Wait...what about the secret counsel of God, Ed? You draw a false conclusion because you limit the possible premises to two at the exclusion of the very one to which the Calvinists hold: that God elected according to His good purpose, the nature of which, while unknown to us, is nevertheless not arbitrary but purposed on something other than a condition which we meet.
LOL!
So, now you are going to make the appeal to the secret counsel of God!
The very thing that the Calvinist Cabal railed against me for bringing up now does become your final line of defense.
The problem with the secret counsel defense, is that it must reject clear scripture, hence the appeal to it!
Thus, you are left with only two conclusions, scripture is not telling us the truth, or your system is built on a flawed, unscriptural premise.
As for the 'secret counsel' defense against God being arbitrary, it is a non-defense, since it leaves you defending a mystical system, one that you assume certain things about God's choices, but you cannot prove from scripture.
The Secret Counsel defense' is simply pleading 'no contest' and throwing yourself on the 'mercy' of the court hoping no one traces your system to its 'logical' conclusion-mysticism