Augustine on Free Will

I wanted to continue my diatribe from Matthew 23 even though as a church body we have finished this up a few weeks back. Augustine deals with the apparent conundrum from Matthew 23:37-39 in his commentary on Matthew. His question is, “in what sense does the apostle say that “God will have all men to be saved,” when, as a matter of fact, all are not saved?
Hence we must inquire in what sense is said of God what the apostle has
mostly truly said: “Who will have all men to be saved.” For, as a matter of
fact, not all, nor even a majority, are saved: so that it would seem that
what God wills is not done, man’s will interfering with, and hindering the
will of God. When we ask the reason why all men are not saved, the
ordinary answer is: “Because men themselves are not willing.” This, indeed
cannot be said of infants, for it is not in their power either to will or not to
will. But if we could attribute to their will the childish movements they
make at baptism, when they make all the resistance they can, we should
say that even they are not willing to be saved. Our Lord says plainly,
however, in the Gospel, when upbraiding the impious city: “How often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, and ye would not !” as if the will of God had
been overcome by the will of men, and when the weakest stood in the way
with their want of will, the will of the strongest could not be carried out.
And where is that omnipotence which hath done all that it pleased on earth
and in heaven, if God willed to gather together the children of Jerusalem,
and did not accomplish it? or rather, Jerusalem was not willing that her
children should be gathered together? But even though she was unwilling,
He gathered together as many of her children as He wished: for He does
not will some things and do them, and will others and do them not; but
“He hath done all that He pleased in heaven and in earth.”