Spokenpassage,
If you don't mind, PLEASE ELABORATE your above quoted answer. I know the answer to Crossnote's question is in here. But unfortunately, I can't seem to understand. Thanks.
No problem. You see, men are born in sin so all they do is according to their nature which is sinful. Since sin must be judged, the punishment for us all is eternal death after we die. In Romans 3:9-12 explains that no one seeks after the Lord, we all turned our backs from Him. In so doing, men are unrepentant sinners doomed for that destruction. Jesus even said all who sin are a slave to sin. Men who ignore the gospel will be judged for their hard hearts towards God and sin. Everyone deserves that because we all have sinned and fallen short of His glory.
So it's entirely fair for those not chosen by God's grace to suffer the consequences for their own sins. Jesus opening our eyes is a gift from God, the faith we have is a gift from God. It is perfectly just to leave some people to their own destruction, and to save whoever He pleases for His glory. So many scriptures speaking about this.
If it was fair for God to have the heathens in Canaan be slaughtered in order for the Israelites to possess the land, then it is also righteous for God to choose who receives His benefits while leaving the rest to their just doom.
It sounds harsh at first (with our human understanding), but knowing that we deserved that anyways shows that it is perfectly just for Him to choose whom He wants to be saved.
Now the gospel message is a general call for everyone to repent, of course the reprobate who will forever refuse the message will not heed it nor care, but God's elect will hear it and God will move in them to believe and to accept the message. Everyone has the offer of salvation, but because men loved darkness rather than light, they will be judged for their rejection. God helps the elect to want to believe, by giving him a heart of flesh in place of his heart of stone.
So that in the end, God will display His perfect wrath and justice on those who rebelled, and His perfect mercy and grace on those who He chosen before the foundations of the world without any partiality on His part.
Romans 9 explains this well.