2 Thessalonians 1:11

Contextual Overview

¹¹ That is why we always pray for you. We ask our God to help you live the good way he wanted when he chose you. The goodness you have makes you want to do good. And the faith you have makes you work. We pray that with his power God will help you do these things more and more. ¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power, ¹¹ Wherfore we praye all wayes for you that oure god make you worthy of the callynge and fulfill all delectacion of goodnes and the worke of fayth with power: ¹¹ To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power; ¹¹ To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will consider you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,¹¹ That is why we always pray for you, asking our God to help you live the kind of life he called you to live. We pray that with his power God will help you do the good things you want and perform the works that come from your faith. ¹¹ To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and [every] work of faith, with power; ¹¹ Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of [this] calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of [his] goodness, and the work of faith with power: ¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, ¹¹ To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

we pray: Romans 1:9, Ephesians 1:16, Ephesians 3:14-21, Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:9-13, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

our God: Psalms 48:14, Psalms 68:20, Isaiah 25:9, Isaiah 55:7, Daniel 3:17, Revelation 5:10

would: 2 Thessalonians 1:5, Colossians 1:12, Revelation 3:4

count: or, vouchsafe

calling: 2 Thessalonians 2:14, Romans 8:30, Romans 9:23, Romans 9:24, Philippians 3:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, Hebrews 3:1, 1 Peter 5:10

fulfil: Psalms 138:8, Proverbs 4:18, Isaiah 66:9, Hosea 6:3, Zechariah 4:7, Mark 4:28, 1 Corinthians 1:8, Philippians 1:6

the good: Psalms 51:18, Luke 12:32, Ephesians 1:5, Ephesians 1:9, Philippians 2:13, Titus 3:4-7

the work: John 6:27-29, Ephesians 1:19, Ephesians 1:20, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Hebrews 12:2

Reciprocal: Psalms 68:28 - strengthen Isaiah 53:10 - the pleasure Mark 9:24 - help Acts 2:39 - as many Ephesians 1:18 - his calling Ephesians 4:1 - vocation 1 Thessalonians 3:10 - might perfect

Cross-References

Genesis 1:9
And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.

Genesis 1:9
And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear." And it happened.

Genesis 1:9
God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." It was so.

Genesis 1:9
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:9
God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so.

Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:9
Forsothe God seide, The watris, that ben vndur heuene, be gaderid in to o place, and a drie place appere; and it was doon so.

Genesis 1:9
And God saith, `Let the waters under the heavens be collected unto one place, and let the dry land be seen:' and it is so.

Genesis 1:9
And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear." And it was so.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore also we pray always for you,.... Not only observe the above things to your comfort, to support you under sufferings, but we add our prayers, and not only now, but always, that you may be among them in whom Christ will be glorified and admired; in order to which we most sincerely pray,

that our God would count you worthy of this calling. The Syriac version reads, "your calling", as in 1 Corinthians 1:26. The Vulgate Latin reads, "his own calling", meaning their effectual calling. This is indeed of God, and not of man; and is owing, not to any previous worthiness in man, as appears from the instances of Matthew the publican, Zacchaeus, the Apostle Paul, the Corinthians, and others, but entirely to the free grace of God, who counts them worthy, not for any worthiness there is in them; but "vouchsafes", as the word may be rendered, this blessing of grace, their effectual calling, of his own good will and pleasure: but this cannot be meant here, because these persons were partakers of that grace, God had called them to his kingdom and glory; unless the sense of the petition is, that God would cause them to walk worthy of the calling with which they were called, which becoming walk is owing to the grace of God: or else the meaning may be, that God would grant unto them perseverance in the grace, by and to which they were called, that so they might enjoy eternal glory; which though certain, should be prayed for by saints, both for themselves and others: the words may be rendered, "that our God would count you worthy of the call"; of the call of Christ when he shall be revealed from heaven, and come a second time; for then will he first call the saints out of their graves, as he did Lazarus, and they shall hear his all powerful voice, and come forth to the resurrection of life, the first and better resurrection, which those that have part in will be secure from the second death; this the apostle was desirous of attaining to himself, and prays that God would vouchsafe it to others; of this Job speaks in Job 14:15. And next Christ will call the righteous, when raised and set at his right hand, to inherit the kingdom and glory prepared by his Father for them; and happy are those who by the grace of God will be counted worthy of this call or rather by calling here is meant, the ultimate glory itself, which the saints are called unto; this God gives a right unto in the justifying righteousness of his Son, and makes meet for by his own grace; and the thing itself is a free grace gift of his through Jesus Christ. In this sense calling seems to be used in Ephesians 4:4 and to this agrees the Ethiopic version here, "that God may impart unto you that to which he hath called you"; and that is eternal glory, which though certainly and inseparably connected with the effectual calling, may, and should be prayed for:

