That's not an example I would use. By "free choice" I mean, capable of making moral choices, and capable of obeying or disobeying God.
Just like He did with Jonah.
Even in scripture, this doesn't always happen, though. God didn't force Saul back into obedience.
I don't think salvation varies from person to person. Is this what you believe?
Being a Jew, my concept of soteriology is completely different. In Judaism, "salvation" refers to being saved from the trials and tribulations of this world (e.g. the freeing of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt). We don't really use "salvation" in terms of the afterlife. Basically, the righteous go to Heaven, and those lacking righteousness go to Gehinnom. One can be righteous either by not sinning, or by repenting and being forgiven. To use Christian vocabulary, both righteousness and eternal life with Him are acts of pure grace, because God is not under any obligation to forgive us our sins. But we have His promise that He will.