What Does the Bible Say About Election?

2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV / 20 helpful votes

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

2 Timothy 1:9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

John 15:16 ESV / 12 helpful votes

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Ephesians 1:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

John 6:44 ESV / 11 helpful votes

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Ephesians 1:4-5 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Romans 8:29 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Acts 13:48 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

John 6:37 ESV / 9 helpful votes

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

1 Peter 1:20 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 1:11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Romans 9:1-33 ESV / 7 helpful votes

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. ...

Romans 9:16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

Romans 8:29-30 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Mark 13:20 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

Amos 3:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

1 Peter 1:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Romans 9:19-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Romans 9:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Romans 8:7-8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Acts 17:30 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Acts 16:31 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

John 17:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

John 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Hosea 13:4-5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me, and besides me there is no savior. It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought;

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Timothy 2:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Romans 11:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?

Romans 9:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Romans 3:10-18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” ...

Acts 18:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Acts 2:38 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John 17:9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

John 8:44 ESV / 4 helpful votes

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Mark 13:27 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Matthew 22:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Revelation 22:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

2 Peter 1:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

Ephesians 4:17-19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

John 17:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Luke 18:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

Luke 8:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.

Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 42:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Exodus 32:33 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

1 Peter 5:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

1 Peter 2:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

1 Timothy 5:21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 1:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Romans 11:1-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ...

Romans 10:1-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ...

Romans 9:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Romans 8:30 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Acts 9:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

John 6:39 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

John 6:29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

John 3:1-36 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ...

Luke 6:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:

Mark 13:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

Isaiah 55:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isaiah 45:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.

Isaiah 31:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel.

Nehemiah 11:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns.

Revelation 20:4 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 17:14 ESV / 1 helpful vote

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Revelation 17:8 ESV / 1 helpful vote

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Titus 2:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,

Titus 2:1-15 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. ...

1 Timothy 4:10 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ephesians 1:1-23 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ...

Romans 9:12 ESV / 1 helpful vote

She was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

Romans 9:11-13 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Romans 9:11 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—

Romans 9:9 ESV / 1 helpful vote

For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Romans 9:6-24 ESV / 1 helpful vote

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ...

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 1 helpful vote

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

Luke 13:5 ESV / 1 helpful vote

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Luke 13:3 ESV / 1 helpful vote

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Matthew 24:1-51 ESV / 1 helpful vote

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...

89 Bible Verses about Election