2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. We are bound to give thanks ahvay to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sancti- fication of the Spirit and belief of the truth : whereunto he called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
MUCH as the heart of man rises against the doc- trine of election, it must be confessed that it occurs very frequently in the Holy Scriptures ; and there- fore it ought not to be passed over in silence : and, if the advocates of that doctrine would be contented to state it as the Holy Scriptures state it, and to give it only that measure of prominence which it bears in the inspired writings, I cannot but think that much of the prejudice against it would subside. It is true, that nothing but deep humility of mind can ever lead a man so to acquiesce in it as to ap- prove of it in his soul, and to adorn it in his life. But where that humility exists, as it did in the Apostle Paul, the doctrine will be most grateful to the soul, and will form a ground of most unfeigned praise to Almighty God. The Apostle is contrasting the state of the Thessalonians with that of many who should, at a future period, arise in the Church, whose presumption would know no bounds, and who, for their impiety, would be given over by God to final impenitence. Whilst those transgressors were doomed by God to everlasting misery, the Thessalonian con- verts were ordained to eternal life, having been from the beginning chosen of God to salvation, and having been in time called to the enjoyment of it through the ministry of that Gospel which the Apostle preached. For them therefore he gives thanks, as indeed he was bound to do, since it was a mercy that called for the devoutest praises and thanks- givings, from themselves and from all others in their behalf.