The apostle Peter begins his first letter by saying to the churches that they were chosen "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. (1Peter 1:2). The following are excerpts from the Gospel According to John regarding what Jesus had to say about this.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.....All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.....For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.....No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.....It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.....For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.....My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”" (John 6:35, John 6:37, John 6:40, John 6:44, John 6:63, John 6:65, John 10:27-30).
