How can God predestine/elect/choose/qualify humans for salvation, yet give them free will? It all starts with this: with who God “foreknew”:
Strong’s foreknew: οὕς προέγνω, whom he (God) foreknew, namely, that they would love him [would love Him by faith — 1 John 5:3; 1 John 3:23], or (with reference to what follows) whom he foreknew to be fit to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, Romans 8:29
Galatians 4:9 — But now after you have known God [by faith in Christ], or rather are known by God [because of your faith]
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To know God is to believe in Him. And believers are known by God (God foreknew them by their faith from the foundation of the world).
Roman’s 8:29 — For whom He foreknew [would love Him by faith — 1 John 5:3; 1 John 3:23], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
2 Peter 1:2 — elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
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elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father – the foreknowledge that you would believe the gospel, and sanctified you by setting you apart and making you holy in the inner man by the Spirit, because of/for your obedience (faith) to the gospel and faith in the blood of Jesus Christ
2 Thessalonians 2:13 — But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth
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But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation, setting you apart for God by means of the Spirit, because of your belief in the gospel.
Ephesians 1:4 — just as He (Father) chose us [through faith] in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world
Ephesians 1:5 — having predestined us to adoption as sons by [faith in] Jesus Christ to Himself,
Ephesians 1:11-12 — [through faith] In Him (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance (eternal life), being predestined according to the purpose [reason] of Him, [that reason being] that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
But so His divine purpose of election might stand (Romans 9:11) (the reason for election being: His total sovereignty over His creation), yet at the same time giving humans free will to choose Him, He knows the end from the beginning, and foreknew who would believe in Him once in the world, so for His purpose of election to stand, He “chose/predestined/elected/qualified” from the foundation of the world those whom He foreknew would believe in Him, and once in the world, He called them (Romans 8:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14), granted them repentance (granted them/opened their hearts to believe the gospel He called them by) (2 Timothy 2:25) and begun the work of faith in them (1 Thessalonians 1:3; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 12:2), justified them and glorified them in the inner man (Romans 8:30).
God has written the script for a 7000 year long movie, where every human being that’s ever lived and will ever live plays a character in His movie. The characters have free will within the confines of His overarching story, yet God knows how it will all play out, as He knows the end from the beginning. He’s also created all the souls that will play those characters. He knows beforehand which souls will believe in Him if placed in the proper character, so He chooses them to play the characters that will believe in Him. He also knows beforehand the souls that, no matter what character they may play, they will never believe in Him, so He chooses them to play characters that are appointed to wrath (2 Peter 2:8). This gives Him the divine sovereignty through His purpose of election to choose who will play which character so He can control the narrative to get His story to play out the way He wants and bring about the conclusion of His story, while also giving humans free will to believe in Him (as He already knows beforehand which souls would believe in Him). He can also harden those characters hearts whom He foreknew would never believe in Him to accomplish His story line, such as Pharaoh mentioned in Romans 9: the soul chosen to play Pharaoh would have never believed in God (no matter which character he played). If God didn’t harden Pharaoh’s heart for each plague, that character, with his free will, might have let the Israelites go after the first or second plague, in which God’s story wouldn’t play out correctly where He wanted to show the world that He is God and their 10 idol false gods weren’t real. So He hardened Pharaoh’s heart after each plague until all the plagues were finished and He was finished telling that part of His story. For the believers, He stills gets to have His divine sovereignty and purpose of election as well by calling them by Paul’s gospel once in the world, granting them to believe (repentance) at the proper time, starting the work of faith in them, then justifying them for their faith, then glorifying them (perfecting them) in the inner man. Yet He knows beforehand those souls that would believe in Him if placed in the proper character, so humans still have free will, but at the same time He gets to control His story to bring about the ultimate conclusion of it, which is the great white throne judgement at the end of the 1000 year millennial kingdom, and a new eternal heaven and earth where there is no more sin and only righteousness, peace and joy dwells, with complete free will operating within the confines of godliness, where we are kept by the Lord forever. The purpose of this story is to show the qualities/riches of His character of agape love (selfless, sacrificial, unconditional), His grace (unmerited kindness towards sinners) and mercy, and to find out who is worthy of this eternal kingdom of God: those who truly love Him by faith alone in Him are worthy (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).
Many are called, few are chosen (Matthew 22:14): many characters are called, but only a few will believe (those in whom He foreknew from before the foundation of the world who would believe)
How does prayer fit in?
God does give us free will to do the things we desire – whether good or bad, while maintaining His purpose of election of who He chooses to get saved and who is appointed to wrath based on His foreknowledge from before the foundation of the world of if they would ever believe in Him. Prayer calls God into action to intervene in our lives or the lives of others we pray for. Example: we have free will to eat what we want, but if we decide to eat too much, we may feel sick and call upon God to make us feel better. For salvation: you may have an unsaved family member. You can call upon God to go after that person and call them to repentance (to faith in Christ). He will go after them, but He already knows if they will respond or not. If they will, He grants them repentance and begins the work of faith within them. In the overarching storyline, this is how that particular person was called to Christ: by God taking action through a prayer of another. Whereas other people may be called to Christ via hearing the gospel being preached, but never being prayed for before. That’s why it’s important to pray, as God can and will react and intercede in yours or someone else’s life that is governed by their own free will, all while maintaining His sovereignty of election. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows who’s going to pray for who beforehand (Matthew 6:8), and He knows who is going to respond to His calling initiated by that prayer and who isn’t. “What if in my free will I decide not to pray for that person’s salvation and God never goes after them, even though they would respond if they were called?” God knows which souls will believe in Him if placed in the proper character that gets prayed for, and He knows if someone will pray for them. God won’t lose any souls that will believe (John 6:39), so a soul who He foreknows will believe if prayed for will be put into that character, and a soul that He foreknows will believe but won’t be prayed for, they will be put into a different character and called in a different way.
What about our good works?
It is God who works in and through us to accomplish His purpose of bringing forth the gospel for those who will believe to hear. Philippians 2:13 — for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
What about those who have never heard the gospel?
God foreknows who will never believe in Him, no matter what character they may play, so they just happened to be appointed to characters of wrath in this particular character case.
You may just be one of the elected/chosen/predestined/qualified ones meant to receive salvation via this website. Simply believe this gospel and you’ll be one.