17 For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Jesus gives individual Christians the keys to death and Hell. Meaning that they can choose to obey or disobey the commandments of God, Matt 16:19.

Mt 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

To understand this parable or message in Tongues the reader must view the Thousand years as the “obedient Christian life”.

The Greek word Teleo (End – Strongs 5055) is used three times in this chapter. Indicating that the end of something has been reached.

The word is used in this chapter to indicate either the “end” of obedience or the “end” of disobedience.

It is helpful to understand that the Bible tells us that the End/Goal (Teleo 5055) of our faith is Salvation, 1 Pet 1:9. This fact has bearing on this parable and its interpretation.

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end (Teleo 5055) of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Rev 20 verses 2 and 3 begin with Satan being bound. This is the case when a Christian individual lives an obedient life on earth.

Re 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, Re 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled (Teleo) and after that he must be loosed a little season.

We are told that He will not be loosed until the thousand years are fulfilled or end (Teleo).

This suggests that Satan is loosed when a Christian’s obedience comes to an end.

Verse 4 shows that obeying the Gospel is equivalent to "reigning in this life", Ro 5:17.

Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Verse 5 begins with Satan unbound and deceiving the dead people.

Re 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished (Teleo). This is the first resurrection.

Dead people do not live again (participate in the resurrected Christian life, Col 3:1) until their disobedience ends, and Satan is again bound and unable to deceive the people due to their obedience to the gospel of Christ.

In verse 5 "Teleo" is used to indicate that the dead (In sin) do not live again and experience the resurrected life in Christ until the thousand years are finished/accomplished (Teleo).

By using the words "live again" verse 5 illustrates that these people were previously participating in the obedient Christian life before they sinned.

At the point of their "sin," they are referred to collectively as "the rest of the dead".

This concept of being "dead in sin" while being a Christian is sometimes referred to as sleep, as it is in 1 Thess 4:13 and 16.

1Th 4:13 ¶ But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

It is seen from Rev 20:5 that when Christians refrain from sin they live the obedient Christian life. They do not live this resurrected life until they are obedient, Col 3:1.

Verse 7 again indicates that when the Christian’s obedience or the millennium expires/ends (Teleo) Satan is again loosed to deceive them.

Re 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired (Teleo), Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Col 3:1 — If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Is the resurrection of Col 3:1 the millennium?

No.

Outline of Biblical Usage says that the Greek word for "risen" here means:

• to raise up together from mortal death to a new and blessed life dedicated to God

Thayer's Greek Lexicon has:

• to raise up together from moral death … to a new and blessed life devoted to God: ἡμᾶς τῷ Χριστῷ (risen from the dead, because the ground of the new Christian life lies in Christ's resurrection), Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1

This is clearly figurative speech. It corresponds to the "new person" people feel they have become and figuratively refer to as "born again", which is a completely different experience from the literal "born again" that John talked about.

Paul plainly refers to resurrection in Col 3:1.

No.

He suggests that His readers had already experienced this resurrection.

Yes, but it is in the figurative sense.

Romans 6:5 — For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection

It appears to be the same resurrection that He speaks of in Romans chapter 6:5.

Yes, but at the moment, people are only "planted" (as in the symbolic burial of baptism). The planted seed must grow and mature, and only at the end ("shall be") will it be resurrected, like Jesus, as an immortal spirit.

Revelation 20:5 — But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

In particular, Col 3:1 seems to correspond with Revelation 20:5.

Out of context like this, that verse is very misleading.

The "first resurrection" refers to what was described in preceding verses, occurs at Christ's return, and does correspond to a resurrection to an immortal spirit.

"But the rest of the dead" refers to those in the "second resurrection", at the end of the Millennium, when the vast majority of mankind will be resurrected in a mortal physical state, and given their opportunity of salvation and judgement.

The resurrection of those spoken of in Colossians 3:1 is something that happens to certain people.

The millennium of Revelation 20:5 is a specific time period.

The critically important factor showing why those two things cannot be the same, one thing, is that Paul speaks in the present tense, of a particular, spiritual resurrection from the dead having already happened to living Christians at that time: not to all the corpses of all the dead (the General Resurrection). When Paul wrote of believers in Christ having already been raised with Christ, those who believed a literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth had started, did not exist. How could they, when they all knew at that time that Christ was yet to appear in glory?

You are conflating a future event (as held by those today who think Christ will literally reign on earth for a literal 1,000 years) with something that happens to every Christian the moment they believe in Christ - they are 'raised' to newness of life, a life that will never end, at that point. This has been on-going for nearly 2,000 years now, and still many people today think we await the start of a literal millennial reign of Christ on earth.

Revelation 20:5 speaks about "the rest of the dead" - Colossians 3:1 speaks of all the Christians back then who had already "risen in Christ" when they were born again. Therefore, the resurrection of Colossians 3:1 cannot possibly be the still-future resurrection that begins immediately prior to Christ ushering in from heaven the Day of Resurrection and Judgment.