This is an unnecessary question in the mind of some. To understand the Scripture on this subject is important. We should follow Peter’s admonition, 2 Peter 1:20, … No prophesy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. This means that one cannot take one Scripture and isolate it from every other passage on this subject. There has been in the past years, a teaching which classifies all those that believe in God (Old and New Testament) as members of the Church of God (not the denomination by that name). The following outline should help clarify these things.
A. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM ELECT?
In both the Hebrew and the Greek, the word ELECT means “chosen”. Webster’s unabridged dictionary gives the word the same meaning.
B. HOW DO THE ELECT DIFFER – AS TO PERSONS?
1. There is the ELECT ONE, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42:1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine ELECT in whom my soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles.
2. There are elect angels – never departed from the will of God. 1 Timothy 5:21, I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels…
3. There are elect Jews (Israelites). Isaiah 44:1,2, “Yet now hear, 0 Jacob my servant: and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; fear not, o Jacob my servant and thou Jesurun, whom I have chosen.” (Isaiah 45:4; 65:9, 22)
4. There are those who are the elect of God (Jew and Gentile) of this age.
Colossians 3: 12, Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, and humbleness of mind, meekness, and long-suffering. 1 Peter 1:2, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father.
C. HOW DO THEY DIFFER – AS TO THEIR BEGINNING (The Jews and the Church)
1. The elect Jew (nation) had their origin in Abraham. (Genesis 21:12)
Hebrews 11:18, Of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
2. The elect of God (Jews and Gentiles) of this age have their origin in the finished work of Christ (Ephesians 3:6; 1 :4) Acts 20:28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.
D. HOW DO THEY DIFFER – AS TO THEIR COVENANTS?
1. The elect Jewish nation has the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants; (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18; 2 Samuel 7:16) Luke 1:32, 33, He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.
2. The elect of God, from Pentecost to the Rapture, have a new covenant; (1 Corinthians 11:25) Luke 22:20, Likewise also the cup after supper saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Since the time of Pentecost, God made divisions of mankind (See 1 Corinthians 10:32)
E. HOW DO THEY DIFFER – AS TO THE GOSPEL?
1. The Gospel that John (the Baptist) and Jesus preached was the Gospel of the kingdom because the King was present – but later rejected. Matthew 3:1-3, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is He that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.
2. The Gospel of the church age is the Gospel of the grace of God; Ephesians 3:5,6 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His-promise in Christ by the Gospel: Paul states what the Gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
3. The Gospel that will be preached during the Great Tribulation is the Gospel of the kingdom; Matthew 24:14, And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. That is Christ is about to set up on this earth the long promised kingdom with the Lord Jesus Christ as King (Daniel 2:44, 45)
F. HOW THEY DIFFER – AS TO HOW THEY ARE GATHERED
1. The elect of the church age will be gathered out of this world by the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes in the air to receive His redeemed. Paul calls this time a dispensation. It will close with the Lord Jesus fulfilling His promise in John 14:3, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Romans 5:9; Revelation 3:10)
2. The elect Jews (nation) will be gathered by the angels after the Tribulation, fulfilling many ancient prophecies. (Jeremiah 16:14-17; Ezekiel 39:27, 28)
G. HOW THEY DIFFER -AS TO THE TIME THEY ARE GATHERED
1. The saints (God’s elect of this dispensation) will be taken up to be with Christ before the awful days of trouble come upon the whole earth. (1 Thessalonians 5:9) Revelation 3:10, Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (trial), which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
2. The elect Jew will not be gathered until after the Great Tribulation and the return of the Lord in glory (Matthew 24:29-31) There will be seven years (Daniel’s seventy week) between these two events.
H. HOW THEY DIFFER -AS TO THEIR PLACE IN GOD’S PROGRAM
1. The elect saints (the Church) were not seen in the Old Testament. Ephesians 3:5, Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This was the “new man” which Paul wrote about in Ephesians 2:14-16.
If the Gentile believers had been added to the old, then it could not have been a “new man” or building, or temple. In the Old Testament, Israel was spoken of as the wife of Jehovah. In the New Testament, the Church is spoken as the Bride of Christ, His espousal and described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:2, For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy …
2. The elect of Israel (now the “Loammi”, not my people, (Hosea 1:9) will again become the people of Jehovah. (Hosea 2:14-19; Acts 15:16-18, Jeremiah 23:5, 6) Romans 11:26,27, And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. These are the elect which the angels shall gather as is show in Matthew 24:22, 31.