What does 1 Thessalonians 5:5 mean?

This section discusses the nature of "the rapture." This is a moment, still in the future, when Christ will retrieve believers from the earth, in a sudden, instantaneous action (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). Prior verses especially highlighted how abrupt this event would be (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3).

This part of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 distinguishes between children of darkness and children of light. Children of light can look forward to the rapture with hope. Children of darkness must look forward hopelessly to the day of the Lord. In this verse Paul identifies himself and the Thessalonian Christians as "children of light, children of the day." He affirms that they are "not of the night or of the darkness." The Thessalonian Christians were once in the dark about spiritual matters, but the Holy Spirit shone the light of the gospel into their hearts and they believed in Jesus, the Light of the world.

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul writes: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." In John 8:12 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."