9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
Destination: salvation! God’s assignment or appointment for believers is not to wrath but salvation. That is our target, our objective. God has pre-determined our terminus, the endpoint of our faith. So we need to get on track with this truth because it affects how we live our daily lives.
Attaching “pre” to that English word leaves many a bit skittish, especially when we read about predestination in Romans 8:29 and Ephesians 1:5, 11. But the underlying Greek here uses a term for a different word group, so we need not get side-tracked in the theological debates over predestination and election. We are concerned only with God’s purposes for believers in this passage.
We have been saved from His righteous wrath through what “our Lord Jesus Christ” has done for us. Using what some call the full title of the Lord, this includes a sense of belonging. He is “our” Lord. He is the Master before whom all will someday bow, the one whom the winds and waves obey. He is Jesus, the one born to Mary, taking on human flesh. And He is the Christ, the Messiah who came as promised throughout the OT. Paul uses this exact description thirty times in his letters. Outside of Paul’s writings, the phrase is used twice in Acts (both in relation to Paul), three times in Peter’s epistles, and twice in Jude. Clearly, Paul was quite fond of using this epithet of the one whom he considered himself unworthy to serve.
The Lord’s purpose for believers is not wrath. Far be it that one who so loved the world (John 3:16), who demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), would ever allow us to experience His wrath against all sin that was poured out on Christ on the cross. There, His anger was spent; it was exhausted. Christ’s death was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise that the soul that sins will die. He substituted Jesus for us to take the punishment that was due to us. It is inconceivable that the believer now should face the wrath of God. That could only happen if the death of Christ were not sufficient. Yet Jesus Himself said, “It is finished.” We believe and echo out, “Sufficient!”
Notice Paul ties this truth to the warning to not “sleep as others do” (1 Thess. 5:6). But if a believer does sleep, that is, becomes lackadaisical concerning the Lord’s return, he along with all believers will still “live together with Him,” that is, Christ. What a promise! Let us act like those who are spiritually awake; but even if we don’t, our salvation is still secure!
Lord, Your great promise of assurance motivates me to live for Your return.
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