In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.
Parallel translations
- KJV In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
- BSB Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
- 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 5:20giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;
- Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
- Col 3:17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
- Heb 13:15Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.
- Job 1:21He said, “Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be Yahweh’s name.”
- 1 Pet 4:2that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
- Ps 34:1By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
- 1 Pet 2:15For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
- 1 Jn 2:17The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
- 1 Th 4:3For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you 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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