FOR GOD HAS NOT DESTINED US FOR WRATH: hoti ouk etheto (3SAMI) hemas o theos eis orgen: (1Th 1:10; 3:3; Ex 9:16; Pr 16:4; Eze 38:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 17; Mt 26:24; Acts 1:20,25; Ac 13:48; Ro 9:11-23; 2Ti 2:19,20; 1Pe 2:8; 2Pe 2:3; Jude 1:4)

How does one put on the helmet of salvation? How does salvation give us confidence in the face of God's wrath, something that some of the Thessalonian believers were fearful that they might experience? These are some of the questions Paul answers in 1Th 5:9, 10.

Stott introduces this section recalling that...

So far Paul has based how we should behave (awake, alert, self-controlled, well-armed - 1Th 5:8-note) on who we are (children of the day and of the light - 1Th 5:5-note). Now he goes on to base who we are on Who God is and on what He has done for us. He makes two great statements (1Th 5:9, 10). (Stott, J. R. W. The Message of Thessalonians. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., U.S.A.: Inter-Varsity Press)

For (3754)(hoti) means since, because, for (this reason) here introduces the reason that as believers, we must put on our armor, especially the helmet, the hope of salvation.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile heaven.
                  -- from Charles Wesley's
                 And Can It Be That I Should Gain?

Not destined us for wrath - But for...salvation. If the juxtaposition of these two eternal destinies (of all mankind) does not cause you to pause and offer up a doxology, nothing will! Let me encourage you dearly beloved of the Father (1Th 1:4-note), pause for just a moment (YouTube - The Doxology or YouTube - Doxology) and offer up a sacrifice of praise (He 13:15-note) to the only One worthy to receive our praises, now and throughout eternity. Amen (Re 4:11-note, Re 5:2-note, Re 5:9-note, Re 5:12-note, Col 1:16-note, Ro 11:36-note)

Paul began this letter with the emphasis that the believers were...

to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, Who rescues (rhuomai-word study) (present tense = not just the day of our justification by faith, but every day of our sanctification by faith [2Co 5:7]!) us from the wrath to come. (More literally = the wrath, the continually coming).  (1Th 1:10YLT-note)

Destined (5087) (tithemi) means first to set, to place or to put. Here it is used figuratively to mean appoint. Our salvation proceeds from God's appointment and is connected with the past act  (Ep 1:4-note) and with deliberate purpose of an infinitely merciful, gracious God. The use of the middle voice indicates that that God thus acted in His own interest, while the aorist tense indicates this event occurred in the past and was a completed event. God, Who acted according to His own will and good pleasure (Ep 1:11-note), has destined believers to salvation as His gracious intention for us. This is a cause for rejoicing for believers do not have an "appointment" with God's wrath! Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus, the Lamb of God Who bore our deserved wrath (Ga 3:13, Jn 1:29, 1Pe 2:24-note, 1Pe 2:25-note, cp Lv 16:22 [Day of Atonement ~ Yom Kippur!], Nu 21:8, 9, Jn 3:14 = lifted up on the Cross [Jn 12:32, 33], He 9:28-note, Is 53:4, 5, 6)

In His message to the church at Philadelphia Jesus declared...

'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. (cf Re 3:10-note)

Comment: Many commentators take this as a promise promise that believers will be delivered from the time of the Great Tribulation that will come upon the entire earth Mt 24:14-21.

Wrath (3709)  (orge from orgaô = to teem, to swell) from the idea of a swelling which eventually bursts, orge then applies more to an anger that proceeds from one’s settled nature. In context this wrath speak of God's just condemnation our intractable rebellion and hatred of God (Ro 1:30-note) deserves.

Hiebert makes the important point that...

