When are believers translated into the kingdom of Christ according to Colossians 1?
According to Colossians 1, believers are translated into the kingdom of Christ at the moment of salvation. At that instant, they are translated from darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, which is presently in heaven, not on earth. This translation occurs at salvation.
Les explains that the kingdom is not now on earth; it is in heaven. Paul therefore speaks of our citizenship being in heaven. In Colossians 1, he states plainly that at the moment of our salvation we were translated from darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, which is in heaven. When Christ returns to the earth with His kingdom, believers will be with Him. They will come back with Him, though not in physical bodies of reproduction or male and female; Jesus said we will be as the angels, yet we will be bodily present. So the translation into Christ's kingdom occurs at salvation, and the future return with Him is when the kingdom is set up on earth.