In "Doctrinal Discussion" Omar Lee writes:

Election, in Arminian circles, has generally been placed in three categories:

1. Election (choice) of individuals to perform special tasks.
   a. The twelve apostles.
   b. Paul as a chosen vessel.
2. Election (choosing) of nations, bodies of people, for special privileges.
   a. Abraham's seed through Isaac.
   b. The Church.
3. Individual election because they have conformed to His conditions. That is, through grace by faith they have believed in Him (adapted from Wiley's Intro. to Christian Theology).
   From this discussion, we draw these conclusions:
4. That a sovereign God has everything as well as all people in His control.
5. That having created man, He predestined a plan to recover them when they sinned.
6. That He elects (chooses) as His own those who elect (choose) to believe and thus meet His conditions.
7. That as election is only if we believe, therefore, to fail to believe or to decide to abandon our belief results in judgment and final damnation.
   It is good to know that God has a predestined plan for our complete restora-tion to fellowship with Him throughout the ages. Our choice makes the difference!

Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 56.

In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:

While verses 29 and 30 form the biblical basis for the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination, we must remember that Paul introduced these thoughts to encourage the believer facing suffering. Paul's emphasis was that God was the initiator in our salvation, even before we were born. His purpose in salvation was to conform us to the image of his Son. For Jesus, the way to glory was through suffering, and so it will be with us.

Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 47.

In "Word Focus" Glenn McClure writes:

The other word is predestinate. This word conveys the idea of limiting in advance or marking out beforehand.

It should be noted that the verses where this word occurs relate to God’s redemptive plan for those who are “in Christ,” that is, believers. So we can see that predestination is primarily a doctrine for the saints, not for sinners.

Here we need to ask the right question. It is not who are the objects of this predestination, but to what they are predestinated. The text simply says that the believers are predestined “to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

It is only natural that the believer should be Christlike, for in Him is our total salvation dependent.

Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 46.