Note 4 at 1 Th. 1:4: Most people think one cannot know whether or not another person is elect. But that's not the attitude Paul expressed here. He knew the Thessalonians were elect. How did he know? It was because of the actions he described in verse 3.

It is hard to tell about some people's relationship with the Lord, but there are others who manifest so much of the work of God in their lives that there is no doubt. Our goal should be to express the life of God so much that if we were arrested for being a Christian, there would be enough evidence to convict us.

Note 5 at 1 Th. 1:4: Paul uses the word "brethren" a total of 17 times in this epistle. This word reveals the close family tie that Paul felt for these people.

Note 6 at 1 Th. 1:4: "'Beloved' in Greek is what is called a perfect participle, i.e., it conveys the thought of a love existing in the past with that of one continuing into the present with unabated force" (Tyndale N.T. Commentary, Leon Morris, p. 36).

Note 7 at 1 Th. 1:4: The doctrine of election has been debated and volumes of books have been written about the subject. However, most of the controversy has come over how "election" affects our free will. Does God just choose some for salvation and others for damnation? Do we not have a choice?

The simple answer is that we are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father?" (1 Pet. 1:2). That means that God's choosing of us was based on His foreknowledge of what we would do. He didn't choose us independently of our free will (see the notes in ref. b at this verse).