The world is made up of those who will be redeemed and those who will not be redeemed. And that distinction was ordained by God from before the foundation of the world, based not on anything He foresaw in us, but in His good pleasure alone. All men are fallen and equaling deserving of condemnation. Only God's free, unmerited grace through faith in the risen Christ saves those whom God has called to be His own. And grace is a gift; it is not of ourselves, lest we boast.
Mercy and not debt. Gratitude and not recompense. Grace.