Verse 9
For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Appointed us not unto wrath ... Although the wrath of God was not elaborated in this paragraph, it is the background against which every line of it is written. Some are appointed unto wrath, namely, the rebellious and sinful enemies of God and all righteousness; and a prerequisite of salvation is an awareness of its opposite. Morris' comment on this is:
Whoever thinks he can smile at God's wrath will never praise him eternally for his grace. One of the things that gave salvation so full a meaning to New Testament Christians was that they were sure of the wrath of God and knew that Christ had rescued them from a terrible fate.[17]
Obtaining of salvation ... "The natural meaning of this is `the acquiring of salvation,' making it (salvation) to some extent to be a matter of human activity,"[18] which of course it is! When the apostles exhorted people to "work out" their own salvation, and to "save yourselves" from a perverse generation, such were not idle words but present urgencies. Nor did any of them pause to explain with every mention of what people were to do, that of course man cannot be his own saviour. Our own generation has stressed the latter fact (and it is a fact) to the extent of failure to make it clear to every man that if he desires to be saved there are definitely some things he must do, the same being neither optional, unessential or unnecessary. Such a truth is inherent in what is said in this ninth verse.
Whether we wake or sleep ... Here the meaning is, "whether we live or slumber in the sleep of death" we shall participate in the fellowship of Christ at his coming.
[17] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 95.
[18] Ibid.
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