1 Thessalonians 5:9
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →God has destined His people not for wrath but for salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
What Does 1 Thessalonians 5:9 Mean?
Paul grounds the believer's hope in God's own purpose: 'God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation.' Whatever judgment falls on a heedless world, that is not what God has set His people toward. He has destined them instead for salvation, and that salvation comes 'by our Lord Jesus Christ,' through Him alone.
This is the assurance beneath all the watchfulness Paul has urged. Believers stay awake not in dread of wrath but in expectation of salvation, for God Himself has appointed them to it. The contrast is stark and comforting: not wrath, but salvation; and the means is named clearly, the Lord Jesus Christ, who secures it for His people. Christian hope rests not on our own performance but on God's purpose and Christ's work. To know that God has destined you for salvation steadies the heart against fear of the coming day. The same Lord whose return we await is the one through whom we are saved, so His coming is our hope, not our terror.