¹³But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The dark thoughts of the previous verses about the fate of non-believers serve in relief to the glory of the destiny of believers, those who have embraced the message of the gospel. Because this is all by God’s grace, Paul feels obligated to give thanks always. Gratitude is a constant theme in all of his writing. And how could it not drench our lives as well, when we consider what we have been saved from and what we have been saved to? We deserved nothing but to be confirmed in believing the delusion of Satan and suffering the just consequences. Paul’s attitude of gratitude was shared as a catalyst to encourage in his readers (including us) the same heart of appreciation for what God has done in saving us.

Whereas God will send (future) a deluding influence to prove true his judgment of non-believers, our passage teaches that “God has chosen” believers from the beginning for salvation. Time and space do not permit us to delve very deeply into what seems to be an anomaly. Does God choose people to salvation and specifically select people for judgment? If so, how then can He also hold people responsible for their response to the gospel message? To be sure, the Scripture speaks to these things (see Eph. 1:4–5, Rom. 9:18–24). Scripture also points clearly to human responsibility to believe, and to the fact that judgment comes as a result of choosing not to believe.

The old saying captures our imagination and gives us some perspective. Salvation is like walking through a doorway with the sign at the top that says, “Whosoever will may enter.” After choosing to walk through, then looking back at the door, the sign on the inside says, “Chosen from the beginning, the foundation of the earth.” Both are true, but we cannot fully comprehend exactly how they work together. He chose us for salvation. He set us apart by the agency of His Spirit and our believing in the truth. Concurrent with this, “He called” us through the gospel message—all with the purpose that we might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rather than get bogged down in the logical and theological exercise of this, we would do better to respond as Paul does, following his example and thank God profusely for what He has done in our lives. He saved us who believe. He saved me. Praise God!

Lord, let every day of my life be saturated with gratitude to You.