I really feel bad for you being so wrong and all. :)
God says that He used Pharaoh. “But,” you may say, “he was not elected.” No, he sure wasn’t. Just think of the opportunities God gave him. Pharaoh would have said, “I am Pharaoh. I make the decisions around here. I reject the request to let the people of Israel go.” God says, “You may think you won’t, but you are going to let them go.” God’s will prevails. When the Scriptures say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it means that God forced Pharaoh to make the decision that was in his heart. God forced him to do the thing he wanted to do. There never will be a person in hell who did not choose to be there. You are the one who makes your own decision.
Paul shows that God deals in patience and mercy even with the vessels of wrath. God did not fit them for destruction, the rebellion and sin of the clay made them ripe for judgment. God would have been right in exercising immediate judgment, but He dealt with these vessels, not as lifeless clay, but as creatures with a free will. He gave them ample opportunity to reveal any inclination they might have of obeying God. Although God hates sin and must judge it in a most final manner, His mercy is constantly going out to the creatures involved.
BigMack
I appreciate your concern...:o)
The simple fact of the matter is that man chooses according to his nature, every time! No natural man will of his own volition choose Christ. Can't happen. Won't happen. Impossible to happen. God must regenerate their hearts, or they will not turn to Him. Real life tells you that God doesn't do that for everybody. Those that He does it for, choose Him. Those He doesn't do it for, don't. To say that God would regenerate a man's heart, and that man would then reject Him, makes man's will greater than God's will. Man can stop God dead in His tracks. Man holds the trump card. Man calls his own shots.
That's not the God of the Bible, Mack. That's not the Christ of the Bible. Go back and read the article. It explains this better than I can.