Giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God and the Father:

“That is, "let your requests be made known unto God, with thanksgiving" (Phil. iv. 6); for there is nothing so pleasing to God, as for a man to be thankful. But we shall be best able to give thanks unto God, by withdrawing our souls from the things before mentioned, and by thoroughly cleansing them by the means he has told us. What then? Are we to give thanks for everything that befalls us? Yes; be it even disease, be it even penury. For if a certain wise man gave this advice in the Old Testament, and said, "Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate" (Ecclus. ii, 4); much more ought this to be the case in the New. Yes, even though thou know not the word, give thanks. For this is thanksgiving. But if thou give thanks when thou art in comfort and in affluence, in success and in prosperity, there is nothing great, nothing wonderful in that. What is required is, for a man to give thanks when he is in afflictions, in anguish, in discouragements. Utter no word in preference to this, "Lord, I thank thee." And why do I speak of the afflictions of this world? It is our duty to give God thanks, even for hell itself, for the torments and punishments of the next world. For surely it is a thing beneficial to those who attend to it, when the dread of hell is laid like a bridle on our hearts. Let us therefore give thanks not only for blessings which we see, but also for those which we see not, and for those which we receive against our will. For many are the blessings He bestows upon us, without our desire, without our knowledge. And if ye believe me not, I will at once proceed to make the case clear to you. For consider, I pray, do not the impious and unbelieving Gentiles ascribe everything to the sun and to their idols? But what then? Doth He not bestow blessings even upon them? Is it not the work of His providence, that they both have life, and health, and children, and the like? And again they that are called Marcionites, and the Manichees, do they not even blaspheme Him? But what then? Does He not bestow blessings on them every day? Now if He bestows blessings on them that know them not, much more does he bestow them upon us. For what else is the peculiar work of God if it be not this, to do good to all mankind, alike by chastisements and by enjoyments? Let us not then give thanks only when we are in prosperity, for there is nothing great in this. And this the devil also well knows, and therefore he said, "Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast Thou not made an hedge about him and about all that he hath on every side? Touch all that he hath; no doubt, he will renounce Thee to Thy face!" (Job i. 10, 11) However, that cursed one gained no advantage; and God forbid he should gain any advantage of us either; but whenever we are either in penury, or in sicknesses, or in disasters, then let us increase our thanksgiving; thanksgiving, I mean, not in words, nor in tongue, but in deeds and works, in mind and in heart. Let us give thanks unto Him with all our souls. For He loves us more than our parents; and wide as is the difference between evil and goodness, so great is the difference between the love of God and that of our fathers. And these are not my words, but those of Christ Himself Who loveth us. And hear what He Himself saith, "What man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" (Matt. vii. 9, 11.) And again, bear what He saith also elsewhere: "Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee, saith the Lord." (Isa. xlix. 15.) For if He loveth us not, wherefore did He create us? Had He any necessity? Do we supply to Him any ministry and service? Needeth He anything that we can render? Hear what the Prophet says; "I have said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, I have no good beyond Thee." (Ps. xvi. 2.) The ungrateful, however, and unfeeling say, that this were worthy of God's goodness, that there should be an equality amongst all. Tell me, ungrateful mortal, what sort of things are they which thou deniest to be of God's goodness, and what equality meanest thou? "Such an one," thou wilt say, "has been a cripple from his childhood; another is mad, and is possessed; another has arrived at extreme old age, and has spent his whole life in poverty; another in the most painful diseases: are these works of Providence? One man is deaf, another dumb, another poor, whilst another, impious, yea, utterly impious, and full of ten thousand vices, enjoys wealth, and keeps concubines, and parasites, and is owner of a splendid mansion, and lives an idle life." And many instances of the sort they string together, and weave a long account of complaint against the providence of God. What then are we to say to them? Now if they were Greeks, and were to tell us that the universe is governed by some one or other, we should in turn address to them the self-same words, "What then, are things without a providence? How then is it that ye reverence gods, and worship genii and heroes? For if there is a providence, some one or other superintends the whole." But if any, whether Christians or Heathen, should be impatient at this, and be wavering, what shall we say to them? "Why, could so many good things, tell me, arise of themselves? The daily light? The beautiful order and the forethought that exist in all things? The mazy dances of the stars? The equable course of nights and days? The regular gradation of nature in vegetables, and animals, and men? Who, tell me, is it that ordereth these? If there were no superintending Being, but all things combined together of themselves, who then was it that made this vault revolve, so beautiful, so vast, I mean the sky, and set it upon the earth, nay more, upon the waters? Who is it that gives the fruitful seasons? Who implanted so great power in seeds and vegetables? For that which is accidental is necessarily disorderly; whereas that which is orderly implies design."”

