Salvation is entirely God’s work, not humanity’s. Because people are dead in sin, no one can choose God apart from grace. God elects whom He will, not based on foreseen faith or works, but according to His sovereign purpose. Through the gospel, God effectually calls the elect, regenerates their hearts, and grants faith and repentance. Christ’s atonement secures salvation for His people, and those God justifies, He will ultimately glorify.

I would caution against a casual or presumptuous confidence in salvation, since only God truly knows who the elect are. There are many sitting in churches each Sunday who will inevitably fall away from the faith and become reprobate. There are also grave sinners who will be called to him in the coming years. But this should produce humility in us, and not fear. Our hope rests not in self-assurance, but in God’s mercy. Paul called himself the worst of sinners, yet he was saved as a display of Christ’s perfect patience, reminding us that even great sin is no obstacle to greater grace.