We have a will, and we make choices and decisions,…

We have a will, and we make choices and decisions, BUT our will is not “free”.

Compare it to a web search engine. It can choose what search results to output, but it is not free to choose those results because it must choose based on the inputted search term and the data available. It is held within certain perimeters.

Choice and “free” will are not the same thing. We can indeed choose. But our will is not “free” to choose. There are internal and external factors that impact and influence our will and determine our choices.

“27 In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But EVERYTHING THEY DID WAS DETERMINED BEFOREHAND ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL.”
– Acts 4:27-28

“For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”
– Revelation 17:17 King James Version (KJV)

Ultimately God is in full control.