We are chosen by God
Romans 11:1-6(NLT) I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said, “LORD, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!” It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace—his undeserved kindness in choosing them. And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.
1 Peter 2:9-10(NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Your faith is not the basis of God’s choosing you, but the result of it. John 6:37(ESV) “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
The basis of God choosing you, is not in you, but in grace. Isaiah 45:4(ESV) “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.”
Deuteronomy 7:6-8(NIV) “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Behind our believing, behind our coming to Jesus, is grace alone. Our Faith in God is the result of God choosing us.
1 Thessalonians 1:4(ESV) For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
Ephesians 2:4-6(NLT) But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
Romans 10:10(NKJV) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.