“Above he led them to newness against the oldness of deceit; here he does this same thing against the oldness of carnal vices. Or let us say that before he reproved carnal sins as regards lust, but here as regards gluttony. He does two things. For first he forbids the oldness; second he leads the state to newness, at "but be filled," etc. He says therefore: I said that fornication and all uncleanness should not be named among you; but in order to guard against this you ought to abstain from excessive wine, because excessive food and drink is a cause of lust, and especially wine, which heats and stirs. Proverbs 20:1: Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is riotous. Esther 1:10: When the king was more cheerful, and after excessive drinking had grown hot with wine, etc. Hosea 4:11: Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness take away the heart. Whence Jerome: him whom Sodom did not conquer, wine conquered — Lot. Be not therefore, etc. But be filled with the Holy Spirit. Among all the things that generate many spirits is wine, whence it generates boldness and makes men speak by talents, as is said in 3 Esdras 3:21. And therefore he fittingly teaches them, against this, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who generates the fervor of devotion. Romans 12:11: fervent in spirit. Likewise, it also generates spiritual joy and gladness. Romans 14:17: justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Likewise, it makes one speak boldly. Acts 2:4: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak, etc., and therefore those who heard them speaking believed them to be drunk. But do we have the Holy Spirit in our own power? I answer and say that to have the Holy Spirit is twofold: either receptively, and thus it is not in our power to receive him, but we receive him from the gift of God. Romans 5:5: The charity of God is poured out in our hearts, etc. Or dispositively, and thus still we are not sufficient to receive him, that is, to dispose ourselves, without the grace of God. 2 Corinthians 3:5: We are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. Or someone is said to receive the Holy Spirit, yet not to be full of the Holy Spirit, namely when he has the grace of the Holy Spirit with respect to some operation and not with respect to every operation of man. But then he is said to be full of the Holy Spirit, when he uses it generally. But the manner of being filled is in the love of God and of neighbor. And therefore when he says "speaking," etc., first he touches the manner of the filling on the part of God; second on the part of the neighbor, at "subject to one another," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First spiritual meditation is set down; second spiritual exultation, at "singing," etc.; third the giving of thanks, at "giving thanks," etc. The first is divided into two, because first he sets down the manner of the meditation, second its matter, at "in psalms," etc. He says therefore "speaking to yourselves," etc. Now there is a twofold speech: one exterior, of man to men; the other interior, of man to himself. But such speech ought to be compunctive. Job 10:1: I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. Likewise, it ought to be done in secret. Matthew 6:6: But when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father. And Wisdom 8:16: Entering into my house, I shall rest with her. But he touches the matter of the meditation when he says "in psalms," etc. To sing psalms is to make use of the psaltery. And thus "in psalms," that is, in good works. Psalm 80:3: Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant psaltery, etc. And "hymns," that is, divine praises. Psalm 148:14: a hymn to all his saints, etc. And "spiritual canticles," namely concerning the hope of eternal things. Romans 12:12: rejoicing in hope. Psalm 91:4: upon the ten-stringed psaltery, with a canticle upon the harp. Psalm 97:1: Sing to the Lord a new canticle, etc. Let us therefore meditate: on right action, what is to be done; on divine praise, what is to be imitated; on heavenly gladness, what and how we are to serve. Thus therefore the first effect of the Holy Spirit is sacred meditation, the second is spiritual exultation, because from frequent meditation the fire of charity is kindled in the heart. Psalm 38:4: My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out, etc. And from this spiritual gladness is generated in the heart. And therefore he says "singing and making melody," that is, so that our affections may be affected with spiritual joy for the doing of good works. 1 Corinthians 14:15: I will sing with the spirit, I will sing also with the mind. Colossians 3:16: in all wisdom teaching and admonishing yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord in grace. From this the error of the heretics is confounded, who say that it is vain to sing vocal canticles to the Lord, and that only spiritual ones should be sung. For in the praises of the Church there is something to be considered per se, and this is what the apostle says, "in your hearts." But something is done on account of two things: namely, on account of ourselves, that our mind may be roused to interior devotion — but if from this someone is moved to dissoluteness, or to vain glory, this is against the intention of the Church; likewise, on account of others, because through this the unlearned are made more devout. 4 Kings 3:15: And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. The third effect is the giving of thanks: because from this, that someone is so affected toward God, he recognizes that he has all things from God. For the more someone is affected toward God, and knows him, the more he sees him as greater and himself as lesser — indeed, as nearly nothing, in comparison to God. Job 42:5: My eye sees you, therefore I reprove myself, etc. And therefore he says "giving thanks always for all things," namely for gifts, whether prosperous or adverse. Psalm 33:1: I will bless the Lord at all times, etc. For these too are for us gifts on the way. James 1:2: Count it all joy, etc. Acts 5:41: the apostles went rejoicing, etc. 1 Thessalonians 5:18: In all things give thanks. But this "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," because all good things come about through him. Romans 5:1: we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access, etc. But he adds "to God," insofar as he is our author through creation, and "the Father," insofar as he sent us Christ, through whom he regenerated us. And thus thanks to God, as regards the goods of nature; to the Father, as regards the goods of grace. But as regards the neighbor, he sets down the manner of the filling, saying "subject to one another in the fear of Christ," that is, not on account of human fear, but of Christ.”

