The free will/predestination issue ignores that God knew the end from the begining when He set creation in motion. We have free will but God knows what we will do. He did this knowing the cross was in His future. This always blows my mind that He loves us so much He did it anyway.
Free will is a fallacy. It is not biblical (except for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden). It is IMPOSSIBLE to have "free" will because you will NEVER do something that you do NOT desire to do. And before we are saved we have no desire to follow God.... "There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God." Romans 3: 11. Not even God has free will... because He could not and will not EVER sin, or else He would cease to be God.
Free will is a system invented by men full of pride not wanting to believe that God is in complete control of everything, especially our eternal salvation. We are so flawed and this is a prime example of our foolishness. FREE WILL IS NOT IN THE BIBLE. Yes, God commands us to do things but that does not mean we are ABLE to do so without God's intervention and power. It is not about us. An example is the ten commandments....... do you think God ever thought any person would be able to keep the commandments perfectly their whole life? Of course not. But He still commanded us to obey and still does. He commands us to believe, but many do not believe. Not because of a flawed human's free will, but because of God's PERFECT WILL.