Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Decision Making By the Book, Part 3 of 20

TEXT: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2 NKJV).

IDEA: What does the term "God's will" mean?

PURPOSE: Of the three wills of God, God's moral will is most clearly revealed to us.

In my youth, advice for confronting the crucial decision, "Whom should I marry?" came freely in short sessions at summer camp. Today we attend expensive singles' conferences complete with specialized sessions on dating and hefty notebooks. But the answer to the "whom" question often remains. "God chooses best for those who leave the choice with Him."

That sounded reasonable when I asked the question—but how would I know the woman God had chosen for me?
Would she wear her hair in a special kind of bun?
Would she carry an extremely large Scofield Bible?
Or would I see a sign—a lightning bolt with our initials nicely etched in a heart-shaped pattern?

In seminary I had a professor who used to say, "God always speaks loud enough for the willing heart to hear." That sounded good, but what my professor didn't tell us was precisely how the willing heart heard. Would I have a hunch that felt particularly inspired, or perhaps a warm feeling in my willing heart?

Then came the bull's-eye theory of God's will. Those in the center of God's will were pastors and missionaries: in the next ring out were active laypeople and staff people in Christian organizations. Still farther out were people who went to church but weren't as involved as others. Finally came those who missed the target completely. Amazingly, this bull's-eye theory is still taught.

The Three Wills of God
One reason for the confusion is that we're not always clear about what the term "God's will" means. It turns out that God's will can mean three different things:

God's Sovereign Will:
This is God's purpose from eternity past to eternity future whereby He determines all that shall take place.
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" (Ephesians 1:11).

In essence, history is God's story. He writes the story line. Theologians sometimes call this God's hidden will or His secret will because He doesn't necessarily reveal it to His people. Occasionally we catch a glimpse of it, e.g., the Jews knew from Old Testament times that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judea. But we primarily see God's sovereign will in retrospect.

God has a sovereign will, but we tread presumptuously when we too readily identify our will—or the actions of our church, organization or movement—with His will. Much of God's sovereign will is hidden from us, shrouded in mystery and majesty.

God's Moral Will:
We have much of this—at least what God wants us to know—revealed to us in the Bible. The Scriptures tell us what God wants us to believe and how God wants us to behave. That is the moral will of God, and it is clear.

God's Individual Will:
This is what we are usually concerned about when we ask, "How can I know God's will?" When it comes to God's individual will, we seem to believe that God has our lives mapped out on a blackboard in heaven which we must glimpse in order to make the choices God desires for us.

In fact, Scripture tells us that God uses even atheists and unbelievers—those who surely aren't seeking it—to bring about God's will. Peter, speaking about Christ's death in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, said to his listeners, "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23). Christ's violent death on the cross had been planned in eternity past, and when those Roman soldiers carried out the crucifixion, it was not because they sensed they were doing God's will.

God works out His sovereign will through all men and women. He has revealed to us His moral will. But He doesn't necessarily reveal His specific, individual will to us. It's possible that He does this at special times for some Christians, but we have no solid biblical testimony on that point. Unfortunately, this hasn't stopped many Christians from putting God's individual will on the same biblical footing as God's sovereign and moral will.