God's elect — The above — cited author observes, that long before the coming of Christ the heathen world revolted from the true God, and were therefore reprobated, or rejected.
But the nation of the Jews were chosen to be the people of God, and were therefore styled, "the children" or "sons of God," Deuteronomy 14:1;
"holy people," Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2;
"a chosen seed," Deuteronomy 4:37;
"the elect," Isaiah 41:8-9; Isaiah 43:10;
"the called of God," Isaiah 48:12.
And these titles were given to all the nation of Israel, including both good and bad.
Now the gospel having the most strict connexion with the Books of the Old Testament, where these phrases frequently occur; and our Lord and his apostles being native Jews, and beginning to preach in the land of Israel, the language in which they preached would of course abound with the phrases of the Jewish nation. And hence it is easy to see why such of them as would not receive him were styled reprobated. For they no longer continued to be the people of God; whereas this and those other honourable titles were continued to all such Jews as embraced Christianity. And the same appellations which once belonged to the Jewish nation were now given to the gentile Christians also together with which they were invested with all the privileges of "the chosen people of God;" and nothing could cut them off from these but their own wilful apostasy.
It does not appear that even good men were ever termed God's elect till above two thousand years from the creation. God's electing or choosing the nation of Israel, and separating them from the other nations, who were sunk in idolatry and all wickedness, gave the first occasion to this sort of language. And as the separating the Christians from the Jews was a like event, no wonder it was expressed in like words and phrases only with this difference, the term elect was of old applied to all the members of the visible church; whereas in the New Testament it is applied only to the members of the invisible.