Actually what you are saying Kennethc is its what you want the Scriptures to say that counts, not what the Holy Spirit says.
And for the record John Calvin knew much more about the Scriptures and what God said then you do Kennethc. You are not the final authority on what the Scriptures say. Just because you do not like what God says does not give you the right to put down a True Christian like Calvin. Just remember he was with Martin Luther and it was by him and others that today you have the right to read and study the Scriptures without having to ask permission from the Catholic Church.
Just remember, if it were not for John Calvin and others you would not have the Bible today to read and study!
If John Calvin were alive today, I don't think he would hold to some of the interpretations he had back then.
What he missed about the Biblical idea of predestination, is not being fully aware of the John 17 Scripture which reveals more of our Lord Jesus' idea that many are called, but few are chosen.
Look at Apostle Paul for the main example:
Per Acts 9, Paul (then called Saul) was deceived with following the Pharisees. He was a Hebrew scholar, and spoke several languages. Yet he was on the way to Damascus to hunt down Christians and bring them to Jerusalem for trial in chains, when Jesus appeared to him and removed all doubt.
That means DIRECT INTERVENTION by The LORD. When Jesus appeared to Ananias about Paul, He told him that Paul was His "chosen vessel".
So why hasn't our Lord Jesus done that for all us, directly intervened to turn us to Him, our not using our own will?
Yet there have been many that believed on Him by their own free will choice once they heard The Gospel preached by others, especially when preached by His chosen sent ones, His Apostles.
And then there have been some of those that once believed that have fallen away from Christ, no longer even believing there is a God. That cannot ever happen to one who is chosen by Christ though.
In John 17, our Lord showed how The Father owned beforehand His chosen ones, like the Apostles. This is why Jesus could go up to His Apostles at the start of His Ministry and say 'follow Me', and they got up and followed, asking no question. It's because The Father gave those chosen to Christ as He said in John 17. It's about ownership.
This is also how it could be with Paul who was in the very act of persecuting Christ's Church when our Lord Jesus struck him down personally and began Paul's chosen duty he was ordained for. Jesus already owned him, it just wasn't time yet for Paul's commission until that day.
Same with Moses. Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh, and learned in all the ways of the Egyptians. It was not until after he slew the Egyptian and had to flee, and went up on Mount Sinai that The LORD directly intervened in his life, bringing Moses into his chosen duty he was ordained for.
If The LORD did that for Moses, then why not all of us who have believed on Christ?
With Jonah, God chose him to go preach to those at Nineveh. Jonah tried to get out of that duty, even jumped overboard to kill himself. God caused the great fish to spit Jonah right upon the shores of Nineveh. Then after Jonah fulfilled his chosen duty, he sat under a tree and looked at what would become of those he preached to at Nineveh. They turned to God and Jonah became angry. God made the tree Jonah sat under flourish, giving him shade and Jonah fell asleep. Then the next day when the sun came up, God made the leaves go back to make the tree bare, with the hot sun beading down upon Jonah's head. Jonah was chosen, and God forced him to fulfill his chosen duty, which again, showed God's ownership of Jonah.
If God did that with Jonah, then why not with all believers? It's because most of us are called only, but not a chosen sent one.
We will not find out exactly why many are called, but only few are chosen until after our Lord Jesus' future second coming. We can have supposition, but that's all it will be.
What's important to note is how Christ's chosen had the need to keep warning us to not be deceived, and keep our walk in Him, and not fall away. This because it is possible for one not chosen to be deceived, and fall away from Christ.
So there is a difference between a called one, and a chosen one, like our Lord Jesus said, for many are called but few are chosen.
His chosen cannot be deceived.
The many called, can be.
Our Lord Jesus' desire, per John 17, is that we all... become one in Him and The Father.
If I were a chosen sent one, I wouldn't claim it, because I would be wary of pride and thinking that I have no need to work out my salvation with fear and trembling like Paul said. It's better to stay on watch, watching, and stay in His Word. I've never seen Jesus, not in person, not in dream or vision. So I have no authority to claim to be a chosen sent one. But there's still time in the future when I may be chosen to fulfill some important duty for Him when He may appear to me and tell me what that is. Until then, I know I'm only called, and I can fall away from Him IF I allow myself to do that.