What are the two sides in the election versus free will debate?
The debate pits divine election—God choosing individuals before they had anything to do about it, according to His predetermined counsel—against human free will, where the opposing party claims salvation was entirely their own decision to choose for themselves.
Les explains the debate arises after describing how the triune God, by a determinate agreeing of their three minds, decided to create the universe and place the human race on earth. They foreknew the fall in Adam and predetermined that one person of the triune God would be Redeemer, all moving according to the predeterminate counsel of Acts chapter 2. Then, by that same triune counsel, God put the finger on every one of us and said, 'I have a place waiting for you,' placing us in a predetermined position before anything was created. The big argument then comes: 'Are we elected? Are we chosen before we ever had anything to do about it?' The opposite party says, 'It was all of our own free will. We decided to choose salvation.' Les adds, 'Yes, whosoever will sits over here.'