1 Thessalonians 1:4

The practical evidence of the Spirit in their lives showed that God had willed to enrol them among His chosen people (note the O.T. associations of beloved by God and election), just as the same consciousness of possessing the Spirit gave them the sure prospect of final entrance into the Messianic realm an assurance which (1 Thessalonians 1:6) filled them with joy amid all their discomforts. The phenomenon of the Spirit thus threw light backwards on the hidden purpose of God for them, and forwards on their prospect of bliss. Recollections depend on knowledge; to be satisfied about a person implies settled convictions about his character and position. The apostles feel certain that the Thessalonian Christians had been truly chosen and called by God, owing to (a) the genuineness and effectiveness of their own ministry at Thessalonica, where they had felt the gospel going home to many of the inhabitants, and (b) the genuine evidence of the Thessalonians' faith; (a) comes first in 1 Thessalonians 1:5, (b) in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 f. In 1 Thessalonians 2:1 f. Paul reverts to (a), while in 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 (b) is again before his mind. As the divine ἐκλογή manifested itself in the Christian qualities of 1 Thessalonians 1:3, Paul goes back to their historical origin.