God was not moved by anything outside Himself to choose the people He chose to save. God did not choose His people in time, but before time began, in eternity. He chose us before the foundation of the world, from the beginning, when nothing existed except God Himself in the trinity of the eternal Godhead. The source and cause of election is God's eternal LOVE for His people. He loved us freely, from everlasting, before ever the earth was made.
Grace is always free and unconditional.
The moment a condition is put on it, it ceases to be grace. To talk of universal love in God toward reprobate men is to talk nonsense.