Elder St. Porphyrios on our Personal Freedom
“God in His omniscience knows in all precision not simply beforehand, but before the creation of the world, that this person, for example, will commit a murder when he is thirty years old. But the person in his freedom of will (a gift which God gave the person and which he perverted) acts of his own volition. God is not the cause, nor does he pre-ordain us for that end. His omniscience does not constrain us. He respects our freedom; He does not abolish it. He loves us; he does not make us slaves; He gives us worth. God does not intervene in our freedom; He respects it fully. Consequently, we are responsible, because we do what we want: God does not compel us. It is known to God in advance that you will kill this man, but it is not arranged by God for you to do it. How is it possible for God — who created us out of infinite love and who Himself is absolute love and who desires only love — to will to lead you to evil and to murder? Does He give you freedom only to take it from you? You act freely and you decide to do the thing that God knows in advance without compelling you, and that is why it is you who are responsible.
These things are very delicate matters and require divine illumination for a person to understand them. They are mysteries…”
– ‘Wounded by Love’