For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

This last portion of the passage is a reminder to us, as Christians, that we are set apart for God’s purpose and consequently can face the day of the Lord with confidence. Our physical death or the coming of Christ, either one, should not bring a sense of dread or fear because, “God has not destined us for wrath.” Rather, we look forward to the day of the Lord and a time in which we will reign with Him, if indeed we belong to Christ (2 Timmothy 2:11-12a). 

With the seemingly disappearance of terms like “sin,” “unrighteousness,” and “God’s wrath,” from the vernacular of our culture, we should remember that God has not changed and neither has His Word. Ignoring the issue of the wrath of God will lead to a lack of a sense of urgency in the church, consequently diminishing the impact that the church has in a culture that is moving away from the truth of God’s Word. The wrath of God remains and it remains on all of those who are outside of Christ. Consider these examples from scripture:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…

    Romans 1:18

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John 3:36

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…

        Romans 2:5

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment…

    2 Peter 2:9

We see the wrath of God all throughout scripture, spotlighting the importance of Jesus’ obedience on the cross on our behalf, and the urgency that each of us should have in assuring ourselves that we have indeed been saved. For only when we reject the world and its ways, repent, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, do we begin to experience real life, abundant, and eternal. And that is what Paul is reminding us about, that God has not destined us to wrath rather that we are obtaining salvation through faith in Christ. So whether we are here on earth or pass from this life, we will be with the Lord.

So, because of this spiritual reality, in the life of every born again believer in Jesus, we should be doing some things that assist other believers in their walk with Christ. The first is that we should be encouraging one another. If you have ever wondered why regular church attendance is necessary and vital in your walk with Christ, you need not look any further than the reality that it helps in fulfilling our need of receiving encouragement. Through the local church, we receive encouragement and we can give it to others as well. Consider the following:

…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

    Hebrews 10:24-25

There it is again…“And all the more as you see the day drawing near.” We are to be sober, alert, spiritually awake, paying close attention to what is going on around us, all the while, anticipating the day of the Lord as it approaches. And in addition to encouraging others, we should be building each other up. The word for “building up” is edification. Consider the following:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

        Ephesians 4:11-13

Another reason to be a part of a local church…to receive the equipping that the leadership of the church has been called to provide. Walking with the Lord will require us to both receive and give encouragement and to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God. And this is all possible because, as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit of God living within us. 

So, as the day of the Lord approaches, we need not have a sense of fear and dread as the world should have rather we, as born again believers in Jesus Christ, can approach that day with confidence just as we approach the throne of God with confidence each day (Hebrews 4:14-16). We have been redeemed from the wrath of God that will come on all who are outside of Christ. This should be reason enough for us to live lives that are starkly different from the world and making the most of every opportunity that God gives us in proclaiming the gospel to our family, friends, and everyone in whom we come in contact!

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…

Colossians 1:9-10