🫴 1 Thessalonians 5:9 | Wrath vs. Salvation

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Happy Wednesday, {{first_name | everyone}}!

I’m excited to discover the meaning behind three important words in our memory verse. Let’s jump right in!

In today’s email…

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For God has not ________ __ ___ _____,

but to ______ _________ _______ our Lord ______ ______.

1 Thessalonians 5:9

Our memory verse lays out two possible destinies: wrath or salvation.

For many people, that framing alone is unsettling or offensive. But Paul’s point is not to stir fear. It is actually to remove it.

The Thessalonians do not need to wonder which side they are on. They are not drifting toward judgment. They are “destined” — marked, fixed, and set — for salvation through Jesus.

To feel the weight of that reassurance, it helps to slow down and look closely at the words Paul chooses to use.

1. orgē (pronounced or-GAY) — “wrath”

In modern English, wrath often sounds like uncontrolled anger or emotional outburst. But that is not how Paul is using the word.

Orgē in this context refers to purposeful, consequential judgment.

It is God’s righteous response to evil. In the Old Testament, this kind of “wrath” is not petty or impulsive. It is restorative justice. It is the righting of what has gone wrong. God’s wrath removes corruption so that creation can be healed.

This is why the prophets speak of the Day of the Lord as both terrifying and necessary. Evil cannot simply be ignored. It must be confronted, exposed, and ultimately eliminated.

When Paul says believers are not destined for wrath, he means that God’s righteous judgment against evil no longer falls on those united to Christ.

2. sōtēria (pronounced soh-tay-REE-ah) — “salvation”

The salvation mentioned in our verse is about future deliverance. Final rescue. The full setting-right of God’s people when Jesus returns.

Sōtēria carries the sense of being brought safely through danger. It includes forgiveness, but it does not stop there. It points toward healing, restoration, and life made whole again.

This is the destiny Paul says God has appointed for his people.

Which destiny sounds better to you? Wrath or salvation?

At this point, though, an astute Bible reader may question: Why does Paul say we are destined “to obtain salvation”? Why not simply remove the word ‘obtain’ and leave it as simply salvation being our destiny?

Let’s also take a closer look at that word “obtain.”

3. peripoiēsis (pronounced peh-ree-poy-AY-sis) — “obtain”

Paul uses peripoiēsis in his sentence for a specific purpose. This word means acquisition, possession, or secure ownership.

Paul includes it to press the truth deeper. Salvation is not an uncertain future outcome hanging in the balance.

Just as God’s wrath is purposeful and directed, salvation is deliberate and secure.

Through Christ, believers are no longer at risk, but have been decisively claimed by God (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Salvation now defines our position, our future, and the way we are meant to live in the present.

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I’ve visited several foreign countries and one of the most difficult parts of the process is entering a new one. The lines are long, the paperwork extensive, the security questions tiresome.

But when I come back home to the United States, everything changes.

There is a separate line waiting for me at the airport. A line for U.S. citizens. It usually moves quickly. I hand over my passport, they glance at it, and I’m waved through. I belong!

That experience offers a helpful picture of what Paul is getting at.

For those who are in Christ, our destination is settled. We carry a different kind of passport. Heaven is not a place we are hoping to qualify for at the last minute. It is home. And because of that, fear no longer gets to run the show.

When we believe God is watching us primarily to punish mistakes, we shrink, hide, and perform. But when we trust that God has marked us for salvation, we become honest, repent freely and love more openly.

We stop treating obedience like a fragile contract and start living it as a grateful response.

Salvation is not earned by points or maintained by anxiety. It is a gift, given through Jesus, meant to be received and embraced.

Paul wants the Thessalonians to realize which line they are standing in. And he wants us to know it too.

Pray 🙏

Father, thank you for the rock-solid assurance you give in Christ. Help me to live as someone who belongs to you. Free me from fear-driven faith and teach me to rest in your grace. Let confidence in your salvation shape how I love others today.
Amen.

Here are a few resources to help you dig deeper into the verse and its themes:

For God has not destined us for wrath,

but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:9