God wills not our destruction but our salvation (Ed: This is important to comprehend! cp 2Pe 3:10-note). He has no intention that we should become the subjects of His wrath, fall under its punitive action, when the day of "sudden destruction" (1Th 5:3-note) falls upon the unsaved. He cherishes no angry purposes toward His redeemed children; the divine wrath against sin was diverted from us when by faith we were united with "the Son of his love" (Col 1:13-note). Wrath is the destiny of Christ rejecting souls. (Hiebert, D. Edmond: 1 & 2 Thessalonians: BMH Book. 1996)

Orge in this verse describes God's holy, righteous wrath, which is not an uncontrollable anger His settled opposition to and displeasure with sin.  God’s wrath is his holy hatred of all that is unholy, His righteous indignation against everything that is unrighteous. The picture of the orge of God is an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders.

If indeed the Day of the Lord commences at the midpoint of the last 7 years and the Great Tribulation begins with bowl judgments filled with God's wrath, it would appear that the wrath Paul is referring to here is that described in Revelation 6-19, although obviously it all culminates in the Lake of fire which is a manifestation of His eternal wrath. Either way this truth by Paul is good news...we are delivered (the meaning of the word soteria translated "salvation") from the wrath to come (cp 1Th 1:10-note, 2Th 1:7, 8, 9).

Orge - 36x in 34v in the NAS - Matt. 3:7; Mk. 3:5; Lk. 3:7; 21:23; Jn. 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 2:5, 8; 3:5; 4:15; 5:9; 9:22; 12:19; 13:4f; Eph. 2:3; 4:31; 5:6; Col. 3:6, 8; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2:16; 5:9; 1 Tim. 2:8; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; Jas. 1:19f; Rev. 6:16f; 11:18; 14:10; 16:19; 19:15

Orge represents God's settled indignation and controlled passionate hostile feeling toward sin in all its various manifestations. "Settled" indignation means that God’s holiness cannot and will not coexist with sin in any form whatsoever. Orge is not the momentary, emotional, and often uncontrolled anger (thumos) to which human beings are prone.

Orge as used of God refers to His constant and controlled indignation toward sin, while thumos (which originally referred to violent movements of air, water, etc., and consequently came to mean “well up” or “boil up”) refers more to a passionate outburst of rage. Thumos type anger represents an agitated, vehement anger that rushes along relentlessly. The root meaning has to do with moving rapidly and was used of a man’s breathing violently while pursuing an enemy in great rage!

Orge of God describes the strongest kind of anger which builds and builds until it reaches the end of God’s patience and tolerance with unregenerate, unrepentant mankind and swells into His final, furious anger which He pours out on all those who have persistently rebelled against Him.

William Barclay writes that...

The Greeks defined thumos as the kind of anger which is like the flame which comes from straw; it quickly blazes up and just as quickly subsides. On the other hand, they described ogre as anger which has become habitual...Orge is anger which has become inveterate; it is long-lasting, slow-burning anger, which refuses to be pacified and nurses its wrath to keep it warm...To the Christian the burst of temper and the long-lived anger are both alike forbidden." (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos)

Larry Richards in describing God's anger writes that...

The OT clearly specifies what human actions provoke God to anger. The NT treats wrath as a basic relational state, showing that the unsaved are under God's wrath. But God never acts capriciously in his anger. He always acts in full harmony with his character as a loving, forgiving, compassionate, and just person." (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)

Arthur Pink defined God’s wrath as...

His eternal detestation of all unrighteousness. It is the displeasure and indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin” (Arthur W. Pink, The Attributes of God, p83).

Bishop Trench defines orge as

a wrath of God who would not love good unless He hated evil, the two being inseparable, that He must do both or neither.” Trench adds that orge is an anger “which righteous men not merely may, but as they are righteous, must feel; nor can there be a surer and sadder token of an utterly prostrate moral condition than the not being able to be angry with sin—and sinners” (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000)

Orge is used of our Lord when, after healing the man with the withered hand, He observed the hardness of heart of the Pharisees, and looked upon them with anger (Mk 3:5).

C H Spurgeon writes that...

