John Calvin Commentary 2 Thessalonians 1:11

"To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and [every] work of faith, with power;" — 2 Thessalonians 1:11 (ASV)

On which account we pray always. So that they may know that they need continual help from God, he declares that he prays on their behalf. When he says on this account, he means, in order that they may reach that final goal of their course, as appears from the following context, that he would fulfill all the good pleasure, etc. It may seem, however, as if what he has mentioned first were unnecessary, because God had already accounted them worthy of his calling. He speaks, however, regarding the end or completion, which depends on perseverance. For since we are liable to give way, our calling would, as far as we are concerned, inevitably prove vain sooner or later if God did not confirm it. Therefore, God is said to account us worthy when he leads us to the goal at which we aimed.

And fulfill. Paul goes to an amazing height in extolling the grace of God, for not being content with the term good pleasure, he says that it flows from his goodness—unless perhaps anyone should prefer to consider the beneficence as arising from this good pleasure, which amounts to the same thing. When, however, we are instructed that the gracious purpose of God is the cause of our salvation, and that this has its foundation in the goodness of the same God, are we not worse than mad if we venture to ascribe anything, however small, to our own merits?

For the words are highly emphatic. He might have said in one word, that your faith may be fulfilled, but he calls it good pleasure. Furthermore, he expresses the idea still more distinctly by saying that God was prompted by nothing else than his own goodness, for he finds nothing in us but misery.

Nor does Paul ascribe merely the beginning of our salvation to the grace of God, but all parts of it. Thus, that contrivance of the Sophists is set aside—that we are, indeed, anticipated by the grace of God, but that it is then helped by subsequent merits. Paul, on the other hand, recognizes nothing but the pure grace of God in the entire progress of our salvation.

However, as God's good pleasure has already been accomplished in him, Paul, in the term he subsequently employs—and work of faith—refers to the effect that appears in us, and thus explains his meaning. And he calls it a work in relation to God, who works or produces faith in us, as if he had said, “that he may complete the building of faith which he has begun.”

Also, Paul says with power for good reason, for he intimates that perfecting faith is an arduous matter and one of the greatest difficulty. This, too, we know all too well from experience; and the reason is not far to seek, if we consider how great our weakness is, how varied are the hindrances that obstruct us on every side, and how severe are Satan's assaults. Therefore, unless God's power helps us to an extraordinary degree, faith will never rise to its full height. For it is no easier a task to bring faith to perfection in an individual than to build a tower on water that could by its firmness withstand all storms and the fury of tempests, and could surmount the clouds in height—because we are no less fluid than water, and the height of faith must reach as high as heaven.