Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:13

"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:" — 2 Thessalonians 2:13 (ASV)

But we are bound — This may be called a return to the subject dropped at 2 Thessalonians 1:3. The pronoun is somewhat emphatic. It might have seemed more natural to have sharpened the contrast between the Thessalonian Christians and the unfortunate people just mentioned by beginning, “But you.” It is, however, part of St. Paul’s delicate sympathy to describe the effect upon himself and his two companions of observing that contrast. He sets himself to work the contrast out.

Beloved of the Lord — This is precisely the same phrase as in 1 Thessalonians 1:4, except for the substitution of “the Lord” for “God,” which shows the agreement of the Eternal Son in His Father’s predestinations. As in the former passage, the tense (“who have been loved”) makes the reader think of the everlasting duration of that love (Jeremiah 31:3) and is again connected with the mystery of election.

O love, who before life’s earliest dawn
On me your choice have gently laid.

Hath ... chosen — The Greek tense should be rendered as chose, referring to the definite moment (so to speak) in the divine counsels when the choice was fixed. This moment is defined as “from the beginning,” meaning from the eternity preceding the origin of time, called by the same name in Genesis 1:1, John 1:1, and 1 John 1:1. It does not simply mean “from the outset,” that is, from the moment of first thinking about you at all. The identical phrase is said not to occur again in St. Paul. It may be noted that there is a striking variant reading in some manuscripts, involving the change of only one letter, which would give us “chose you as firstfruits” instead of “chose you from the beginning.” ; but the reading in the text is better supported.

To salvation — This “salvation” is in contrast with the “destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), “perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), or “perishing” (2 Thessalonians 2:10), all of which represent the same word in the Greek. Out of the wreck of a world, God had from eternity chosen these Thessalonians to come out safely.

Through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth — This again teaches us the apostolic idea of election. It is not an absolute, irreversible predestination to a particular state of happiness that the elect will enter after death. The “salvation” is present, begun in this life (Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:8), and carried on along fixed lines—namely, “in sanctification of spirit and belief of truth” (which is the literal rendering). The preposition “in” has the same force here as in 1 Thessalonians 4:4 and 1 Thessalonians 4:7: by way of, or through a course of.

Therefore, if God chose the Thessalonian Christians for salvation through a course of sanctification and belief, one thing is clear: if any of them were to leave that course and fall into the errors and sins denounced in the preceding verses, then, in the Apostle’s mind, they would have forfeited their salvation, despite God’s choice of them.

Consequently, we are forced to one of two theories. The first is that a person has no free will at all, with the moral character of his actions depending as entirely upon God as his final destiny. The second is that a person is free, and God singles him out to enjoy special opportunities for sanctification and correct belief, which he may accept or reject as he pleases.

The first of these theories raises the question of why, if God is responsible for the moral character and belief of His elect, He does not sanctify them at once and completely, making each one infallible in doctrine. In any case, however, lax morality or creed is as incompatible with the hope of a Calvinist as it is with that of an orthodox Christian.

“Sanctification of spirit” seems to mean “spiritual sanctification”—an inward process, not merely an outward change of conduct. This is, of course, brought about by the action of the Holy Spirit upon our spirits. However, the omission of the definite article in the Greek is difficult to explain if the “spirit” mentioned is any other than the spirit being acted upon. “Belief of truth” is opposed to “believing the lie” of 2 Thessalonians 2:11. The acceptance of facts as they are, especially the deep facts of revelation, is always the great means of sanctification in Holy Scripture (John 17:17).