There is no such thing as "free" will. There is either your will or there is God's will. Until Christ sets you free, you will only do your will. After Christ sets you free, then you can be led by the Spirit to do God's will. If you try to do your will, God will chasten and hasten you to do His will. You have gone from being a slave to sin to being a slave to righteousness.
The term "free" will is bogus. It assumes that you, with your sinful nature can do the things pleasing to God. That will never happen. God knows left to our own will, we will choose destruction-every time.
“Free” in this case simply means the ability to choose a path — for instance, whether you are a slave to sin, or a slave to righteousness. Salvation is a gift that must be accepted by choice.
SnakeDoc
I suspect that God created time so that from time to time he could be surprised by something. Things would be frightfully dull otherwise.
Amen.