The wrath of God does not end with death. This is a truth which the preacher cannot mention without trembling, nor without wondering that he does not tremble more. The eternity of punishment is a thought which crushes the heart. You have buried the man, but you have not buried his sins. His sins live and are immortal. They have gone before him to judgment, or they will follow after him to bear their witness as to the evil of his heart and the rebellion of his life. The Lord God is slow to anger, but when He is once aroused to it, as He will be against those who finally reject his Son, he will put forth all his omnipotence to crush his enemies." He adds that "I am certain that to preach the wrath of God with a hard heart, a cold lip, a tearless eye, and an unfeeling spirit is to harden men, not benefit them...The conscience of man, when he is really quickened and awak­ened by the Holy Spirit, speaks the truth. It rings the great alarm bell. And if he turns over in his bed, that great alarm bell rings out again and again, "The wrath to come! The wrath to come! The wrath to come!...There is no trouble like genu­ine conviction of sin. Racks, scor­pions, death—these are troubles to be laughed at, as compared with the weight of guilt pressing on the conscience, the sight of an angry God, and the fear of the wrath to come."

J. I. Packer sounds a sad note writing that

the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter (Knowing God, p. 149).

Vine has an interesting insight writing that...

The subject of the wrath of God recurs throughout the first part of the Epistle (1Th 2:5, 8; 3:5; 4:15; 5:9; 9:22). In this Epistle, which treats especially of the gospel, the differing attributes of God are set forth in a manner which reveals His character as a whole. While the gospel reveals Him as infinitely merciful, His mercy is not characterized by leniency toward sin. The Scriptures never reveal one attribute of God at the expense of another. The revelation of His wrath is essential to a right understanding of His ways in grace." (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook has the following note on "God's Wrath"...

In Scripture, God’s strong and vigorous opposition to everything evil. There is a Greek verb that can be used both of anger and of the swelling of buds as the sap rises. It points to the kind of anger that results from a settled and consistent disposition, and not to a losing of one’s temper. God’s wrath is like that, rather than like human anger on a grand scale. With us, wrath always has elements of passion, lack of self-control, and irrationality. The wrath of God does not." (The Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook, Walter A. Elwell, Ed, Harold Shaw Publ., Wheaton , IL; 1984)

The respected expositor Albert Barnes writes that ...

It is clear that when we think of the word “wrath” as applicable to God, it must be divested of everything that is like human passion, and especially the passion of revenge. It is one of the most obvious rules of interpretation that we are not to apply to God passions and feelings which, among us, have their origin in evil. [God’s wrath] is the opposition of the divine character against sin; and the determination of the divine mind to express that opposition in a proper way, by excluding the offender from the favors which He bestows on the righteous. We admire the character of a father who is opposed to disorder, vice, and disobedience in his family, and who expresses his opposition in a proper way. We admire the character of a ruler who is opposed to all crime in the community, and who expresses those feelings in the law. Why shall we not be equally pleased with God, who is opposed to all crime in all parts of the universe, and who determines to express His opposition in the proper way for the sake of preserving order and promoting peace?

A W Tozer said that...

The holiness of God, the wrath of God and the health of the creation are inseparably united. Not only is it right for God to display anger against sin, but I find it impossible to understand how He could do otherwise

One of the great tragedies of modern Christianity, which sadly has crept into much of evangelicalism, is the failure to preach and teach the wrath of God and the condemnation it brings upon all with unforgiven sin. Instead how often does one hear a truncated, sentimental gospel that is frequently presented today falls far short of the gospel that Jesus and Paul proclaimed. Examine any 19th century Psalter and you will note that many of the psalms in those hymnals emphasize the wrath of God, just as much of the book of Psalms itself emphasizes His wrath. It is tragic that few hymns or other Christian songs today reflect that important biblical focus. Both the Old and New Testament consistently emphasize God’s righteous wrath.

Ray Pritchard has the following note on the forgotten doctrine of God's wrath declaring that...

