God’s WillA New Perspective

The Traditional View• Premise: For each of our decisions, God has

an ideal plan that He will make known to the attentive believer.– What is God’s Will in this decision?– Given God’s desire and ability to communicate,

the believer can have confidence that God’s will can be known with certainty in any situation.

– Failure to discern/obey this will result in anxiety, frustration, etc.

Will of God is used in 3 ways in Scripture (Traditional View)

• Sovereign Will – God’s secret plan that determines everything

• Moral Will – God’s revealed commands in the Bible that teach how men ought to believe and live. (Scripture doesn’t address many specific decisions)

• Individual Will – God’s ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each person. The Holy Spirit progressively reveals this to the believer. (This will is highly stressed in the trad. view.)

Comparing and Contrasting God’s Individual and Sovereign Wills

God’s Individual Will God’s Sovereign Will

1. A detailed plan for all decisions in a believer’s life

1. A detailed plan for all events in the universe

2. The believer is able to find and know it 2. It is hidden—the believer cannot find and know it

3. Believers are expected to find it as part of the Christian life

3. Believers are not expected to find it as part of the Christian life

4. Believers can miss it by failure to discover or obey it

4. Believers cannot miss it because it always comes to pass

The Center of God’s Will (Traditional View)

MoralWill Individual

Will

Implications:• Choosing apart from God’s perfect will

(“missing the dot”) will likely result in experiencing God’s “second best,” or living within God’s “permissive will.”

• Our goal is to discover God’s individual will before making decisions and then acting on them. This is accomplished through interpreting inward impressions and outward signs.

Critique of the Traditional View

• God does have a sovereign will (God’s secret plan that determines everything)– Daniel 4:35 – God does according to His will, no one can restrain or

question this– Proverbs 16:33 – What people call chance is under God’s

sovereignty– Proverbs 21:1 – God controls political powers sovereignly– Revelation 4:11 – All things are and were created for God’s pleasure– Ephesians 1:11 – we are predestinated according to the purpose of

Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will– Romans 9:19 – who has resisted His will?– Acts 2:23 – Christ was crucified by a predetermined plan and

foreknowledge of God

Critique of the Traditional View

• God does have a moral will (God’s revealed commands in His Word that teach how men ought to believe and live)– 2 Timothy 3:11-17 – Scripture has a purpose– 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – Abstaining from sexual

immorality is in the will of God– 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Giving thanks is in the will of

God– All other direct commands in Scripture are part of

God’s moral will (many more)

Critique of the Traditional View

• Does God have an individual will?– I don’t think so– This is different from God’s sovereign will (see

chart)

Does Scripture Teach the Dot?

• NO!!!!• Many passages that seem to teach “the dot”

are most often referring to God’s moral will.• For example explanations see, “Decision

Making and the Will of God” Chapter 4.– Psalm 32:8, Proverbs 3:5-6; Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah

30:20-21; John 5:19, 10:3-4, 16, 27; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:10, 5:15-17; Colossians 1:9, 4:12;

Implications:• If there is no individual will of God, then a

great number of believers are wasting their time and energy searching for something that doesn’t exist.

• God’s individual will does not exist. If it does not exist then it cannot be discovered. If it doesn’t exist and it cannot be discovered, it is not necessary for making good decisions in our Christian lives.

Double Standard?• At some point, every person abandons the

traditional view approach to making decisions.– What percentage of the decisions in the past

week did you have certainty of God’s individual will in advance?

Problem #1: Ordinary Decisions• At some point, you made the decision despite knowing if it

was God’s will.• With the traditional view, people often draw an imaginary

line between “important” and ordinary decisions.

Important Decisions:I must know God’s Will!

Ordinary Decisions:I must use good judgment

without wasting timeShall I marry?

Whom shall I marry?Should I go to school?

Which school?Where should I live?

What vocation?Which car should I buy?

What shall I wear today?What should I have for lunch?

How shall I get to work?Where shall I sit in class?Where should I buy gas?

When should I have devotions?

Which cologne should I wear?

Problem #2: Equal Options

• Oftentimes, two or more options seem equal in value.– Should I take the job in Kentucky or Tennessee?

• However, according to the traditional view, this cannot be the case.

• This often may promote looking for “signs.”– “If she answers on the first ring. . .”– “If I make this stop light. . .”

Problem #3: Immaturity• The traditional view promotes immature decisions:

– By permitting justification of unwise decisions on grounds that “God told me”

– By fostering costly delays because of uncertainty of God’s individual will

– By influencing the rejection of personal preferences when facing equal options

– By encouraging putting out a fleece and letting circumstances dictate

– By giving young believers confidence that they can make perfect decisions (apart from mature counsel) if they are sincere

– By inadvertently moving believers to misuse their Bibles to get needed guidance

Problem #4: Subjectivity• Certainty of God’s individual will is impossible without an

objective source of knowledge.• We are fallen, sinful, depraved creatures.• How do we know when our own desires do not affect our

decisions?• Powers of darkness have powers of influence, as well.• Subjectivity produces uncertainty:

– Impressions are not direct revelation and thus cannot give certainty– All of the traditional guidance signs except Scripture are subjective and

cannot give certainty– A compounding of subjective signs cannot give certainty– A multiplying of decision makers adds to the subjectivity and

uncertainty

Principles of Decision-Making

• The Way of Wisdom– Where God commands, we must obey.– Where there is no command, God gives us

freedom (and responsibility) to choose.– Where there is no command, God gives us

wisdom to choose.– When we have chosen what is moral and wise,

we must trust the sovereign God to work all the details together for good.

The Nature of God’s Moral Will

• Origins: It is the expression, in behavioral terms, of God’s character.

