Though man is by nature alienated from God, he can still respond to God's revelation in a positive way.
Some may argue that man is too depraved to respond to God positively. Certainly, the response can not be separated from the role of special revelation from God in their lives--and who knows how much influence previous revelation had through God's past activity with Israel (and as in the case of Nineveh, maybe the recent account of Jonah and his probable bleached-skinned-appearance due to the 3 days spent in the stomach of a fish).
I believe people rarely respond positively to God apart from His intervention with special revelation, for natural revelation serves more to complement special revelation, for it seems people typically do not get natural revelation correct (the true nature of God, Romans 1.18-32) until confronted with special revelation (prophecy and Scripture). The Ninevites did respond to God's revelation positively, even though by nature they were alienated from God.
The result of the Ninevites believing God was only temporal salvation--salvation from impending destruction, and yet eternal salvation works very much the same way.
Eternal salvation from eternal judgment requires a positive response to special revelation from God. The difference is the revelation.
But in either case, with reference to temporal salvation or eternal salvation, one must believe God.
To those who say man is too depraved to respond positively to God, we still have the example of the Ninevites. They believed, and God relented and turned from disaster. And so likewise, those who believe God concerning their sin and eternal judgment and God's provision for salvation from sin and judgment are delivered: they are "saved," or "justified," that is, they have the status of "righteous" conferred upon them by God. Just like the account in Genesis 15.6 and Romans 4.3 concerning Abraham: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
There isn't any reason to think that the Ninevites or Abraham had anything other than the impact of special revelation at work in their consciences by which they could respond positively to God in belief.
Maybe it still seems that free will is not involved if one has been impacted by special revelation, for who can resist from responding positively to God if special revelation has impacted their lives?
We must consider that until the Ninevites responded positively, they were living lives that were of such repugnance to God that they would be destroyed.
It is not possible to figure out all that is at work subjectively in people's lives, but people may teeter-totter for a long or short period of time over the revelation that comes to bear on their consciences and over what the outcome will be according to what their response is.
Acts 24.24-25: And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, 'Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.'
Just moments before the Philippian Jailor asked Paul what he must do to be saved, he was going to commit suicide: Atcs 16.27-31 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, 'Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.' Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'
The Philippian jailer was ready to kill himself, because of the fear of man, but Paul's words stopped his suicide, and he knew enough special revelation up to that point to ask Paul about how to be saved, but that revelation was not irresistible just moments prior.
The role of special revelation can not be underestimated in the salvation of men whether temporally or eternally. Salvation comes through God's word being grasped and believed, and Scripture is very clear on this.
Free-will can have a part in availing one's self to revelation, but as to why some may put more effort in this than others can be due to various factors, such as the influence from the lives of believers around them or the difficulties of life.
Satan wants to hinder the influences of the word of God in any way possible, since eternal salvation can result, consider: Luke 8.11-12, Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
I believe God created man with a measure of free will. I believe free will is the explanation for much of what happens in life (not including those things outside man’s control such as caused by nature). I believe God acts or refrains from acting in such a way that allows for free will. However, God may choose to limit free will, particularly the limiting of a certain degree of evil.
God’s sovereignty is manifested by limiting free will when it reaches a certain degree of evil. (God's sovereignty is also manifested in that all things work together for good to those who love God, Romans 8.28--the all things being the consequences of sin on the creation that affects us.)
Apart from special revelation, we don't know what limits God has put on free will, but we know from Scripture and extrabiblical history that He has both allowed great evil and limited it. God allows and limits evil according to His wisdom and according to His planned end of things.
God allows a natural cause and effect to take place on people for their ungodliness, yet there comes a time when He intervenes with wrath on a society, either directly or indirectly (like bringing one nation against another to destroy or subdue it, see Isaiah 46.9-11; Deut 28.47-50).