It is truly a forgotten doctrine, even in the evangelical church. I’ll dare say that many of you have never heard a sermon on God’s wrath—that is, not a full sermon devoted to this one topic. The reasons for this apparent neglect are not hard to find. Most of us would rather hear about love and grace. I know I would rather preach about God’s grace. After all, to speak of the wrath of God makes us appear narrow-minded, judgmental, and God help us, fundamentalist...God’s wrath is difficult to comprehend, so in some ways, this is a doctrine that is easy to overlook. The thought that nice people we know might someday go to eternal hell is so overwhelming—and so disheartening—that we’d much rather not think about it at all." (Forgotten Doctrine: The Wrath of God)  (Bolding added)

J C Philpot (Light Affliction and Eternal Glory)

From the cradle to the coffin, affliction and sorrow are the appointed lot of man. He comes into the world with a wailing cry, and he often leaves it with an agonizing groan! Rightly is this earth called "a valley of tears," for it is wet with them in infancy, youth, manhood, and old age. In every land, in every climate, scenes of misery and wretchedness everywhere meet the eye, besides those deeper griefs and heart-rending sorrows which lie concealed from all observation. So that we may well say of the life of man that, like Ezekiel's scroll, it is "written with lamentations, and mourning and woe."

But this is not all. The scene does not end here! We see up to death, but we do not see beyond death.

To see a man die without Christ is like standing at a distance, and seeing a man fall from a lofty cliff—we see him fall, but we do not see the crash on the rocks below.

So we see an unsaved man die, but when we gaze upon the lifeless corpse, we do not see how his soul falls with a mighty crash upon the rock of God's eternal justice! When his temporal trials come to a close, his eternal sorrows only begin! After weeks or months of sickness and pain, the pale, cold face may lie in calm repose under the coffin lid; when the soul is only just entering upon an eternity of woe!

But is it all thus dark and gloomy both in life and death? Is heaven always hung with a canopy of black? Are there no beams of light, no rays of gladness, that shine through these dark clouds of affliction, misery, and woe that are spread over the human race?

Yes! there is one point in this dark scene out of which beams of light and rays of glory shine! "God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:9

BUT FOR OBTAINING SALVATION THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST: alla eis peripoiesin soterias dia tou kuriou hemon Iesou Christou: (Romans11:7,30; 2Th 2:13,14; 1Ti 1:13,16; 2Ti 2:10; 1Pe 2:10; 2Pe 1:1)

But for obtaining - This strong contrast introduces the positive aspect of God's intention for believers - for obtaining salvation. This could be rendered but for the purpose of experiencing salvation. Note that he does not say "attain" but "obtain" for we can do nothing to attain salvation.

Obtaining (4047) (peripoiesis [word study] from perí = acquisition + poiéo = make) means literally to make around and the idea is the obtaining of something in its completeness. It describes the act of obtaining something or the experience of acquiring something for oneself.  The idea in 1Thes 5:9 is of the possessing of salvation as our present property! It refers to the experience of an event or state which has been acquired.

Peripoiesis - 5x in 5v in the NAS - Eph. 1:14; 1Th 5:9; 2Th 2:14; He 10:39; 1Pe 2:9

Hiebert summarizes this next section noting that...

The salvation He intends for us is described as to its nature (1Th 5:9 ), its agent (1Th 5:9, 10), and its goal (1Th 5:10)...those who obtain this salvation do so according to the appointment and calling of God, hut they must make a willing response to the call and exert personal effort toward its realization. The divine calling necessitates a human response. While salvation is of God, the actual gaining of our salvation as a personal possession demands on our part "a wakeful, soldier like activity, such as will be crowned by the 'winning of salvation,' the glorious end for which 'God destined' them when He first 'called them to His own kingdom and glory' (1Th 2:12)."

