Saved by God’s Grace Alone

Lord, 'tis not that I did choose Thee;
That, I know, could never be;
For this heart would still refuse Thee
Had Thy grace not chosen me.
Thou hast from the sin that stained me
Washed and cleansed and set me free
And unto this end ordained me,
That I ever live to Thee.
 – Lord, 'Tis Not that I Did Choose Thee (From Treasury of Daily Prayer, p. 41)

I remember when I first realized that I had not really chosen God, but that He had chosen me.  It was somewhat of a revelation for me, who had lived all of my life under the belief that I had chosen to accept Christ as my Savior.

The "epiphany" took this form: I realized that if I was saved by my decision to accept Christ, then I was basically saying that I was saved because I was smarter, wiser, more righteous or more spiritual than other people who hadn't been smart enough, wise enough, righteous enough or spiritual enough to make such a decision.  I was saved because of my intellect or my wisdom or my righteousness or my spiritual sensitivity.

Looking back, I see that I used to look at people who did not believe with a kind of contempt: "How could anyone be so stupid as to reject Christ?  It's so obvious that this is the truth; why would anyone reject this?"  I made the right decision, and that stupid or wicked or un-spiritual person over there made the wrong decision.

This realization that I had not chosen God, but that He had chosen me, was a serious paradigm shift for me.  It led to a brief foray into Calvinism, but to make a long story short, I eventually found my home in Lutheranism.

Here is what Luther's Small Catechism has to say on the subject (from the explanation of the Third Article of the Creed):

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified me and kept me in the true faith.

In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.

In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.

On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

This is most certainly true.

We are helpless to do anything to save ourselves, even believe.  Faith itself is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  St. Paul says the following in Ephesians 2:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:1-6).

My salvation was not a decision that I made to accept Jesus.  It was God taking someone who was dead and making her alive.  I did not unblind my own eyes, it was God who made me see.