Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Rescued from Certain Doom


They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10, The Message)

I'm glad that Paul was not interested in being politically correct when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica—or any other letter for that matter.  Here he tells the believers in Thessalonica that the only person who can rescue us from certain doom is Jesus, or as the ESV puts it: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Notice what Paul either states implicitly or implies here:

1.  There is wrath coming
2.  We are by rights, subject to that wrath; we need deliverance from it.
3.  There is one person who can deliver us from this wrath: Jesus.

Much as the world (not to mention part of the Christian church itself) hates the idea of the penal substitutionary sacrifice of Christ—which is to say that in dying on the cross Christ paid the penalty for sin and was a substitute for us—Paul embraces it here, and well he should, because this is our only way of being delivered from the wrath to come. 

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