It's really important in theological discussions to clearly define our terms, to consider the context of how words are used by the biblical authors, and to note when different senses of a word might be implied by the context. That said, I think some traditions can get a little too into this idea in a way that obscures what a text clearly says. We always need to be careful that our humanly constructed theological categories do not obscure what the author intended. Below is a light-hearted jab at this kind of hyper-theological meaning-chopping. 

“John 3:16 says God loves the whole world.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that God has two different kinds of love: There’s his general benevolent love for everyone, and then there’s his special covenantal love reserved only for the Elect.”

 

“But John 1:29 says Jesus takes away the sins of the world, and in John 12:47, Jesus says he came to save the world.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that there are two different meanings of “the world”: There’s “the world” that means all people everywhere, and there’s “the world” that just means the Elect from all nations.”

 

“But 1 John 2:2 makes it clear that Jesus made propitiation, not just for the sins of the Elect, but for the sins of the whole world.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that there are two different kinds of propitiation: the atonement was a sufficient propitiation for the whole world, but it was only an efficient propitiation for the Elect.”

 

“But Acts 17:30 says that God commands all people everywhere to repent.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that there are two different kinds of calls to repentance: There’s the general call in which the gospel invitation is proclaimed to everyone, and there’s the effectual call, which is only for the Elect.”

 

“But I Timothy 2:4 says God desires all people to be saved, and 2 Peter 3:9 says God is not willing that anyone should perish but that he wants everyone to repent.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that God has two different kinds of wills: There’s God’s preceptive will, which reflects what He wants morally, and then there’s his decretive or will, which is what he actually brings to pass.”

 

“But Luke 7:30 says that the purpose of God is for people to repent and be baptized.”

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that God has two different kinds of purposes: There’s his revealed purpose, which is for everyone to repent, and his secret purpose, which is that only the Elect will repent. 

 

“But in Matthew 11:20, Jesus denounced people for not repenting. This means that they had the ability to do so. 

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that there are two different kinds of ability: people have a natural ability because they can choose according to their desires without coercion, but they don’t have a moral ability because they’re incapable of choosing good. 

 

But in Deuteronomy 30:19 God sets life and death before his people and tells them to choose life. This implies a moral ability. 

 

“Ah, but see, you have to understand that the command in Deuteronomy is part of God's will of command, but it was not part of God’s will of decree because God sovereignly ordained that the people were incapable of keeping the Law or actually choosing life. 

 

"But just a few verses earlier in 11-14, God explicitly says that the commandments are not too hard for them and that they can obey them."

 

"Ah, but see, you have to understand the difference between the external accessibility of the Law and the internal inclination of the people to obey it. People have the capacity to choose, but they can only ever choose to do what their heart desires most."

 

"But all the Proverbs that talk about the heart speak of people’s capacity and responsibility to act with agency over their hearts. None of them suggests people are controlled by their hearts."

 

"Ah, but see, you have to understand the difference between the prelapsarian heart and the postlapsarian heart…"