Purpose and Power

 

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

PURPOSE AND POWER

2 Thess 1:11-12

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

NIV

It is good to constantly pray for others, but it would seem that Paul is not talking about praying for their needs, as we are so often accustomed to doing. He is praying that God would find them worthy of His calling on their lives. Why would God not find them worthy of his calling? Is it possible that God would find us not worthy of his calling? What constitutes being worthy of his calling? Is there anything that we can do that would make us worthy of his calling? It would seem right to answer that with an emphatic no. There is not any amount of worthiness within. It is only by God’s divine grace that we have been called. True, we had to answer that call and accept Jesus as our Savior. We do have to have faith, but then we cannot even have faith unless it is given to us by God, for he gives every man a measure of faith, and that measure is surely enough to believe in Jesus Christ. So then, being in Christ is the only thing that makes us worthy of his calling. Now that we have been called and we have answered that call, being made worthy through Jesus, by the power of God he will fulfill his good pleasure in us. This is where there is some conflict with our scholars. Some would suggest that it is God’s good pleasure, others would suggest it is our good pleasure or purpose that is prompted by our faith. This translation takes that same view, that by the power of God working within us that he will fulfill our every good purpose and action, or work, which is prompted by our faith. When we look at the Greek, it seems we get still another sense of how this works. If we read it directly is seems to say that God will fulfill our every good choice to be upright in heart and life and the work of faith, or the labor of our hands, our employment, or business or occupation is prompted by our faith, with his power. This would fit within the context of Paul’s first letter when he admonished everyone to work with their hands, that is not idle as some were doing because of false teaching that Jesus was returning soon, so they gave up working and just sat around waiting for Jesus. In this second letter Paul is saying it differently, but the same thing. If we have been called by God and we are now living in Christ, by the power of God, he fulfills our choice to work, to labor, because that is what a person with upright heart choices to do and it is by his power we are able to do our labor. This would mean, that again we see this need to rely on God for every aspect of our lives including the accomplishment of our profession, or life skills. We live by the power of God at work in us. Without his power, we can do nothing useful. It is because we have accepted Jesus that we make those good choices in life and by his power we accomplish them.