Sinners in the Hands of an _______God?

For a few years we tried to get rich, and were encouraged to visit large homes and dream of living there to motivate us to sell product. Now, decades later, my hope is to make the last payment on my modest little bungalow and be very thankful that I have had food, shelter and clothing, a home in glory......Oh, just to not get all super spiritual....some great memories of staying in spectacular hotels in breathtaking places.

The Angry young reformed believe that God's love is only covenental and only really is shared with the elect. While God has a general good will to normal folks during their brief stay in life, He really does not love them savingly. They really have no opportunity to repent and believe. We don't know who they are so we are supposed to offer them the gospel anyway and let God do the choosing.

Though they were never elect and had no power to respond to the Gospel, they will however suffer the full consequenses of their rebelion and the broken nature they were born with.

I may or may not have overstated that case, and I absolutely agree with the teaching of Jesus that tells us we must abide in the vine to bear fruit and that apart from Him we can do nothing. The new covenant for me was changed when I began to understand that Jesus came to reveal the true and everlasting character of His Father. Jesus is not running compassionate interference for a very _______God, He is revealing the kind and compassionate God who identifies with sinners and understands their weaknesses and saves them from themselves.

I keep hearing from those in my conversation that God just gave us all the gift of free will and then its up to us to do the right thing and make the right decision and do the obedience that will win us heaven. We then feel really justified and good when those who failed are punished eternally. Sometimes you can drive a truck between the implications of Arminian and Calvinistic theology.

I live in neither camp these days. But lean on Jesus revealing the loving, compassionate, forgiving and long suffering nature of His Father. If I am wrong then we are all in trouble.