Commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1:4 Gordon Fee has some interesting thoughts on election.

The noun “election” itself is found elsewhere in Paul’s letters only in Romans 9-11, all having to do with Israel.  Elsewhere Paul uses the verb (Eph 1:4) or the adjective “elect.”  Although this language does not occur frequently in his letters, its occurrence in a passage like the present one indicates that it is presuppositional for him.  It should be noted that in the present case Paul is thinking of the whole body of Thessalonian believers as elect, not individual believers.  Indeed, although he refers once to an individual as “chosen” (Rom 16:13), his understanding of such election is presuppositionally related to a person’s incorporation into the community of believers.  Moreover, for Paul “election” is always a referent to believers, and thus reflects a reality after the fact, not before; and as here it is always seen as an action of God’s love, and thus it becomes a dynamic force in the life of the believing community*.

*footnote 18: One should perhaps note finally that those outside of Christ are non-elect by logical-extension, not by Pauline affirmation.  The idea of “double-predestination” belongs to Western logic, not to biblical revelation – Gordon Fee NICNT 1 & 2 Thessalonians p31

In the last few years of study this is the conclusion that I have come to as well, although Fee has not produced any systematic theological work on Soteriology, I think that through his writings one can come to understand his Soteriological perspective.