Thanks be to God

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

Paul uses the specific phrase translated “Thanks be to God”  six times in his letters, all addressed directly to God, and each time is tied to a particular theme of gratitude. 

In Romans 6:17, Paul thanked God for the believers who obeyed the Gospel with transformed lives.  In Romans 7:25, Paul thanked God for giving deliverance from the power of sin through Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:57, Paul thanked God for giving victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14, Paul thanked God for always leading him and spreading the knowledge of the Lord through him.   In 2 Corinthians 8:16, Paul thanked God for placing the same burden on Titus’s heart. In 2 Corinthians 9:15, Paul thanked God for the gift of salvation through Christ as the ultimate reason for giving thanks.

Paul does not use the phrase casually. When he says “Thanks be to God”, he is acknowledging God’s initiative in salvation and spiritual growth, celebrating what God has done or is doing in believers and in his ministry, and grounding all thanksgiving in Christ.  Even when the phrase is to God the Father, it is always ‘through Jesus Christ’. 

What can we learn from this?

Paul’s six declarations of “Thanks be to God” are not random expressions of gratitude. They form a pattern of Christian living that has strong, practical application for you today.

God has given us the power to overcome sin.  So, continuing in sin has no excuse.  We have to give thanks for transformation, not just forgiveness. God has promised us eternal life, and hence, the power of death is broken.  

When it comes to giving, Paul beautifully reminds us of God sending His Son to the Cross and calls it, the indescribable gift.  This realization should motivate us to give liberally.  The ultimate sacrifice of Christ should motivate us to give sacrificially!

My friend, the question we have to answer today is, is my life being transformed?  Am I growing in obedience to the Lord?  Is God reshaping my desires?  Is my giving sacrificial?  Only when our lives are transformed will they become fragrant, spreading the knowledge of the Lord.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, teach me to give thanks not only when things go well, but because You are at work in me, through me, and beyond me—in Christ. Amen.

 

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