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands,.... This is an instance, explaining the above general rule; which subjection lies in honour and reverence, Eph 5:33, and in obedience; they should think well of their husbands, speak becomingly to them, and respectfully of them; the wife should take care of the family, and family affairs, according to the husband's will; should imitate him in what is good, and bear with that which is not so agreeable; she should not curiously inquire into his business, but leave the management of it to him; she should help and assist in caring and providing for the family; and should abide with him in prosperity and adversity, and do nothing without his will and consent: and this subjection is only to her husband; not to any other man, nor to her children, nor to her servants, or any brought into her house; and this consideration should render the subjection more easy, voluntary, and cheerful: and which is but reasonable that it should be; as may be gathered from the time, matter, and end of the woman's creation, she was made after him, out of him, and for him; and from her fall, and being first in the transgression; and from her being the weaker and inferior sex; and from the profitableness and comeliness of it; and the credit of religion requires it, that so the word of God be not blasphemed: wherefore it follows, as unto the Lord; that is, either as the Lord has commanded, that so it should be, showing a regard to his precepts; or as in the sight of the Lord, and so yielding it sincerely and heartily; or in things pertaining to the Lord, which are consistent with the law of the Lord, and the Gospel of Christ; and in like manner as the church is subject to Christ, her Lord and husband, as follows.”

“Giving thanks always - God is continually loading you with his benefits; you deserve nothing of his kindness; therefore give him thanks for his unmerited bounties. God and the Father - That is: God, who is your Father, and the Father of mercies. See the observations on the Greek article at the end of this epistle. In the name of our Lord Jesus - He is the only mediator; and through him alone can ye approach to God; and it is for his sake only that God will hear your prayers or receive your praises.”

“thanks . . . for all things--even for adversities; also for blessings, unknown as well as known (Col 3:17; Th1 5:18). unto God and the Father--the Fountain of every blessing in Creation, Providence, Election, and Redemption. Lord Jesus Christ--by whom all things, even distresses, become ours (Rom 8:35, Rom 8:37; Co1 3:20-23).”