There are many Bible verses that are taken out of the
context of the passage they are found in to support various Christian doctrines. In order to understand passages, the entire
passage needs to be read, and then it has to be related to the time period that
the passage is referring to. We then
need to be sure that our interpretation can be verified and not denied by other
passages in the Bible.
Matthew 25:46 is one of these passages. It reads, “Then they will go away to eternal
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Several questions immediately come to mind. What time period is this talking about? Who are “they”? What is meant when is says that the righteous
will “go away…to eternal life”?
The chapter Matthew 25 is describing the future judgment of
the “nations”. This judgment will take
place immediately after the second coming of Jesus Christ. During this time period there will be mortal
human beings, on earth, who survived the tribulation.
Christ is on the earth.
There will be people living on the earth at this time who started believing in Christ during the tribulation during the tribulation period. There will be other people who still do not believe. These two groups of people are represented by the sheep, (the ones who believe in Christ), and the goats, (the ones who do not). The people will be judged on how they treated each other during the tribulation period. (Matthew 25:37-45).
There will be people living on the earth at this time who started believing in Christ during the tribulation during the tribulation period. There will be other people who still do not believe. These two groups of people are represented by the sheep, (the ones who believe in Christ), and the goats, (the ones who do not). The people will be judged on how they treated each other during the tribulation period. (Matthew 25:37-45).
There will also be a group of people on the earth who will be resurrected at that time. These are people who died during the tribulation period believing in Christ. Revelation 20:5-6 says “This is the first resurrection. Blessed
and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no
power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign
with him for a thousand years.” Revelation
20:5-6 is referring to Matthew 25:46.
Revelation 20:5-6 indicates that before these people were
judged at this point in time, they were subject to “The second death…” (Revelation
20:6). If that is the case, these human
beings are not yet immortal because they can die. It is here that the righteous people, those who survived the tribulation and those who were just resurrected, are judged and receive eternal life, immortality.
Matthew 25:46 confirms this where it states clearly that, “Then
they will go away…the righteous to eternal life.” (emphasis added).
