Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Thessalonians · About this commentary
That the Name May Be Glorified in You
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
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, · WEB
The prayer is not for relief but for God to complete in them what he began, and the aim runs past their comfort to his name.
To this end we also pray always. The end in view is the day just described, which sets the terms of the request: that God may count them worthy of the calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power.
The wording is careful. It is not their goodness being brought to God's attention; it is God fulfilling the desire and the work, and doing it with power. The same letter will shortly say that the Lord is faithful and will establish them 2 Thessalonians 3:3, and the pattern is consistent — what is asked of them is also what is asked for them.
Verse 12 names the purpose, and it is reciprocal: the Lord's name glorified in them, and they in him. The exchange is not equal, and the letter does not pretend it is. It rests both halves on grace instead, naming God and the Lord Jesus Christ together as its source.
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