What do I mean by saying "God sovereignly saved me"?

I was talking to a family member recently who does not believe that the Bible teaches God’s sovereignty in saving sinners. At least not in the way that I believe it teaches it. In-fact, I’ve had many conversations with people over the past several years, (since I’ve come to believe what I do) who do not agree with me. I’ve already talked about how my understanding God’s sovereignty in my own salvation has dramatically impacted me. It has driven my faith so much deeper as I’ve come to understand the depth of my own sin and the heights of God’s initial and sustaining grace (in Christ) toward me, and I’ve seen it do the same to others. But ultimately what matters is not how I or anyone else feels about something, but whether or not the Bible teaches it. And because I believe the Bible does in-fact teach this, it's my desire to go into more detail about what I mean when I say that "God sovereignly saved me," in the hopes that someone reading this would also be greatly impacted by these truths, and that God would be glorified by receiving credit for what He alone does in the lives of sinners.

Basically here's what I mean: Scripture teaches that all people are sinners (Romans 3:23). And that, because of our sin, we do not seek, but instead turn away from God (Psalm 14:2; Romans 3:10-11). It teaches that we, in-fact, hate the light (Jesus) and do not come to it because we love our sin (John 3:19-21). Jesus Himself said to his own brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.” (John 7:7). So the question becomes: If that's so, then how/why is it that some people actually do come to Jesus in faith? Some would say that God draws all people equally and then each person decides whether or not to turn to Jesus in faith. They would say that without this "drawing" by Jesus, nobody would come to Him and that's what these verses mean. I don't believe Scripture teaches this. I believe it teaches that God saves us by His particular and sovereign grace. That He chooses us based on nothing that we do and nothing good that He sees in us (including a good decision).

Coincidentally, just yesterday, our Pastor preached a sermon on John 6:44. In this passage, Jesus says (to the Jews who were grumbling about what Jesus was telling them), “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Since I believe that truly understanding what Jesus means here will HUGELY impact your life, I encourage you to watch the video (click here) of him preaching this sermon. And I hope and pray you’ll be blessed by it.