the sovereign irresistible call from God unto salvation

I believe that no man in and of himself would choose God—ever. I believe that God sovereignly calls those whom He wills to be saved and they are effectively and inevitably saved.

"By the internal, effectual call we mean that act of divine power, mediated through the proclaimed Word, by which the Spirit illumines darkened minds, softens stubborn wills, and inclines contrary affections toward the living God, thus leading the unregenerate to trust Christ in a saving relation."

The reason sinners cannot come to Christ on their own initiative is that apart from the working of the Spirit in grace depraved sinners are incapable and disinclined to respond to the general offer of the Gospel. Without a superior power from above, spiritual eyes remain sightless and spiritual ears deaf to divine truth.

It is true that "the message of the Gospel is a noise, not a communication, until God tunes the set of man's heart."

(from Demarest, The Cross and Salvation, 220).