How is a person saved in the first place, and did they deserve it?
A person is saved in the first place by God's grace—His unmerited favor—not by any merit or deserving. The context affirms that no one deserved it; salvation is God's doing. That same grace also keeps the truly saved, even though none deserve to stay saved.
Les explains that when asked what part of God made it possible for a person to be saved in the first place, the answer is His grace, and when asked whether the person deserved it, the answer is no. None of us deserve to stay saved either, but we do because of His grace, if we have been truly saved in the first place. Standing before Him blameless is because of the grace of God, that unmerited favor. Les adds that grace is not license; it does not tell the believer to go out and do what he pleases. Rather, when the believer is under the power of the Holy Spirit, trying his best in the light of Scripture to walk pleasing in God's sight, and he fails, God does not kick him out. Les uses the illustration of a parent whose little one is taking first faltering steps: when the child falls, the parent does not boot him but picks him up and gets him going again. That is what God does.