1 Thessalonians 2:12 – Into His Own Kingdom and Glory

12 to be walking worthily of God, Who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

This is where the fatherly consoling, comforting, and attesting of the previous verse was leading: “to be walking worthily of God.” Not in order thereby to become worthy of God’s calling. It is precisely the other way around. God calls them, and therefore a walk worthy of Him is fitting for that calling. The walk is not the basis of the calling, but corresponds to it.

But to what does God call them? “Into His own kingdom and glory.” Basileia does not necessarily denote a territory or realm, but can also refer to kingship, the royal rule itself. And it is precisely the word “own” that makes the statement so powerful. God calls them into what belongs to Himself: His kingdom and glory. They are destined to share in it and to reign with Christ.

In the second letter, Paul again writes about this destiny. God prefers them “from the beginning for salvation” and calls them through the evangel “for the procuring of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:13–14). This is the special destiny of the firstfruits. They are not merely called to one day be subjects within a kingdom. As the body of Christ, they share in His glory and thereby in His kingship.

That is precisely the glory into which God calls them!

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