Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Thessalonians 5:10

"who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." — 1 Thessalonians 5:10 (ASV)

Who died for us.—This is not a mere pious recollection of a fact that has nothing to do with the context, but an account of the way Christ made it possible for us to set about earning salvation. What a blessed privilege a Christian’s life of labour must be, if it alone—to say nothing of the “salvation” at the end—cost such a price!

Whether we wake or sleep.—The mention of Christ’s death at once brings back the recollection of the Advent and the questions concerning the dead in relation to it. The words “wake or sleep” seem distinctly suggested by the metaphor used from 1 Thessalonians 5:2 to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, being different in Greek from the terms used in 1 Thessalonians 4:0, but they abruptly take on a much altered meaning.

Here, they undoubtedly signify “life and death”: “Let us arm ourselves with a brave hope of our salvation, for it will be against God’s will if we perish. He intends for us to save ourselves by union with Him who put an end to death for us by dying, and made all who wait for His coming to live, whether they are, in the world’s sense, dead or alive.”

We should live.—This is in sharp contrast with “who died for us.” Christ’s dying destroyed the power of death (Hebrews 2:14); from that time forward, it is only a matter of being awake or asleep. Those who sleep live just as truly, and live with Him, as we who are awake (and compare the more developed passage in Romans 14:8).

The word “together” (as the Greek clearly shows) must be separated from “with;” rather, it means “we should live with Him together,” that is, we who are alive and our brethren who are dead; for St. Paul has entirely reverted from the effect of the Advent doctrine on Christian life to the subject of the last chapter—the equality of the two classes at Christ’s coming. Bengel, thinking that St. Paul is still applying himself to the discussion of the date of the Advent (which in fact was scarcely raised), tries to argue for the meaning: “That we should there and then live with Him.”