I Thessalonians 5:9, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

This is one of the primary verses cited for belief in the pre-Tribulation and mid-Tribulation theories.  Based on this scripture, some people believe the purpose of the rapture is for evacuating the Christians from the earth before it suffers from God’s judgment.  They say that although the people of the church have suffered in the past, the torment to come far surpasses anything experienced on the earth before.  For that reason, God wants to spare Christians from this suffering.

In this passage, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-9, Paul is comparing the believers with the unbelievers, darkness with light, night with day, sleep with alertness, drunkenness with self-control, and wrath with salvation.

Verses 4-5, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness…you are sons of the light…”

Verse 6, “…not like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled…”

Verses 7-8, “…For those who sleep, sleep at night, …get drunk at night.   But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” 

Verse 9.  Continuing with this comparison theme, in verse nine Paul says we belong to the day and put on faith and love and hope, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation…”

In verse nine the Greek word for wrath is οργην3 (orgeen).  It means anger, indignation, and anger exhibited in punishment.  In this sense you could restate the verse to say, “God did not appoint us to suffer punishment but salvation.”

It is important to note how wrath is used here in conjunction with salvation.  It means we will not experience God’s anger and punishment, because on our behalf, Jesus suffered for our sins on the cross.  By his death we receive salvation and forgiveness from sins.  Salvation is not used here in the context of avoiding a period of suffering on the earth, but in the larger context of our relationship with God. 

Verse 10.  Finally, in verse ten Paul concludes this theme with another comparison by reminding us, “He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.” 

To say that this passage means believers will not go through the Great Tribulation and the time of testing on the earth is to take it totally out of context.  Paul loves comparisons, and he knows it is an effective tool for instruction.  All through his letters he compares good things with bad things, so people can relate to and understand the difference between the life of the world, which they formerly lived, and the life with God they are trying to live. 

In another letter Paul again compared wrath with salvation.  He starts off Romans 5 with the comparison of justification through faith leading to peace with God; access by faith into grace leading to hope of the glory of God; and rejoicing in suffering leading to perseverance, character, and hope.  In verse eight, he goes on to compare our powerlessness and state of sin with Christ’s death; then in verse nine, Paul compares justification by blood with salvation from the wrath of God. 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath, through him!” (Rom 5:8-9).

Paul is not talking about people being saved from the Great Tribulation; he is teaching about salvation and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.  And that is true in both 1 Thessalonians 5 and Romans 5.