and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness; not providential, but special goodness; not the good pleasure of his strict justice in the condemning of the wicked, denying his grace to them, and hiding from them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which is a part of his good pleasure, even of the good pleasure of his righteousness; but this is the good pleasure of his grace and kindness in Christ Jesus, and intends the whole of his gracious designs towards his people: and to express the free, rich, sovereign grace of God in them, the apostle uses a variety of words, calling them "his pleasure", "his good pleasure"; and, as if this was not enough, "the good pleasure of his goodness"; and desires that all of it might be fulfilled; it consisting of many things, some of which were fulfilled, and others remained to be fulfilled. It consists of the choice of persons in Christ, and the predestination of them to the adoption of children, which is according to the good pleasure of the will of God; the redemption of them by Christ, in which are displayed the exceeding riches of his grace; the free justification of them by the righteousness of Christ; the full pardon of all their sins, and their adoption into the household of God, and their regeneration, of rich grace, and abundant mercy; all these instances of the good pleasure of divine goodness were fulfilled in these persons; what remained were the carrying on and finishing the work of grace upon their souls, and their enjoyment of the heavenly glory: and for the former, in order to the latter, the apostle prays in the next clause,

and the work of faith with power; faith is not only an operative grace, Ephesians 4:4- : and is attended with good works; but it is a work itself, not of man's, for he cannot produce it in himself, nor exercise it of himself; but it is the work of God, of his operation which he works in his people; it has not only God for its object, and therefore the Arabic version reads, "the work of faith on him"; but it has God for its author: and this now, though it had grown exceedingly in these believers, was not as yet fulfilled or perfect; something was still lacking in it; wherefore the apostle prays that he who was the author would be the finisher of it: and this will be done "with power"; not of man's, for this work is neither begun, nor carried on, nor will it be finished by the might and power of men; but the same hands which laid the foundation of it, raise it up, carry it on, and give the finishing stroke to it; it is done by the power of God, and so the Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "by his own power": which is greatly displayed in the production of faith at first; for a poor sensible sinner, in a view of all his sins, and the just deserts of them, to venture his soul on Christ alone for salvation; for a man to go out of himself and renounce his own righteousness, and trust to the righteousness of Christ for his justification before God, and acceptance with him, is owing to the exceeding greatness of God's power to them that believe; and the same power is seen in enabling faith to do the things it does; see Hebrews 11:1 and in encouraging, supporting, and maintaining it under the most difficult circumstances, as in the case of Abraham; and to make it stand fast under the severest persecutions, and at the hour of death, and in the view of an awful eternity, when it receives its full completion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wherefore also we pray always for you - See the notes, 1 Thessalonians 1:2.

That our God would count you worthy of this calling. - Margin, “or, vouchsafe.” The meaning is, “that he would regard you as worthy of this calling;” see the notes on ver. 5. Of this calling; see the notes, Ephesians 4:1. The “calling” here, is that which had brought them into the kingdom, and led them to become Christians.

And fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness. - That is, make the work of salvation complete and effectual. Oldshausen has well expressed the sense: “May God fill you with all that good which is pleasing to him.” The thoughts in the passage are:

(1)That the purpose toward them on the part of God was one of “goodness” or benevolence;

(2)That there was a state of mind which would be regarded by him as pleasing, or as his “good pleasure;” and,

(3)That Paul wished that this might be accomplished in them. He desired that there might be in them everything which would be pleasing to God, and which his benevolence was fitted to secure.

And the work of faith - The work which faith is adapted to produce on the soul; see 1 John 5:4-5.

With power - Effectually, completely. The apostle prays that so much power may be exerted as will be sufficient to secure the object. The work of religion on the soul is always represented in the Bible as one of power.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. We pray - that our God would count you worthy — It is our earnest prayer that God would make you worthy, αξιωση, afford those continual supplies of grace by his Holy Spirit, without which you cannot adorn your holy vocation; you are called into the Christian Church, and, to be proper members of this Church, you must be members of the mystical body of Christ; and this implies that you should be holy, as he who has called you is holy.

Fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness —

1. The goodness of God-his own innate eternal kindness, has led him to call you into this state of salvation.

2. It is the pleasure of that goodness to save you unto eternal life.

3. It is the good pleasure; nothing can please God more than your receiving and retaining his utmost salvation.

4. It is all the good pleasure of his goodness thus to save you; this he has amply proved by sending his Son to die for you, beyond which gift he has none greater. In this, all the good pleasure of his goodness is astonishingly manifested.

5. And if you be faithful to his grace, he will fulfil-completely accomplish, all the good pleasure of his goodness in you; which goodness is to be apprehended and is to work by faith, the power of which must come from him, though the act or exercise of that power must be of yourselves; but the very power to believe affords excitement to the exercise of faith.