What happens to free will after death?translated

Reader question:

God bless you! As far as I understand, after death the will of the soul is taken away and the soul can no longer help itself there voluntarily. But on the other hand, we ask our departed saints for prayerful help, and they help us. Also, after the Resurrection, the Lord descended into hell, preached there (if I’m not mistaken) and brought out from there those souls who believed in Him. How can one correctly understand the question of the soul’s will in the next world?

Sergius

Priest's answer:

Priest Victor NIKISHOV

God bless you!

The Monk Anastasius of Sinaite, reflecting on the descent of Christ into hell, emphasizes that souls in hell retained their will. They were not forcibly rescued. He writes:

“It was not by force, against their will, or inadvertently that they believed and were saved, but voluntarily, consciously, cooperating and participating [in this salvation] with their own will.”

That is, the soul retains the ability to express its will.

Why then do they say that after death one cannot repent? This is not about the absence of will, but about the fixation of choice. On earth, a person’s will is in a state of mobility: he can hesitate, fall, get up, change direction. After death this mobility ceases...