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. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12)
It is very good news that God designs his glory to be magnified through the exercise of his grace.
To be sure, God is glorified through the power of his wrath (Romans 9:22), but repeatedly the New Testament (and the Old Testament, for example, Isaiah 30:18) says that we should experience God’s grace so that God gets glory.
Ponder how this works in the prayer of 2 Thessalonians 1:11–12.
Paul prays that God would fulfill our good resolves.
How? He prays that they would be done “by [God’s] power.” That is, that they would be “[works] of faith.”
Why? So that Jesus would be glorified in us.
That means the giver gets the glory. God gave the power. God gets the glory. We have faith; he gives power. We get the help; he gets the glory. That’s the deal that keeps us humble and happy, and keeps him supreme and glorious.
Then Paul says that this glorification of Christ is “according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus.”
God’s answer to Paul’s prayer that we rely on God’s power to do good works is grace. God’s power to enable you to do what you resolve to do is grace.
That’s the way it works in the New Testament over and over. Trust God for gracious enabling, and he gets the glory when the help comes.
We get the help. He gets the glory.
That’s why Christian living, not just Christian conversion, is good news.
John Piper
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