in everything give thanks, for this is [the] will of God in Christ Jesus towards you;
This short command sits inside a run of three: rejoice, pray, give thanks. Together they describe how a believer is to meet whatever life brings. The last of the three comes with a reason that leaves no room for argument.
The Three Habits Together
One writer takes verses 16–18 as a set. They are not heroic extras, but everyday Christian living.
In these verses we have the normal state of the Christian — perpetual joy, perpetual prayer, and perpetual thanksgiving. What do we know of perpetual joy, of a joy that never fades? If we were marked more by these three things, what a different people we should be!
William Kelly sees thanksgiving here as a counterweight to what comes naturally when life goes wrong.
A settled spirit of thanksgiving is the exact opposite of what comes naturally. By nature we complain about every kind of suffering, frustration and disappointment. So the apostle backs this call with a reason: "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Without that reason, as the church declined, people would soon have dismissed such thanksgiving as light-hearted and arrogant.
"In" Everything, Not "For" Everything
Writers stress the small preposition. Edward Dennett draws the line, then turns the duty into something warmer:
It is not, as the reader will notice, for everything, but in everything, give thanks. Almost every Christian would admit this. It is not so much a duty as a privilege: to give thanks to God in all their circumstances and trials. They may be going through deep sorrow or severe suffering. Yet if they see it in the presence of God, they will find plenty of reason for praise.
The distinction protects the verse from becoming absurd. Leslie Grant marks the one limit:
Of course we cannot give thanks for what is sinful. But whatever comes, evil or good, this thankful spirit is to be ours.
The Reason Attached: God's Will
Christian living leaves many things to our own judgment. Scripture names this one outright as God's will, and Grant turns it into a test of sincerity.
This matters because it is "the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." If we are honest when we say we want the will of God, then here it is. No excuse will do for a failure to give thanks.
H. J. Vine sets this beside two other places where Scripture names God's will. Thanksgiving lands in the same class as holiness and eternal life:
Scripture says three things about God's will. First: "this is the will of God, your sanctification." Second: it is His will that we "should have eternal life," and be raised up on the last day, as we have seen. Third: "this is the will of God in Christ Jesus" for us — "give thanks in all circumstances."
How It Becomes Possible
The command is not obeyed by staring harder at the trouble. J. N. Darby uses Paul's thorn to show where the eye must move:
How is this to be done? Did Paul give thanks for the thorn — the very thing he thought would hinder his usefulness? Not while looking at the thing itself. It was only when his eye was fixed on the heart and the hand that had done it. There are many things we cannot give thanks for in themselves. Losing the person closest to our heart, or watching what we love be torn to pieces — we cannot thank God for the thing itself. We must see the love that has ordered it, and the hand that has appointed it; and then we can give thanks.
G. V. Wigram shows the failure from the other side, in Job's collapse when he lost everything:
He was taken up with circumstances, not with the God of circumstances. So when God touched his circumstances, he turned to cursing.
The Example and the Alternative
Christ Himself gave the pattern. H. A. Ironside points to the hour when He had the least natural reason to:
"At that time" — note it well. At that time, when everything was darkest and He had unspeakable anguish ahead of Him, "Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit" and said, "I thank you, Father."
The opposite habit is no small thing. J. T. Mawson names what murmuring says about God:
Don't murmur, Christian, for it is a most unchristian, a most ungodly thing to do. Nothing dishonours God more, nothing does greater damage to the soul. It was the chief sin of all the sins that Israel committed in the wilderness, for it meant that they did not believe their God was fit to be trusted.
Summary
- In, not for. Give thanks in every circumstance, never for what is sinful. The setting changes; the thanksgiving does not.
- Willed, not suggested. Scripture names this as God's will, beside sanctification and eternal life. That removes every excuse.
- Look past the thing. Thanks becomes possible when the eye leaves the trouble and rests on the love that ordered it.
- Job's warning. A heart taken up with circumstances, not with the God of circumstances, breaks when they break.
- Christ's pattern. At His darkest hour He thanked the Father — the alternative, murmuring, says God is not fit to be trusted.