Elections Colossians 3: 12 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The first time the Bible uses the word elect is in Isaiah 42:1. The elect here is Jesus Christ. His election has to do with his reign on David’s throne in the millennium [Is 9:6-7]. Jesus is not ruling on David’s throne yet [Lk 1:32-33]. He has been elected but he has not taken the throne. He is like the President Elect who is elected in November but doesn’t take office until January.
The first three occurrences of election are in Isaiah [Is 45:4; Is 65:9; Is 65:22]. They refer to Israel ruling in the millennium. Israel is elected now, but won’t rule until later. None of these references talk about predestination to salvation.
The next seven occurrences of election are all in the New Testament. In every case, they refer to tribulation saints. These verses do not apply to church age saints today. The verses are Matt 24:22; Matt 24:24; Matt 24:31; Mk 13:20; Mk 13:22; Mk 13:27; Lk 18:7.
Matt 24:13 says, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” This is probably what determines candidacy for election in the tribulation. In Rev 7:9-17 there is an innumerable multitude of saints in heaven which come out of the great tribulation. These are the elect from the seven verses above. Yet, there is no evidence that God predestined them to salvation from the beginning of the world.
The next four references to election are in Romans and refer to Church age saints [Rom 8:33], and to a remnant of Israel [Rom 11:5, 7, 33]. But again no one in these verses is predestined to salvation.
These are the remaining verses that contain the word elect, election, etc., 1 Thes 1:4, 2 Tim 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Pet 1:2, 1 Pet 5:13, 2 Pet 1:10, referring to church age saints, 2 Jn 1 and 2 Jn 13, which are specific to one Christian, and 1 Tim 5:21 which refers to angels that didn’t fall. None of these verses talk about someone elected to salvation before the foundation of the world.
Your reign is conditional based on whether you are willing to suffer with Jesus. We are elected to reign with Jesus Christ [Rev 5:10] but we can forfeit our reign if we refuse to suffer with him, Rom 8:17-18; 2 Tim 2:12-13. The election never has anything to do with salvation (although salvation is a prerequisite to election). Nobody will rule until Christ returns.