Absolutely and they mean exactly what they say, we don't choose him, he chooses us. "Faith is contrasted with works, but is not a work itself"
Only because faith is impossible without the God initiated regeneration which produces faith. If we could come to faith on our own it would certainly be a work. And we would have reason to boast that WE decided to come to faith and the unsaved didn't.
Well, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. We look at the same scripture and see two different answers. It happens. In the end, God will let us know, or let us know He wasn’t too concerned with the argument all along. May your future on earth draw you ever closer to God!