Theodoret of Cyrus: Substitutionary Atonement and Predestination

Because God has not destined us for wrath but for acquiring salvation, through Christ Jesus our Lord, who died for us (vv.9-10): this was not his purpose in calling us, to inflict punishment, but to grant salvation and make us his own, using as his coadjutor Christ the Lord, who accepted death for us. So that whether we are awake or asleep we may live in his company: so that both the dead and those still alive may share life with him. By those away he referred to those still alive at the time, and by those asleep the dead. Hence, encourage one another and build up one another, as in fact you are doing (v.11): accordingly, console and confirm one another in this faith.

- Theodoret of Cyrus (around A.D. 393 to around A.D. 457), Commentary on the First Letter to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5, in Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul, Volume 2, pp. 119-20 (2001), Robert C. Hill translator.