God Sanctifies Our Resolve for His Glory!! 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 (ESV Strong's)

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, 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.

God Sanctifies Our Resolve for His Glory!!!

We live in a world where even in the Christian church people want to take credit for their own growth and progress.   We like to brag about what we accomplish in all the realms of our lives.  In the above passage, Paul is telling the church at Thessolanica that he was praying that what they “resolve for good” and “every work of faith” would be done in “His power.”    This would result in “the name of our Lord Jesus” being “glorified in” them; “according to the grace of our God.”   So, the formula for sanctification is outlined in this passage:

(Pray x Resolve) + (Good work x God’s power and grace) = Glory to Christ.  

Our side of the equation is prayer and resolve.   The Greek word for “resolve” in this passage is: eudokia.   It is translated in other passages of the New Testament as “purpose” (Ephesians 1:5, 9).   We are to have an internal “purpose” to do “good.”  Since Paul told us in Romans that NO ONE does good, we have to believe this can only be as we submit to Christ and He replace our sin nature with His nature.  So, even on our side of the equation we see it is an initiated by an act of Christ. We pray that our resolve is used by God and He takes His power, via His grace and brings glory to Christ.   We can rest that the entire act is completed by our simply faith in God’s process.