Paul commends persecuted Thessalonian believers for their faith in the midst of trials (2 Thessalonians 1).
He then prays a wonderful prayer for them. It’s what I like to call an “Our Part, His Part” passage, of Scripture.
Paul prays:
1. That the Thessalonians will live worthy lives – our part.
2. That God will give them power to accomplish everything prompted by their faith – God’s part.
The “Our Part” of the Bible is often ignored in modern Christianity.
This is partly due to a popular description of God’s love not found in Scripture: “unconditional love.” If God's love were unconditional in every aspect, He'd have no expectations of us. But He does.
God's love is better than unconditional – it’s a love that refuses to leave us in our sin.
"Therefore,my dear friends ...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling [seriously and deliberately], for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." Philippians 2:12-13
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To read more about the incorrect use of "unconditional love": Better Than Unconditional
To do a short Bible study on this devotion examining several other "our part, His part" passages, check out today's Bite Size Bible Study.
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Thank you for this. I've read this many times but never saw the "Our part, His part". I'm going to read the Bite Size.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you!
Thank you so much Gail for this study,I continued to read Better than unconditional also,and have saved it to my computer for future reference!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you for your faithfulness!Ann.xx