Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Parallel translations
- WEB In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
- KJV In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
- NKJV in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
- NASB in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
- NLT Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In every circumstance believers should give thanks, for this thankfulness is God's revealed will for them in Christ.
Overview
Thanksgiving is to mark the believer's life "in everything," not only in pleasant times, because God works all things for good (Romans 8:28). Paul explicitly names this as "the will of God in Christ Jesus," settling any doubt that gratitude is optional. Christ is both the ground of our thanks and the one through whom thanksgiving rises acceptably to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eph 5:20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Phil 4:6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Col 3:17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- Heb 13:15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
- Job 1:21saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- 1 Pet 4:2Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
- Ps 34:1Of David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, so that the king drove him away. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.
- 1 Pet 2:15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men.
- 1 Jn 2:17The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- 1 Th 4:3For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The believer waits for God's Son from heaven, Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come and who will return to gather his people to himself.
How 1 Thessalonians 5:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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