And from us thanks are always due to God on your behalf –brethren whom the Lord loves– because God from the beginning has chosen you for salvation through the Spirit's sanctifying influence and your belief in the truth.
That indeed is the reason why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know in whom my trust reposes, and I am confident that He has it in His power to keep what I have entrusted to Him safe until that day.
In accordance with His will He made us His children through the Message of the truth, so that we might, in a sense, be the Firstfruits of the things which He has created.