His wrath on a people appears to be due to the immoral state of the society and His truth being held down. This latter point is evident in the destruction of the earth by the great Flood or of the cities of the plain in Abraham's day or of nations because of their sins' fullness (see Genesis 15.16 or 1 Thessalonians 2.14-16). Romans 1.18 speaks of God's wrath being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress [hold down] the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 1.18-32 speaks of the course of men to exchange the truth for a lie, to worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator; these God gave them over to their vile passions that led to unnatural sex, men with men and women with women, and to all kinds ungodly behavior.
The book of Daniel gives prophetic revelation of nations and kings and their successive rise and fall in the Mediterranean world according to their evil. God raised up kings and nations to prominence to terrify more evil kings and nations; this includes Divine judgment on Israel by the Assyrians and Babylonians. I believe Zechariah 1.18-21 concerning the four horns and four craftsmen reveal this process: the "horns" are those nations that "scattered' Israel and Judah and Jerusalem, while the "craftsmen" are successive nations that "terrify" those nations. In otherwords, Assyria was a horn and Babylon was a craftsman, and then later, Babylon was a horn, and Medo-Persian empire was a craftsman, and so on. God used these evil nations to bring judgment on a preceding evil nation that had gone too far, thus limiting the evil of that preceding nation.
What I wrote in the above few paragraphs deals with man's evil and God's reaction to it on a larger scale, but on a lesser scale involving individuals, the principle is the same. God may allow individuals to suffer the consequences for their sin naturally. God has also ordained government to restrain and revenge the evil man does to man, even the authority to take the life of murderers, Genesis 9.6. God may directly intervene in wrath as He chooses on individuals, but probably for the most part, the natural consequences and government fulfill the job.
Of course a lot of evil in this world is due to the curse on nature because of the sin of Adam and due to the authority and acts of satan who rebelled against God and opposes Him in every way he can. It seems to me that God doesn't normally intervene against the effects of the curse or the acts of satan. He may intervene in response to prayer, but it appears more often than not, that God does not intervene to stop natural consequences of life due to the curse or the influence and acts of satan. Most people generally still get sick (flu, colds, etc.) but usually recover. People suffer injuries and lose body parts and don't gain them back. However, prayer by believers for life-threatening situations may more frequently see a reversal, and prayer for spiritual things according to God's will can see God's intervention; however, prayer for people that involves/ requires a positive response to God of their own wills more often than not do not have the results we desire.
God allows the evil of the curse to generally and natural play out and allows satan and his influence to generally impact and manifest itself in the beliefs and practices of men, but this must be to allow time and opportunity for as many as possible to seek the knowledge and fear of God and the salvation He has provided by grace through faith in Christ alone. The Apostle Paul writes concerning himself, First Timothy 1.15-16: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
Peter writes that the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3.9.
This is how I see the Biblical balance between free will and God's sovereignty: God allows evil to exist in the world, but by His sovereignty, He limits evil when it reaches a certain point (in society or certain individuals or in answer to prayer), and He can work good from evil (to which all creation has been subjected, Romans 8:20-21) in the believer's life.
Only by special revelation (in the Bible) and history (the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.) do we know the limits God has set on evil. Life and all its particulars are according to a certain measure of free will, so that mankind might have time and opportunity (and these are not equally available to all people) to choose to seek the knowledge and fear of God and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ who died for the sins of all to God's righteous satisfaction and rose alive from the grave as proof of who He was and what He did, so that all who believe in Him for salvation from sin are freely justified (declared righteous by God) forever.
Free will is evident in Scripture, and it does explain a lot of what happens in life, especially bad things. God is good; He defines good: “No one is good but One, that is, God” --as Jesus said, Matthew 19:17. Creation evidences that good in so many ways. What is evil results from the effects of sin in the creation, and from the activity of Satan, and from what man does. We may not have any control over the effects of sin, and God may not intervene.
Free will is a reality that must fit into our understanding of Scripture and all experience. We may not know how it fits in every case, and obviously, we don't know that Will of God which hasn't been revealed. Yet I believe it does help explain a lot of things about life, and I do believe a lot of theological issues need to be better explained in connection with free will.
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