1 Thes 5:3 When they say, Peace and security, then sudden destruction comes upon them...and they shall by no means escape. (8) But since we are of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet, the hope of salvation. (9) For God did not appoint us to wrath but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[Part 2 of 3] What is this destruction [in vs 3]? It is related to the salvation mentioned in verses 8 and 9. Salvation in these verses is salvation from the coming destruction through the Lord's coming back, not salvation from eternal perdition through the Lord's death. Fallen man will perish for eternity. That is eternal perdition. We who have believed in the Lord Jesus will be saved from eternal perdition. We have already obtained salvation in this respect. But here Paul is speaking about salvation in another respect, that is, salvation from the coming destruction. Furthermore, in the light of Romans 8:21-25, we shall also be saved from the slavery of corruption of the old creation. All created things are today subject to the slavery of corruption. The entire old creation is enslaved to corruption. Everything, including our physical body, is decaying. Do you know what it means to get old? To get old is to decay. We all are in the process of decaying. The slavery of corruption in the old creation is controlling us, and we are subject to it. But when the Lord Jesus comes and we are raptured, we shall be saved from the slavery of corruption of the old creation. Therefore, the Lord's coming and our rapture will save us from two things: destruction and the slavery of corruption. This is the salvation mentioned in verses 8 and 9. However, the primary meaning is the salvation from the coming destruction. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Thessalonians, pp.151-152. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
