whom he has chosen for himself. They are his elect ones—chosen in love before the foundation of the world to be God’s own special possession. Here in verse 1 Paul is telling us that his ministry as a servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ is for their faith. Paul may well be thinking here about his ministry of bringing God’s elect to faith. That was certainly one of the key aspects of his work as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He preached the gospel both to Jews and Gentiles so that those among
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