276. Obtain Salvation
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wrath is the unavoidable consequence of sin; salvation is the inevitable consequence of grace. The wages of sin is death, which is the result of God’s just wrath over sin. The grace of God is life, which is the result of Christ appeasing the wrath of God over sin.
God has appointed us to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wrath is the justice of a righteous God because of sin. The only way that humans think they can avoid the wrath of God is to deny the existence of God or the character of God. Either: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God;’” or: “My God wouldn’t send anybody to hell.” That is true: your.God might not be an infinitely just God, but that God doesn’t exist, that God is a man-made idol, or that God is a demon god who deceives with lies.
An infinite sin against an infinite God demands an infinite wrath and punishment: that is the True God. Man can make up a false God, but he cannot dictate to the true God what He is like or what He should or should not do. God takes Sin seriously because it destroys a just and holy created universe for His created children to enjoy for eternity and into infinity. But, and that’s a big but, God has not appointed us to wrath; therefore, He has rescued us from hell instead of sending us to hell. In place of just wrath, God has appointed us to salvation. That’s why He sent His Son, our Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord: God thought it up, God initiated it, God carried it out, God finished it, God gives it to us, and God grants faith to believe for salvation. God the Father does it all and He does it all for us because He loves us.
God appeased His own wrath because His Love is actually more powerful. God’s love is a flame that burns away dross and purifies the soul. God’s love is a flood that drains away all sin and evil and cleanses the soul. Through Jesus Christ we have obtained the appointed salvation. What a Reversal! We have obtained undeserved salvation instead of deserved wrath.