2. We always thank God for all of you. He praises, as he is wont, their faith and other virtues, not so much, however, for the purpose of praising them as to exhort them to perseverance. For it is no small spur to eagerness of pursuit when we reflect that God has adorned us with special endowments, that he may finish what he has begun, and that we have, under his guidance and direction, advanced in the right course in order that we may reach the goal. Just as a vain confidence in those virtues that
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