For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
What does the future hold for believers? There is much we do not know about that future. But we are given glimpses throughout the Scripture, although never as much as we might like to know. And this is one of those passages that look to our future.
God has not destined us for wrath. That is the destiny of those who reject God’s offer of salvation. The wrath of God is not the same as that of a human who feels wronged and is out for vengeance. God’s wrath is essentially his righteous judgment against sin. There is a consequence to pay for rebellion.
But, as believers, that is not our destiny. All of us who are in Christ have experienced forgiveness from sin and deliverance from the punishment of a righteous God.
Instead, we are destined for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. We often think of our salvation as something that has already happened. And there is a sense in which that is true. But here, Paul is looking ahead. We will be saved, or delivered, from the wrath to come.
But we are not just saved from wrath. While that is definitely desirable, even better is that we are saved so that we can live with Christ. Whether awake or asleep, alive or dead, we are with our Lord. And that gives salvation a present-tense look.
Because Jesus died for us, we can live with him. We can live with him now. When our body dies, we will continue to live with him. And when he returns, we will experience his resurrection life and live with him for eternity.
Related Posts
The post Destined for Salvation – 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 appeared first on A Clay Jar.
