I've told the history of how I came to the Gospel of the grace of God and placed on the road that leads to eternal life. I'd like to look at that story from two different perspectives: The Calvinist view and the 'Gospel of the grace of God' view. The year was 1962 and I was about 11 years old, my family (Mom, Dad, Sister, and myself) were moving from Bellflower, California to Garden Grove, California. We stopped off at a rather run-down Motel in Anaheim during a hot spell in the middle of summer. It must have been in the 90's or worse. We were only supplied with a small fan that mainly just pushed the hot air around the room, add to that, the infamous 'California Smog.'
On one of those 'days' I was so uncomfortable, I went to my Mom and asked a question of a Spiritual nature. I said: "Do you think we're going to Hell?" Not being a 'church-going family' she answered: "Probably." We spent about a week in that Motel and moved on to our new apartment in Garden Grove. We got settled in and my Sister befriended a neighbor girl whose Dad was an assistant Pastor at a Buena Park Non-Denominational, Christ-centered, Bible-believing (non-Charismatic) church. Through my Sister's new found friend, our two family's became friends. Their family shared the 'Gospel of the grace of God' (as Paul called it) with our family and we started to attend their church.
Eventually, my entire family became members of the Body of Christ through that, same shared Gospel. It all started with a question an 11-year-old asked his Mom in the heat of the day, in the summer of 1962. One might say, I was seeking and the Bible says in Matthew 7:8 "For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." The Calvinist would say that my family must have been chosen before the foundation of the world, and we were drawn to the knowledge of our faith. (Irresistible faith) Well, that's one perspective, however, I believe the Holy Spirit draws 'all of humanity' to Christ. In my case, it came from a fearful 11 years old's question about Hell.
I believe the Holy Spirit drew my entire family to salvation by, not only that question but placed us in a situation where we were given the ability to hear the Gospel and place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.")