1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

Text (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

9 For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

Translation and Paraphrase

9.

(We have this hope of salvation) because God (in His work of setting us into his kingdom for his own use) has not appointed us to (suffer the terrors of his everlasting) wrath (against sin), but (he has appointed us) unto the obtaining of salvation through the Lord Jesus, the anointed one.

10.

(The Lord Jesus Christ is he) who died for us (bearing our sins in his own body) so that whether we (live and) are watching (when the Lord returns) or (die and) are sleeping (at that time), we might live together with him.

Notes (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

1.

Christ's death is so perfect a guarantee of salvation that even death cannot rob us of it. Whether we are alive or dead when Christ comes, we shall live together with Him. Our fellowship with the Lord will be uninterrupted by either life or death.

2.

Christians have not accepted God's offer of pardon without God responding to their acceptance. For God has appointed us unto salvation.

(The word here translated appoint (tithemi) is in the Greek middle voice. In this voice it means to place for one's self, (Thayer.) We have emphasized this meaning in our paraphrase by the rendering, In his work of setting us into his kingdom for his own use.)

3.

The wrath of God awaits the disobedient and drunken. See Luke 12:45-46; 1 Thessalonians 5:7. See notes on 1 Thessalonians 1:10, paragraph 8.

4.

The wrath (to which we are NOT appointed) is wrath (Gr., orge) or indignation which has arisen gradually and become more settled. It is not a fit of anger (Gr., thumos) which rises and then subsides.

God has been infinitely patient with sinners. But His just wrath has been building up for a long time, and will finally bring upon them their just destruction.

5.

Some interpreters think that the wrath mentioned here refers to a tribulation period to occur on earth after Christ has taken the church out of the world at the rapture.

However, wrath here is not opposite to rapture, but is opposite to salvation. The wrath probably refers to hell, and such judgments upon sinners. (See the notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and Special Studies II and IV.)

6.

There is considerable meaning in the word obtain in the phrase obtain salvation. This Word (Gr., peripoiesis) means an obtaining, or a preserving, or preservation. (Thayer) The same word is used in 2 Thessalonians 2:14: to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus. Also in Hebrews 10:39: We are of them who have faith unto the saving of the soul.

The idea is that salvation (safety and deliverance) is something that can be obtained and held onto, or it can be lost unto us. (How terrible to lose such a valuable thing:)
It is a blessed consolation, that God has not appointed us unto wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation. Christians do not fear the judgment day. Their sins have been taken away, and will be remembered against them no more. Their sins, having once been laid on Jesus, will never be laid on them.

7.

The fact that Christ died for us is an essential part of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3; Romans 5:8.

8.

The result of Christ's death is that, for those who accept him, whether they live, they live unto the Lord, or whether they die, they die unto the Lord. Romans 14:8.

9.

It will make no difference in our fellowship with the Lord, whether we have died and are asleep when He returns, or whether we are living and watching. In either event we shall live with Him.