Luke 13:34, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto thee; how often would I gather thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not.
Those that God would gather under his wings were his disobedient children. Because he gave us freedom to choose how we want to live our lives is the reason that, although we are born again, we still, at times, reject his will, and yield our bodies to the temptations of our fleshly nature. When we do so, we lose our fellowship with him until we repent.
I believe the scriptures to teach that God has granted mankind the freedom to choose how he wants to live his life as he sojourns here in this world, but God does not give mankind freedom to choose his eternal inheritance.
Eph 2 plainly explains that the natural man, at the time of being quickened, by God, to eternal life, was spiritually dead, with no ability to accept spiritual things that he can not discern, and thinks is foolishness. 1 Cor 2:14.