Free Will

     The first mention in the Bible of "free will" is in regard to the burnt offering, according to the following verse:

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. (Lev 1:3)

      "Voluntary will" is translated as "free will" in other translations in that passage. The burnt offering was the sacrifice of one's first born clean animal for an atonement for the sins of the owner.  "Atonement" is, in general, making reparations for offending. The reason for doing that in the tabernacle was reconciliation with God, against whom the person sinned. The sinner was to bring his own sacrifice - his first and best. Each time the person sinned required a burnt offering.
     After God came in the flesh, the regulations changed. Sacrifice was still required by free will but it was a different "animal" and for one time. Jesus made the atonement once and for all. (Heb 10:10). His death- the first of God and the finest - paid the price for all mankind of all times. However, in gratitude, by free will, thankful Christians have a duty, not a command... "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom 12:1).
     God does expect something in return, and that is a free will offering of our own bodies. Just as the sinner brought his first and best to the tabernacle for sacrificial burning, God expects Christians to freely bring themselves to the cross to sacrifice our old creatures for new ones. That is not forced upon us, and neither was the burnt offering in days of old. Sacrificing our own bodies (flesh) to Jesus is voluntary and a reasonable thing to do! God suffered death that we might live. Is it not reasonable that our old sinful flesh be offered as a sacrifice?
     Ironically, the burnt offering was made to God for the sinner to avoid eternity in Hell. The animal suffered the burn! After Jesus came, things changed. Nobody gets burned. The reasonable sacrifice makes burning unnecessary in neither the present nor the future! The sacrifice is because the sinner avoids burning by offering himself freely to God.
      Life is a tribulation in that there is a battle of wills. It's our wills against God's Will. God already made His Will known. There is no decision process for him. Our own will is a decision-making process: Shall we do what we want to do or do God's Will. "Perfection" is when there is harmony between the two. Satan's assignment is to test that congruence. He or his helpers find that stronghold, a crack in the Christians' safety, to usurp God's will, and thus aggravate God's Purpose. Everyone has strongholds because we are not gods or even as gods! Demons use those strongholds. They find the situations where our own will is preferred to God's Will. Those are the weaknesses that we should freely give to God. Satan may find our strongholds, but after having a struggle, those strongholds are sacrificed to God for Him to tear down just as He did the walls of Jericho!
     It's not what Christians do but are willing to do. The burnt offering was made because sinners wanted reconciliation with God so intensely that they gave their first and best. For modern-day Christians, our first and best is ourselves! We are to give our all to God willingly without coercion:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Rev 22:17)

     The above passage is the last place in the Bible that "free will" occurs - "whoever will". The water of Life is the Spirit of Jesus. By our own free will, we take the water of life freely. It is a decision process. The living water is available; all we need do is drink of it. Shall we or shall we not? By free will some decide to and others do not. Our own flesh as a reasonable sacrifice is just too much. Most decline the living water because their will is at odds with God's Will and they prefer their own.
     Essentially. rebirth is giving up our own will for God's. We diminish ourselves and elevate God since we can't save ourselves but God can! "Marvel not; ye must be born again" (John 3:7). That is when atonement is efficacious. Redemption has already been made on the cross, and "born again" is when the person uses his or her own mind to trust it. They freely submit their own will by trusting the offering for atonement performed by God. God, by the way, voluntarily willed His own Flesh instead of ours or some animal's. Christians show gratitude by harmonizing our wills with God's.