Each believer must give diligence to make his calling and election sure (2Pe 1:10-note). It seems clear from the hortatory nature of the context that the emphasis here is upon the human activity needed actually to obtain the salvation. Our versions accordingly use such terms as acquiring, winning, and to gain salvation." Those who now by faith accept God's salvation and actively endeavor to make it their personal possession will enter into "the full attainment of salvation" (NEB) when the Lord comes.

While diligent effort on the part of believers is needed, the added phrase "through our Lord Jesus Christ" leaves no uncertainty as to the real source of all salvation. Salvation can only be obtained through Him. He is the Mediator of salvation, and through Him, whom we have accepted as "our Lord," our hope of salvation will assuredly be realized. (Hiebert, D. E. First and Second Thessalonians).

Salvation (4991) (soteria [word study] from soter = Savior in turn from sozo = save, rescue, deliver) (Click here or here for in depth discussion of the related terms, the noun Savior or soter and the verb, to save or deliver, sozo) describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, destruction and peril.

Salvation is a broader term in Greek than we often think of in English. Other concepts that are inherent in soteria include restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health and well being as well as preservation from danger of destruction.

The meaning of soteria can be summarized by the following 3 aspects...

1) A physical deliverance - rescue from danger deliverance, preservation, safety. For example the writer of Hebrews records that...

2) A religious technical term describing safety of the soul and so in a spiritual sense referring to salvation

3) A Messianic deliverance at the end of this present age.

And this do (do what? express agape love which is unconditional), knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation (soteria) is nearer to us than when we believed.  (Ro 13:11-note) (cf 1Th 5:9-note; He 9:28-note; 1Pe 5:5-note; 1Pe 5:10-note; Re 12:10-note)

In summary soteria means rescue, preservation safe and sound and includes the idea of the delivering of one who is in danger from destruction or peril or suffering (as will occur to those who do not get rescued or escape from the Day of the Lord). (cf Re 3:10-note)

Through our Lord Jesus Christ - Through = by means of. Paul specifies the Source of all salvation which can only be obtained through Him and amplifies this with (1Th 5:10) explaining that the Christ "opened" the door to paradise by His death and His resurrection (clearly implied by the phrase "that ...we will live together with Him" for He would have to have experienced resurrection after His death for us to live with Him) . He is the Mediator of salvation (1Ti 2:5, He 8:6-note, He 9:15-note, He 12:24-note), and through Him, Whom we have accepted as "our Lord," our hope of salvation will assuredly be realized.

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Our Daily Walk - F B Meyer- The Assurance of Salvation - "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."-- Ro 10:9-note.

Salvation is a great word. It is conjugated in three tenses:

The Past Tense - We were saved at the moment when we first trusted Christ. This salvation is a distinct and definite matter, which is ours at the moment we exercise simple faith in Jesus. "Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (see note Romans 5:9).

The Present Tense - "To us who are being saved, Christ is the power of God," such is the accurate rendering of 1Co 1:18. We are being saved perpetually from the love and power of sin. The disinfectant of Christ's Presence is ever warding off the germs of deadly temptation. The mighty arm of the Divine Keeper is always holding the door against the attempts of the adversary. The water is always flowing over the eye to remove the tiny grit or mote that may alight. "We are being saved by His life" (Ro 5:10-note).

The Future Tense - We are being kept by the power of God unto a salvation which waits to be revealed in the last time (1Pe 1:5-note). Salvation is a great word. It includes the forgiveness that remembers our sin no more; deliverance from the curse and penalty of our evil ways; emancipation from the thrall of evil habit; the growing conformity of the soul to the image of Christ, and the final resurrection of the body in spiritual beauty and energy, to be for ever the companion and vehicle of the redeemed spirit.

