From the very first of the apostles letters we are told, "We received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith." (Rom. 1:5)  If we are in Christ, it is because we were "called"!  We are also clearly told that this calling has nothing to do with our own righteousness.

 

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) 

 

There are three important points to note about this scripture:

1.    No-one is righteous

2.    There is no-one seeking God

3.    All have turned away.

 

So then how is anyone to be saved if no-one is righteous, no-one seeks God and all have turned away? Our salvation is a result of God's goodness, not our own.  "No one is good - except God alone." (Mark 10:18)  If not for the intervention of God, nobody would be saved. Not a single person. God chooses to show his mercy and grace to some so that they can be saved:  

 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” (John 6:44-45)

 

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” (John 15:16)

 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)  

 

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” (Ephesians 1:4-6)

 

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

 

​​​These passages show very clearly that God chose us. He chose us before the beginning of creation. He calls us, he draws us to himself. He predestined us from the beginning of time to believe in the truth of Jesus Christ. You may ask how does this ‘election’ fit in with me choosing to believe in Jesus Christ? Well it doesn’t. The truth, which can be seen in Romans 3:10-18, is that nobody would believe and follow God without his intervention. If God had not stepped in and given some of us faith then absolutely none of us would be saved.  "For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Rom. 9:15)

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In our walk we may have felt like we made the decision to follow Jesus by ourselves but in reality it was God drawing us to him in accordance with his will.

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Many find this difficult to accept (for a range of reasons) and it raises many questions that hopefully will be answered in the following sections.

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“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3)

 

The common misconception is that we come to a faith all on our own, which then leads to God showing us his favour - and thus we are saved.  If this was the case I could boast about my faith.  But in truth, God chooses those that he will show his “favour” to.  It is through the faith he gives us that we turn to follow Jesus Christ and are saved.  As it says, "in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you".  I will say this again.  God in his wonderful mercy chooses people and gives them faith, through which they are saved.  Faith is a gift of God!