Since God desires all men to be saved, then He makes it possible for them to be saved. However, He forces no person against his own will to be saved and He forces no person against his own will to be lost.
*For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8).
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ " Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory (Romans 9:19-23).
The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4).
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for (Peter 2:7-8).
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep (John 10:25-26).
The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out (John 10:3).
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44).
Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him” (John 6:64-65).
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours (John 17:9).
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:4-5).*
I can go on and on with these sort of verses … but hopefully you see my point?
Judas decided to betray Christ using his own free will and God used Judas’ decision in His own Plan of Salvation, because He knew before Judas was born, that Judas would betray Christ.
Yes … this is passive reprobation (no one, including Calvin, avers otherwise).
The Semitic manner of speaking (as exaggeration) “seems” to show that God created men for the express purpose to save some and to damn others such as Pharaoh, but this is not what is meant at all.
there’s many different views on this (including the idea that Paul was speaking in Greek rhetorical style). However, there’s more than just the Pharaoh reference in Rom. 9 that supports double predestination. Many other verses relay the same idea (the idea that god’s choices in election have nothing to do with human will or effort is a repeated theme in scripture).
Pharaoh hardened his own heart against God. God allowed him to do it because he gave Pharaoh free will just as He gave each of us free will.
When you read Aquinas or Aristotle (and his metaphysics) it’s hard to say they believed mankind has total free will. Every action and thought has a preceding cause (indeed this is an idea Aristotle uses to prove god exists). Therefore, if actions and events that precede us, which are outside of our control, influence and sometimes dictate our actions – then it’s hard to say humans have a complete level of free will.
James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” God is both merciful and just.
yes & Calvin wouldn’t dispute James here. Moreover, Calvin would never say God is unjust; though he would say it’s difficult for finite man to understand divine justice (since predestination does seem arbitrary from our perspective).
Of course, He does not pray for the whole world, He already knows who will be saved and who will not be saved.
He stated that he does not pray for the world, but rather only those who the father gave him. He also states that no one can come to the son unless the father draws them. When you take all these sort of statements in tandem; the picture becomes clear. However, yes there is the problem of the verses you elude to (like 1 Tim. 2:3-4). The question is which direction is easier to harmonize; and what makes more sense?
Augustine & Calvin would both say we do not choose god, but rather god chooses us. God does not choose us because he passively looked down the tunnel of time & saw us doing the right thing. As humans, according to scripture, we’re incapable of doing the right thing without divine grace (therefore no amount of meritorious conduct on our part can earn our way into heaven or make us righteous in god’s eyes). God’s choices are made independent of our choices, actions, desires, efforts, and so on.
However, Augustine would say there’s some amount of foreknowledge involved (but he would also say it’s absurd to imagine foreknowledge preceding decree, since that would have the tail wagging the dog and create a logical paradox).
. But, due to this era we are living in has given the glory the GOD of the most Holy trinity! 
