1 Thessalonians 4:3

4:3 For this is God’s will: that you become holy, ¹  that you keep away from sexual immorality,

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

5:9 For God did not destine us for wrath ²  but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 5:10 He died ³  for us so that whether we are alert or asleep ⁴  we will come to life together with him.

[4:3]  ¹ tn Or “your sanctification.”

[5:9]  ² sn God did not destine us for wrath. In context this refers to the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth in the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:2-4).

[5:10]  ³ tn Grk “the one who died,” describing Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:9). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 10 in the translation.

[5:10]  ⁴ sn The phrases alert or asleep may be understood (1) of moral alertness (living in faith, love, and hope as vv. 6, 8 call for, versus being unresponsive to God) or (2) of physical life and death (whether alive or dead). The first fits better with the context of 5:1-9, while the second returns to the point Paul started with in 4:13-18 (no disadvantage for the believing dead).