• Communication: It is fully revealed in the Bible.• Scope: It touches every aspect and moment of

life: goals, attitudes, means, and perspectives (why, how, and what).

• Impact: It is able to equip believers for every good work.

Freedom in Decision-Making

• Augustine: “Love God and do whatever you please.”

• Where is our freedom to choose?• Do we have free will?

Freedom in Decision-Making

• The nature of effective law-making requires that where there is no command, there is an assumed area of freedom.– A professor gives a paper assignment:

• 12 point font• Pick one of five topics• 3-5 pages long

– Questions that fit within the parameters but are not specifically commanded:• Can I do it 4 pages long?• Can I type it on a typewriter?

– The ten commandments• God did not legislate every conceivable situation

Freedom in Decision-Making

• The nature of sin requires that where God gives no command, there is freedom.– Sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4)– Where there is no law there is no violation.

(Romans 4:15)– The law’s purpose is to reveal sin.• It follows that, without a law, sin cannot be revealed

and the “offender” cannot be held accountable.

Freedom in Decision-Making

• The direct statements of Scripture reveal that God gives freedom where He gives no command.– Offering: God gives no specific amount of

required offering. He merely says that he “Loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

– After the death of a husband, the widow is free to marry any believer whom she wishes. (1 Corinthians 7:39)

Wisdom for Decision-Making

• The Old Testament teaches wise decision-making by its Wisdom Books and examples of wise men (cf. Ecclesiastes 10:10)

• Jesus commanded His servants to be wise (Matthew 10:16)• The apostles modeled wisdom in their decision-making (1

Thessalonians 3:1)• The apostles commanded believers to use wisdom in

decision-making (Colossians 4:5)• God has promised wisdom through the Bible, prayer,

counselors, research, and experience (James 1:5)

God’s Sovereign Will• Daniel 4:35 (Read), 1 Peter 1:20, Genesis

3:15, Romans 9• Scripture says that God’s Sovereign Will is:– Certain – it will be fulfilled– Detailed – it includes all things– Hidden – except when revealed by prophecy– Supreme– Perfect – working all things together for God’s

glory and our good

Logical Question:• If God controls everything that happens,

what point is there in making any plans or doing anything?– James 4:13-16 (Read)• We should adopt a humble attitude in planning; an

attitude that properly recognizes God’s sovereignty– The Lord’s Prayer• A proper attitude towards God’s Will

God’s Sovereign Will and Decision-Making

• God’s sovereignty does not exclude the need for planning; it does require humble submission to His will

• Circumstances define the context of the decision and must be weighed by wisdom – not “read” to find God’s individual will

• Open doors are God-given opportunities to be evaluated by wisdom—not divine commands

• “Putting out a fleece” is an invalid practice that occasionally works out well when it is really wisdom in disguise.

God Does Guide?• Moral guidance: In moral areas, God guides

by scriptural commands• Wisdom guidance: Where there is no

command, God gives freedom and wisdom sufficient for every decision

• Sovereign guidance: God secretly guides by working all events together for the believer’s good

Scriptural View of God’s Will (Probable)

Sovereign Will 2

Moral Will 3

“Freedom” 4

1

Circle Analogy• 1**: All events that have not happened or will not

happen– This MAY include potentially “good” actions that don’t

actually happen, such as the repentance that God desires of all men (2 Peter 3:9)

– **This area of the model may or may not exist. It is merely there for consistency and is not necessary for the model’s effectiveness or correctness.

• The circle inside the sovereign one is the moral will of God– All actions outside this are sinful and all within are moral.

Circle Analogy• 2: This includes all actual sinful actions.– This is outside God’s moral will but permitted in

His Sovereign Will• 3: This includes any moral action that

actually happens.– This is based on the obedient response of a

believer to God’s Word (and in some biblical cases, his special guidance – audible commands, etc.)

Circle Analogy• The broken-line circle marks out the area of

freedom, which includes actions that are not commanded nor forbidden by God– 1 Corinthians 8 – eating meat and brotherly

obligations• 4: This includes all decisions that are made

with God-given freedom. These are within the moral will yet not directly commanded by God

Example of Paul’s Decision-Making Process (Collaborative)

• Purpose: Paul adopted spiritual goals that were based on divine revelation

• Priorities: He arranged his goals into wise priorities determining what should be done first, second, third, and so on

• Plans: Next, he devised a strategy for accomplishing his objectives• Prayer: Through prayer, he submitted himself and his plans to the

sovereign will of God. (No doubt, he also prayed for wisdom in the formulation of his plans, though not mentioned in this context)

• Perseverance: When providentially hindered from accomplishing his plans, he assumed that the delay was God’s Sovereign Will. This conviction freed him from discouragement. Since his plans were sound, the only thing he adjusted was the timetable.

• Presentation: Paul explained his decisions on the basis of God’s moral will and his personal application of wisdom.

Conclusions• There is a sovereign will of God that includes all the actions that will come

to pass for all things in the universe.• This sovereign will is kept secret from creation.• God has a moral will that is expressed in His Word.• There is no individual will for decisions that are revealed to the believer so

he/she may make the only correct decision.• Although God’s Sovereign Will is always accomplished and addresses every

detail, we do have freedom within His moral will to make decisions that are not addressed in Scripture.

• These decisions should be made by the use of wisdom, wise counsel, experience, prayer, meditation, the study of His Word, etc.

• We are responsible for attempting to conform our decisions to God’s moral will because it has been revealed and is an objective truth for our life.

One More Look at the Biblical Model of God’s Will(s)

Sovereign Will

Moral Will

“Freedom”