2 Tessalonicenses 1
Augustine of Hippo · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
2 Tessalonicenses 1:3
There could be no merit in men's choice of Christ, if it were not that God's grace precedes any faith or action on their part in his choosing them. This is why the apostle Paul pronounces to the Thessalonians this benediction, "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men." This benediction to love one another he gave us, who had also given us a law that we should love one another. Then, in the salutation addressed to the same church where some of its members possessed the disposition which he had wished them to cultivate, Paul says, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brothers. This is quite fitting, because your faith grows robustly, and your mutual charity abounds." — On Grace and Free Will 1.18.38
2 Tessalonicenses 1:5
Lastly, there is the matter of Faustus' crafty insinuation, that the Old Testament misrepresents God as threatening to come with a sword which will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked. If the words were explained to the pagan, he would perhaps disagree neither with the Old Testament nor with the New; and he might see the beauty of the parable in the Gospel, which people who pretend to be Christians either misunderstand from their blindness or reject from their perversity. The vine's great farmer uses his pruning hook differently on the fruitful and in the unfruitful branches. Yet he spares neither good nor bad, pruning one and cutting off the other. No one is so just that he does not need to be tried by affliction to advance or to establish or prove his virtue. Do the Manichaeans not reckon Paul as righteous, who, while confessing humbly and honestly his past sins, still gives thanks for being justified by faith in Jesus Christ? Was Paul himself then spared of suffering by God whom fools misunderstand? He says, "I will spare neither the righteous nor the sinner." Hear the apostle himself, "Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelation, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. For this I asked the Lord three times, that he would remove it from me; and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for strength is perfected in weakness." … Paul also, besides recording his own experience, says that the afflictions and persecutions of the righteous exhibit the judgment of God. — REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN 22.20
2 Tessalonicenses 1:11
I said, "Salvation through this religion, through which alone true salvation is promised and truly promised, has never been lacking to anyone who was worthy of it, and the one to whom it was lacking was unworthy of it." I did not mean this as though anyone were worthy according to his own merits, but as the apostle says, "God's purpose in election" does not depend on deeds but is applied according to him who calls—Rebekah was told, "The elder shall serve the younger"—and he asserts that this call depends on the purpose of God. Hence Paul says, "Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." Similarly, he says, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Concerning this call he says, "that he may consider you worthy of his calling." — RETRACTATIONS 2.31