2 Thessalonians 2:13

In contrast to the lawless unbelievers just referred to (2 Thessalonians 2:12), Paul was grateful that he could always give thanks for his readers. Moreover he did so (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3). The ground for his joy was God’s choice of them for salvation before He created the world ("the beginning," 2 Thessalonians 2:13; cf. Ephesians 1:4). Though God loves all people (John 3:16), He does not choose all for salvation. Paul consistently taught what the rest of Scripture reveals, namely, that the initiative in salvation comes from God, not man. God accomplishes salvation through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8; 1 Peter 1:2). [Note: Cf. Ernest Best, A Commentary on the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians, pp. 314-15.] He makes it efficacious when individuals believe the gospel. Even though unbelievers oppose us, we can take courage because God loves us, and He will deliver us.

"It is a travesty of God’s electing grace to suppose that, because he chooses some for salvation, all the others are thereby consigned to perdition. On the contrary, if some are chosen for special blessing, it is in order that others may be blessed through them and with them. This is a constant feature in the pattern of divine election throughout the Bible story, from Abraham onward. Those who are chosen constitute the firstfruits, bearing the promise of a rich harvest to come." [Note: Bruce, p. 191.]

This writer did not believe in the universal salvation of all people, so perhaps he meant that the blessings that the lost receive because of the elect are temporal rather than eternal.