PRAYER: Oh blessed Spirit of God, we pray Thee to give us the assurance of being the children of God, the sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty; and so prepare us for the glory to be revealed to us, and for that great hour when the whole creation, which now groans and travails in pain, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. AMEN. (See related discussion on Three Tenses of Salvation)

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Devotional by Octavius Winslow - For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, - 1Th 5:9

Salvation is God's greatest work; in nothing has He so manifested forth His glory as in this. He embarked all His infinite resources, and staked all His Divine honor, in the accomplishment of this work so dear to His heart-the salvation of His church. The universe is full of His beauty, but myriads of worlds, on a scale infinitely more vast and magnificent than this, could give no such idea of God as the salvation of a single sinner. Salvation required the revelation and the harmony of all the Divine perfections. Creation affords only a partial view of God. It displays His natural but not His moral attributes. It portrays His wisdom, His goodness, His power; but it gives no idea of His holiness, His justice, His truth, His love. It is but the alphabet, the shadow of God. These are parts of His ways, and how little of Him is known! But in the person of Immanuel, in the cross of Christ, in the finished work of redemption, God appears in full-orbed majesty. And when the believing soul surveys this wondrous expedient of reconciling all the interests of heaven, of uniting all the perfection of Jehovah in the salvation of sinners by the blood of the cross-"Mercy and truth meeting together, righteousness and peace kissing each other"-it exclaims in full satisfaction with the salvation of God-"Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"

The anxious question of an awakened soul, as it bears its weight of sin to the cross, is, "Is the salvation of the Lord Jesus a work commensurate with my case? Will it meet my individual condition as a sinner? May I, in a deep conviction of my guiltiness, venture my soul upon Jesus? Am I warranted, without a work of my own, apart from all my merit or my demerit, to believe in Christ and indulge the hope that I shall be saved?" The Bible, in brief but emphatic sentences, answers these inquiries. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." "Him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out." "By grace are you saved." "If by grace, then it is no more of works." "You are complete in Him." The Holy Spirit giving the inquirer a possession of these declarations, working the faith that receives the Lord Jesus into the heart, the believing soul is enabled to say, "I see that it is a salvation for sinners-for the vilest, the poorest, the most unworthy. I came to Christ, and was received; I believed in Him, rested in Him, and I am saved. Christ is mine, His salvation is mine, His promises are mine, His advocacy is mine, His heaven is mine."

Dear Reader, is your soul saved? Are you converted by the Spirit of God? Everything else in comparison is but as the bubble that floats down the stream. This busy life will soon cease; its last thought, and care, and anxiety will yield to the great, the solemn realities of eternity. Are you ready for the result? Are you in a state of pardon, of justification, of peace with God through Christ? How is it with your soul? Will it be well with you in death, well with you after death, well with you at the judgment-seat of Christ? Have you come to the Lord Jesus as a Savior-to His blood for cleansing, to His righteousness for acceptance, to His cross for shelter, to Himself for rest? Have you fled as a sinner to Jesus as the Savior? Look these questions, I beseech you, fairly, fully in the face, and answer them in your own conscience, and as in view of that dread tribunal at whose bar you will soon be cited. What if you should prosper in temporal and be lean in spiritual?! What if you should pamper the body, and starve the soul! What if you should gain the world-its riches, its honors, its pleasures-and be yourself through eternity a castaway! To die in your sins, to die without union to Christ, to die un-reconciled to God, tremendous will be the consequences; so dire will be your condition, so fearful and interminable your sufferings from the wrath of a holy and righteous God, it would have been good for you never to have been born. The unrighteous will be "punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power."

But there is hope! Does this page meet the eye of a penitent mourner-one whose heart is smitten with godly grief for sin? Be it known you that the sacrifice of a broken heart and of a contrite spirit God will not despise. Despise it! Oh, no! It is the precious, holy fruit of His Spirit in your soul, and in His eye it is too holy, too costly and too dear to be despised. Bring to Him that broken heart and Jesus will bind it up, heal and fill it with joy, and peace, and hope. It was His mission to receive and save sinners-it is His office to receive and save sinners-it is His delight and glory to receive and save sinners; and if you will but approach Him, exactly as you are, He will receive and save you.