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Vigilance is not a zealous attempt to read “the signs of the times.” Rather, it is a life lived in faithfulness (see 3:13). The children of light are already children of (future) salvation and are ready for the consummation of salvation. The alert Christian will be fully armed with faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
God’s purpose is salvation, not wrath. The choice of verbs in v.9 is significant. In using “appoint,” Paul indicates that God did not intend wrath for his creation. “To receive” implies that humans must accept God’s salvation. His purpose will be fulfilled, but humans have the choice to accept the free and undeserved gift or to maintain their arrogant independence from God.
There is a paradox between God’s purposes and human choice. But two things are clear. First, God does not force persons to follow him. Second, “a predestination to wrath that operated independently of the responsible action of mankind in sinning and rejecting the gospel is as unthinkable as a predestination to salvation that overrules human responsibility or makes it ultimately of no account by operating through it” (Marshall, 140).
Paul notes that Jesus died for us so that we might live together with him (5:10). Salvation is wholly based on the death of Jesus Christ. It is his death for our life.