continual gratitude (“always … for you”) is common (Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:4; and others) and reflects his prayer life, as he regularly prayed for his “brothers and sisters” in the family of God. He adds, “rightly so” (Greek, “as is fitting”), adding emphasis to his earlier “ought.” The first stressed the divine obligation behind his thanksgiving, this the human appropriateness of it in light of their exemplary conduct. Both before God and before man, such gratitude is completely mandated. The
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