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lookn4ward2heavn said:
2. Why is the call for men to repent "effectual to some" and not to all who hear it?
It is effectual to some because only those who have been regenerated (given a new nature/predisposition toward God) are capable of hearing and repenting. See here:

- Calling and Repentance, by Abraham Kuyper
- Efficacious Grace, by Loraine Boettner
- The Call that Brings a Response, by Errol Hulse

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lookn4ward2heavn asked:
3. By the way, where does the Bible affirm this concept of God having a "hidden" will with reference to the salvation of men? What is that "hidden will". If hidden, how do you know there is such a will in God the first place?
"Hidden will" is a misnomer in that all of what God has willed has not been revealed but there are many things which He has revealed about His will, e.g., the entire Bible. It is indisputable that God has decreed (willed) that some of Adam's fallen race have been chosen in Christ unto salvation from eternity and some passed by and left in their sins. But who those chosen to salvation are is not revealed, i.e., the actual names of individuals has not been set forth. Thus it can rightly be said that such information is "hidden". (cf. Acts 13:48; 18:19, 20; et al)

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lookn4ward2heavn said:
Please understand, these questions are not given to affirm or deny Calvinism per se. I think the answers to these questions may show that all who believe in Calvinism are "hyper" (if it be insisted that only some are to be designated as such) because they all agree to the concept of "unconditional election", regardless of whatever other doctrinal disagreements they may have.
You are wanting to redefine a term which has been established for centuries, evidently due to your rejection of biblical Calvinism. Calvinists evangelize the lost due to God's unconditional election knowing that those who have been predestinated to salvation will come through the preaching of the Gospel; "the power of God unto salvation". We do not call sinners to repentance and hope that some will of their own free-will 'decide for Jesus', which is not taught in Scripture, and which they are totally incapable of doing unless God the Spirit first regenerates them and enables them to do so. We evangelize with a sure confidence that men will come to Christ according to God's eternal and sovereign will and not due to some baseless and irrational hope that dead sinners will hear and respond to the call. wink

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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