"For God did not appoint us to wrath...."

There are many people who think God is mean and vengeful and doesn't like people.  He wants to punish us.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

9For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  God did not appoint us to wrath…we brought that on ourselves.  Or more accurately I should say that those who reject God brought that wrath on themselves. 

The truth is that God appointed us to be able to obtain salvation.  That was God's wish for each of us.  But God also gave us free will which means each person is free to embrace God or reject Him.  Those who choose to reject God make a decision to reject God's kindness and to invite His wrath.  But that isn't the state of life that God appointed to us.  Make sense?