not only vigilant and calm but, as a soldier, he is to be armed and ready for spiritual conflict while waiting for the coming of Christ. Here the armor des cribed is composed of “faith” and “love” and “hope.” In the opening of this Epistle mention is made of this famil iar triad of virtues. There they are viewed as forces, each producing its characteristic effect in Christian life, the “work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope.” Here they are means of protection against the assaults of moral evil. It is the “helmet, the hope of salva tion,” upon which Paul’s thought con tinues to dwell. The coming of Christ and the deliverance he will bring is the essential message of the epistle. That hope is the safeguard against careless ness or despair. It is certain to give victory in the time of conflict. For the Christian the divine purpose is not condemnation but glory and blessedness: “For God appointed us not untò wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This salvation has been wrought through the redeeming work of Christ, “who died for us.” The ultimate pur pose of this death, the object of His sacrifice, was that Christ might bring Us into union with Himself. “That, whether we wake or sleep” — whether, at His coming, we are keeping vigil in life or are sleeping in death” — “we should live together with Him,” for this future life of fellowship with Christ, which will be perfected at His appearance, is the climax and consum mation of our Christian hope. “Where fore,” concludes the apostle, “exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.” The admonition is based on the truths of which he has been writing. He is saying, in effect: “Since Christ is coming, since his re turn is your bright and blessed hope, since he grants you assurance of your Salvation and future glory, therefore, comfort one another and strengthen one another by cherishing and rehears ing these inspiring truths. Such is in deed your practice. See that you do so more and more.” 23
the continuous present tense) “peace and safety” when the day overtakes them. At the very moment when the world feels secure (this is the meaning of the rather rare word translated “safe ty,” of Luke 1:4; Acts 5:23 for its only other occurrences) and people are as suring themselves and each other that all is well, sudden destruction will come on them. Destruction is not an nihilation but “utter and hopeless ruin, the loss of all that gives worth to exis tence” (Milligan, p. 65). This is com pared with birth pangs, a familiar sim ile in the Scriptures (Isa. 13:6-8; 37:3; Hos. 13:13; Mic. 4:9; Mark 13:8), and the comparison involves inevitable cer tainty, suddenness, and intense pain. The certainty is particularly empha sized in this passage by the last clause, “They shall not escape.” There are sev eral similarities of language in this verse with Luke 21:34, a fact which is not surprising in light of the friendship between Paul and Luke.” Since, then, “we are not of the night, nor of darkness” — or, inasmuch as we Christians, the writers as well as the readers, are not ignorant of Christ’s return — “ so then let us not sleep, as do the rest.” Here “sleep” denotes the careless indifference which would be startled by the unexpected coming of Christ. “Let us watch and be sober.” It is the duty of a Christian to be vigi lant. He is not to be excited and dis tracted but to be “sober,” calm and collected, in view of the Lord’s re turn. In contrast with this rightful atti tude of the Christian, men of the world are spending the night in two ways, neither of which is appropriate to the day. Either they are asleep, utterly in different to the coming judgment, or they are indulging in drunken revelry, excited and interested indeed, but ab sorbed in what is base and unworthy. In striking contrast to such conduct is the exhortation addressed to Christ ians: “Let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.” Thus suddenly the figure changes. The Christian is to be
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