Finding and Doing God’s Will
Having had some a conversation recently with some friends regarding the will of God—and having these friends seem astonished that I do not subscribe to the “traditional view” (which, as it turns out, is not “traditional” at all, but apparently more of a 20th-century development), it was interesting to run across fellow EFCA pastor Keith Plummer’s posts at The Christian Mind on this very subject. I’d encourage you to go to his site and read three posts:
The Will of God in Wisconsin
Fighting Paralysis & Presumption: More on Finding the Will of God
Book Review: Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians
I contend that, as well-meaning as the proponents of the “traditional” view are, and as spiritual as it sounds, it in fact involves, ultimately, more of a mystical approach which relies on proof-texting than it does a solidly biblical approach which relies on good exegesis of the Bible.
Here’s the nutshell, a very brief primer on Garry Friesen’s exposition, Decision-Making and the Will of God. He says that, “traditionally”, the “will of God” can be spoken of in three senses:
1. God’s Sovereign Will – Effectively, that which God allows to happen. 9/11 fit into God’s sovereign will; the explosion of Earth into little bits has, thus far, not. We cannot know God’s sovereign will except as it unfolds.
2. God’s Moral Will – What He morally wills, as revealed in the Bible, the sum total of “how then ought we to live”, right and wrong, His grace, our need for forgiveness in Christ, etc. We know God’s moral will (or at least, should); it is revealed in the Bible; we take the Bible as our source for guidance on how to live.
3. God’s Individual Will – The particular, individualized will that God has for every person’s life, differentiated from His sovereign will in that we are to seek to know God’s individual will prior to making decisions in life.
Friesen, in a nutshell, denies that the third exists, and suggests that, while this viewpoint is popular, and its proponents are committed and well-meaning, their viewpoint does not withstand careful Biblical scrutiny.
I concur.
This may strike some of my readers as it did my friends recently—almost as though I had stepped off some other planet, so thoroughly steeped in the “traditional” thinking were they. But I will make put the statement this strongly: I became convinced, through reading Friesen and his careful Biblical exposition, as well as His practical considerations of the matter, that not only is the “traditional” view off-base—it cannot possibly be true simply from the standpoint of logic. Perhaps I’ll offer, in a follow-up post, one devastating case in point…
I won’t take time here to go into a detailed explanation of my point of view—I’d refer you to Keith’s excellent posts, at least to serve as a starting point. God will guide us, of that we can be sure; how He guides us, and what He expects us to do in order to receive that guidance, is the matter open for discussion. I’d encourage you to pursue this subject with an open mind—and an open Bible!
This phrase comes from the 1978 "Jonestown massacre" in which most members of the Peoples Temple cult, blindly following their leader Jim Jones, committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid.
Osborne: A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God
Schlossberg: Idols For Destruction
6 Responses to “Finding and Doing God’s Will”
God foreordained us from the beginning to be molded into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). God does call us to specific ministries that will further His kingdom work, as He did with Moses (Ex 3:9-10). God forbids us form other ministries that would hinder our primary calling, as He did with Paul (Acts 16:6-10). God prepares us in advance to perform the things to which He has called us, as he did with David (1 Sam 17:34-37). And God will often redirect us and give us a second chance whenever we miss the mark, as he did with Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2). Give it any name you like. But it is scripturally sound to hold to the idea that we are each called by God to play a foreordained individualized roll in accomplishing the Sovereign Will of God.
Don ~ Aug 23, 2005 at 12:39 pm
That would be the standard interpretation given in recent times. I would not agree with it, asking whether the instances you cite (which, of course, are true!) are meant to be normative for us today. Reading Friesen’s book—and, apparently, there are many others that follow his line of reasoning—would make for a good project, because it leads me in a different direction than you take.
Oh, and of course I agree with your first sentence.
Byron ~ Aug 23, 2005 at 1:39 pm
Then to say that this is not “a solidly biblical approach which relies on good exegesis of the Bible†is inaccurate, since the biblical instances I have cited (and the hundreds more I haven’t) are true. The issue therefore is not in the proper interpretation of scripture, but rather in its proper application. And in that, good people can and do disagree, but that doesn’t make them mystical, off-base, or illogical as you suggest. I could perhaps offer one devastating case in point of MY own (i.e. my personal experience of the past two years) as evidence of God’s predetermined calling “for such a time as this†(Esther 4:14).
Don ~ Aug 23, 2005 at 3:42 pm
I’m going to have to think about that one, Don, whether it’s interpretation or application. Of course, good people can and do disagree (on both interpretation and application); I’d sure be the first to agree with that statement (then again, can good people disagree upon the fact that good people can and do disagree? Hmmm…) I don’t mean to say that people are illogical—I am convinced that the approach, as I was presented it as a young person, places one in a logical bind at points from which there seems little way out. Nor do I consider the people “mystical”; I think that the approach can be.
Maybe I’ll follow up with a post laying out exactly why I make the point about logic that I do.
Byron ~ Aug 23, 2005 at 6:25 pm
“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure†(Philippians 2:13). John MacArthur writes, “The Gr. word for “will†indicates that He is not focusing on mere desires or whimsical emotions but on the studied intent to fulfill a planned purpose.†To me this whole discussion really boils down to the age old debate over the sovereignty of God verses the free will of man, two very biblical concepts that appear to create a paradox. It seems to me that this is yet another attempt at explaining the inexplicable. For my part, I simply cannot believe in a God who is sovereign Lord over all creation, yet does not have a planned purpose for my existence. To me that is illogical and totally against what I read in scripture. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.†That sounds like a sovereign plan to me.
Don ~ Aug 25, 2005 at 8:38 am
Sure…and it did to me, I suppose, until I considered carefully the Scriptural arguments made by Garry Friesen, and reiterated by many others since then. No one denies that God has a sovereign will; the fact, though, is that we each have to make decisions in real time(hence the name of his book: “Decision-Making and the Will of God”). We cannot know His sovereign will until it comes to pass; we do know His moral will by reading His Word and understanding it.
The real question isn’t between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will, but rather a question of, when I approach a given decision, do I pray that God reveal to me His individual (extra-Biblical) will for my life, or do I pray for His wisdom to apply His Word correctly, take into account all factors surrounding the decision, and then make a wise choice? According to the first way of doing it, I may worry that I’ve “missed God’s individual will” (particularly if things seem to go badly—and for all of us, we’ve made decisions that have!). Is that sinful, to miss God’s individual will?
On the other hand, I may make unwise decisions, to be sure, but I’m not saddled with some “extra guilt” by having been so unspiritual as to miss God’s individual will. I don’t mean to be ugly about it at all, and maybe I’m overstating the case a little. I just don’t think that a solid case can be made Scripturally that God has that individual will for my life.
But as I said earlier…good people can certainly disagree on this point.
Byron ~ Aug 29, 2005 at 9:28 am