Jesus Christ is our complete savior. A tremendous part of our enjoyment of the complete salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ is the knowledge that we are saved from the “wrath.” The Word sets forth this great truth for born-again believers.
I Thessalonians 1:10:
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us [rescued us, snatched us from danger] from the wrath to come [the coming wrath].
What an exciting truth to thrill our hearts! We have eternal life, and we do not have to go through this wrath that is definitely coming. Let’s look at what this wrath is, what it means to us that we are saved from the wrath to come, and what we do because we know we are saved from the wrath to come.
“The wrath” period refers to the time period which is also referred to as the Day of the Lord, the apocalypse, the tribulation. It is the period of God’s judgments. The wrath period will occur after we have been gathered together with Christ at his return.
II Thessalonians 2:1-3:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ [“the Lord” in the majority of the critical Greek texts] is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
The Day of the Lord will not come until there is “a falling away first,” also translated “a departure first,” which indicates “the gathering together.” This means that the Church of the Body of Christ (all born-again believers) will already have been gathered together and will be with Christ before the wrath of the day of God’s judgment comes to pass. We are saved, or delivered, from the wrath to come; therefore, we do not have to be shaken or troubled or afraid of it.
What does this mean to us—to be saved from the wrath? Romans 5:9 states: “Much more then, being now justified by his [Jesus Christ’s] blood, we shall be saved [preserved safe] from wrath through him.” We shall absolutely be saved from the wrath to come that is recorded in the Book of Revelation. An eternal blessing of salvation is that no born-again believer will experience the extreme consequences of sin and unbelief in the wrath that will follow the gathering together of the Church of the Body.
There are some who promote that we have to go through the wrath of the Book of Revelation period before Christ will return. Some even say that we are going through the wrath now. However, the Bible says that we are saved from the wrath to come. That is an unalterable promise of God. What some think is the wrath today, God simply calls the “light affliction” of our time (II Corinthians 4:17). And we do not let any of it slow us down because we are delivered and because we have joy in the holy spirit. We have the Hope, which is sure (Hebrews 6:19).
Our finish line in this life, our Hope, the anchor of our souls, is when Christ returns to gather us—his Body, the Body of Christ—together with him. This is when the dead in Christ will be raised and we which are alive and remain shall be gathered together to meet the lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the lord (I Thessalonians 4:16-18). We will then be in his presence and not subject to any wrath. It would be of no comfort to us if we had to pass through the wrath and tribulation of the revelation period. Therefore, we do not have anything to fear of the future wrath to come.
Now, because we know we’re saved from the wrath to come, what can we do?
- We can enjoy the peace and comfort from knowing that our future is bright.
- We can stand steadfast and abound in the work of the Lord.
I Corinthians 15:58:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. - We can tell others how to be born again so they too can enjoy this promise of eternal life.
Our future is as bright as the promises of God. We have nothing to fear. We do not have to go through the period of the wrath recorded in the Book of Revelation. Therefore, we can live a life of peace, joy, and comfort knowing and sharing that we are saved from the wrath to come.