5:9
The world is led by fear. There are extreme political movements that are led fear, the Nazis are perhaps the most infamous example where they used fear of the Jews to enable them to reach their evil ends. Much of the current climate change movement is led by fear (this does not mean we should not seek to care for the environment). And this fear leads to irrationality, and sometimes plain evil. As followers of Jesus we should not be led by fear, for we have not been appointed to “suffer wrath”, but to receive salvation through Christ. In 1 John 4:18 it says fear has to do with punishment. On the cross Christ took upon Himself the punishment that should have been ours. We do not need to fear.
5:10,11
And the salvation that Christ won for us works whether we die before He returns, or whether we are here when He returns. It seems that the wondering of what happened to those who died was a great source of fear to those who lived at the time. In Hebrews the writer speaks of the fear of death (Heb 2:15). Paul is working to assure them that even if we do die before Christ returns we have no need to fear, we will live together with Him. So instead of leading each other to fear, we are to encourage one another. The salvation Christ has won for us is absolutely complete, covering all situations.
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