Of all the theological beliefs I disagree with, Calvinism is the one I most sympathise with. While flawed beyond my own ability to accept, I can nevertheless understand why Calvinists do accept it. The Bible, while it undoubtedly presents God as being a logical, omnibenevolent being, nevertheless presents Him as sovereign; completely beyond our ability to defeat or overwhelm. What He sets out to achieve, He achieves. What He says will happen will happen, and there's nothing we can do to stop it. So, if God really wanted all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, that would happen. Right?
Well, actually, wrong. See, the Bible does say God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. In 1 Timothy 2:1-4, we read "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
This passage alone, though of course it is anything but alone, makes it very clear that God is willing that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. So how does that square with Romans 9:19: "You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?”"?
As always, the key here is context. Throughout Scripture, we see examples of people resisting God's will. Luke 7:30, for example, explicitly tells us "But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him." So, who has resisted His will? The lawyers and Pharisees. Indeed, sin itself can be adequately defined as a rebellion against the will of God. Therefore, Romans 9:19 cannot mean it is 100% impossible to resist the will of God in any way at any point.
The context of Romans 9 as a whole bears this out. It doesn't talk about individuals being saved in the long run, but about earthly, usually national events, such as the distinction between Israel and Edom, or the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. By contrast, Scripture actually contrasts those who do God's will unto salvation, and those who do not, unto damnation.
In Matthew 7:21, we read "“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Few Calvinists would make the mistake of believing this is preaching a works-based gospel. Indeed, Calvinism, by its very nature, is so opposed to works-based gospels that "hyper-Calvinists" (i.e. a Calvinist who follows his views to its logical conclusion) would even suggest we need not evangelise; whom God wills to save, He will save.
But on the flip side, if those who do the will of our Father in Heaven are saved, yet none can resist that will, then all shall be saved. The only sensible way to understand Jesus' words here is by acknowledging that those who do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven failed to do the will of the Father.
So what is this will? Well, as we have already established from 1 Timothy 2:1-4, it is that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And as He says in 2 Peter 3:9, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. As He says in Ezekiel 18:32, He has no pleasure in the death of one who dies, but prefers them to turn and live. As He says in Ezekiel 33:11, He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Like a beating drum, in both Old and New Testaments, God makes it clear that He wills for all to be saved.
The fact that not all are saved is not a weakness on God's part. Nor can an eternity in Hell be described as a victory over Him on the part of those who perish. Some prize, not a single blessing left! Weeping and gnashing of teeth! Outer darkness! Fire and brimstone, no rest forever and ever, do the unsaved win? And what does God, who sees them as grasshoppers (Isaiah 40:22), lose if they reject His gift? It is an absurd position to hold that if man rejects the will of God for ourselves, that therefore He is somehow not sovereign.
Almost as absurd as to believe that if someone sins against Him, somehow that is His will. Do Calvinists not believe, and justly so, that God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13)? That the Trinity act with one accord? How, then, can they simultaneously believe that God is so divided against Himself that He creates rebellion? Is He the Author of chaos (1 Corinthians 14:33), so that He will intentionally turn man's heart against Him? If there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5), how can He bring forth such darkness against Himself? If He cannot be tempted, nor tempt anyone (James 1:13-14), how can we believe He literally forces members of the "all men, everywhere", whom He has commanded to repent (Acts 17:30), to disobey that command?
I have the deepest sympathy for Calvinism, and have great respect for many preachers, past and present, who have held Calvinist views. Nevertheless, I cannot reconcile Calvinist interpretations of some Scriptures with the clearly non-Calvinist meanings of others. I do not believe in an illogical God, and yet I can find no logical way to fit Calvinism into the word of God. Therefore, I reject Calvinism, and I hope I have made a compelling enough case that my readers will do the same.