Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: These two verses summarize and conclude verses 3-10. The words “worthy of our calling” echo the message in verses 3-5, where Paul congratulates the Thessalonian church for their steadfast faith in the face of persecution. By their steadfast faith, they “may be proven worthy of the Kingdom of God” and especially because they have suffered for it, without backing down. We cannot ultimately become worthy of the Kingdom of God by our own devices, no matter how we might suffer, no matter how hard we try. None of us could pretend to deserve God’s love as a matter of our personal goodness. But, as Alexander McLaren put it, “here is the great characteristic and blessing of God’s Gospel, that it not only summons us to holiness and to heaven, but reaches out a hand to help us thither.” When we strive to do God’s work, the Holy Spirit gives us a tailwind. Paul prays that the Thessalonians (and thus our) good desires may be fulfilled by the greatest power in the universe, the power of God Almighty. We glorify Christ simply by trying. For we do not try unless we have faith. Who works for Christ unless they believe in Him? Nobody, really. And so when we try to serve God, He is with us and (if it is His will) He will help us. The Apostle Paul
Rembrandt 1657 The Apostle Paul Rembrandt 1657 Then finally, Paul prays that, in accordance with God’s grace, Jesus might be glorified in us. All Christians agree that we are glorified in Christ. That is, our holiness comes from the forgiveness of sin we enjoy because of Christ’s sacrifice. But turn the statement around — “Christ is glorified in us” — and things get more controversial. Whether and how Christ is glorified in us involves the question of how much our own free will might factor into our salvation and sanctification. To get a handle on this concept, let’s examine two competing theologies. Calvinism and Arminianism are two distinct theological systems within Christianity, primarily differing on the roles of God’s sovereignty and human free will in salvation. Calvinism emphasizes God's absolute control over salvation and turns on the concept of predestination—that our salvation was predetermined by God before we were born; while Arminianism emphasizes the role of human choice in accepting or rejecting God's grace. Both positions can find support at various points and in different degrees, within the four corners of the Bible. Most often in Paul’s writing, we see a tendency toward predestination, the hallmark of Calvinism. E.g., Romans 8:29-30. And surely, Paul considers that he himself was predestined to serve God; for example, in Galatians 1:15 he states that “God set me apart before I was born.” Yet, here we see Paul pray that “the name of Jesus might be glorified in you” because of the Thessalonians’ steadfast faith under adversity. Do we get some credit for following Christ, as this passage would suggest, or is our faith something that God has simply preordained, i.e. totally outside our control? You decide! One thing I insist upon: This is not a “salvation issue.” I cannot find anything in the Bible that says God will exclude us because we are “Calvinist” or “Arminian”, or that people who have various opinions on such matters cannot worship together in perfect harmony. To the contrary: Paul tells us absolutely that Christ must not be divided by differences of thought. (1 Cor. 1:10-13.)