How Can I Know the Will of God?

God’s Will is Righteous (v. 2b)

Paul’s description of God’s will:

Good - morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious:

Acceptable - this word is probably meant to hearken back to the Old Testament sacrifical system. Where the Israelites of the OT permited to give just any animal as a sacrifice or were there stipulations about what an acceptable sacrifice was?

Perfect - carries the idea of complete.

God’s will is never something that God’s Word forbids.

There are no exeptions.

It doesn’t matter how much you love someone, if they do not know Christ then God’s word is clear that we are not to be unequally yoked.

It doesn’t matter how much money you could save because the Word of God tells us to pay our taxes and bills.

We could go on and on.

God will never ask you to choose between two sinful options.

“God will never give you something greater than you can bear.”

This is not really true. The truth is that God will never give you more than He can bear.

The actutal promise we have is from 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

There will always be a righteous option.

God’s Will is Multifaceted

God’s Permissive Will

This includes all things that God permits to happen.

It doesn’t mean that God is pleased by all these things or even desires them.

Within God’s sovereign will, He chooses to permit many things to happen that He takes no pleasure in. The fall of man is one of those things God permitted.

In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites demanded Samuel give them a king. This was not God’s will for them, and He warned them that their decision would bring negative consequences. “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. ‘No!’ they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles’” (1 Samuel 8:19–20). So, God, in His permissive will, allowed them to have what they demanded. He gave them a king like the other nations.

It does include many of the choices that we make on a daily basis. What we eat, drink and do, whom we marry and what job we take are all things that are examples of God’s permissive will. I constantly grew up hearing that God had one person in mind for me to marry. I don’t actually believe that is true. I believe that within the restrictions already given in Scripture that there are many possibilities of future spouses for young people.

In God’s permissive will, evil is allowed a certain amount of freedom, but that freedom is curtailed. For example, Satan was allowed to torment Job, but God placed strict limits on how far Satan could go (see Job 1—2).

In God’s permissive will, evil is allowed to function, but God’s perfect plan triumphs every time. For example, God allowed the kidnapping and enslavement of Joseph. At every mistreatment of Joseph, God had the power to intervene, but He “permitted” the evil and, in that limited sense, He sovereignly “willed” it to happen. It’s important to note that God’s permissive will never counteracts His sovereign will or His overarching plan. God allowed the sins of Joseph’s brothers in order to bring about a greater good (see Genesis 50:20).

God’s Preceptive Will

Revealed Will - Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

These are commands which God has revealed to us in His word which we may or may not obey.

To be clear these are not options. To choose anything other than what God has decreed is to be in direct disobedience.

Hidden Will - the Life of Joseph

These are things which will happen no matter what any outside of God may say or do.

God’s decretive will is sometimes described as the sovereign, efficacious will by which God brings to pass whatever He pleases by His divine decree. An example of this may be seen in God’s work of creation. When God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), He issued a divine imperative. He exercised His sovereign, efficacious will. When He did so, it was impossible for the light not to appear. It appeared by the sheer necessity of consequence.\

The decretive will can have no other effect, no other consequence than what God sovereignly commands. He did not request the light to shine. Neither did He coax, cajole, or woo it into existence. It was a matter of absolute authority and power.

No creature enjoys this power of will. No man’s will is that efficacious. Men issue decrees and then hope they will bring about their desired effects. God alone can decree with the necessity of consequence.

God’s Pleasing Will

These are the things that God desires but does not always get. This ofcourse is the natural result of His permissive will.

God is not willing that any should perish, but we know that many will.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

1 Timothy 2:3-4 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

God’s Will is Comforting

Suffering is not outside of God’s will.

1 Peter 3:17 “For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

1 Peter 2:20 “For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.”

God’s will gives suffering meaning.

Because of God’s will you can honor God in suffering.

Christ certainly did.

God does not always enjoy everything that He wills.

God’s will is trustworthy.

Every facet of God’s will corresponds to a deep need that we all have when we are deeply hurt or experience great loss.

On the one hand, we need the assurance that God is in control and therefore is able to work all of my pain and loss together for my good and the good of all who love him.

On the other hand, we need to know that God empathizes with us and does not delight in sin or pain in and of themselves.

These two needs correspond to the way God’s will is worked out permissively and preceptively.

For example, if you were badly abused as a child, and someone asks you, “Do you think that was the will of God?”

You now have a way to make some biblical sense out of this, and give an answer that doesn’t contradict the Bible.

You may say, “No it was not God’s will; because he commands that humans not be abusive, but love each other. The abuse broke his commandment and therefore moved his heart with anger and grief (Mark 3:5).

But, in another sense, yes, it was God’s will, because there are a hundred ways he could have stopped it. But for reasons I don’t yet fully understand, he didn’t.”

And corresponding to the will of God are the two things you need in this situation: one is a God who is strong and sovereign enough to turn it for good; and the other is a God who is able to empathize with you.

God’s Will is Knowable

It is God’s will that you be saved.

1 Timothy 2:3-4 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

It is God’s will that you be Spirit filled.

Ephesians 5:17-18 “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

That is controlled by the Spirit.

It is God’s will that you be sanctified.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-6 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.”

To “sanctify” something is to set it apart for special use; to “sanctify” a person is to make him holy

It is God’s will that you do good works.

1 Peter 2:13-15 “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—”

Our good works should justify the faith that we claim.

Actions speak louder than words.

If I claim to love someone, but never speak to them, never honor them, never lavish them with time and gifts do I really love them?

There are too many believers who claim to be walking with God but show little to no love for their fellow man.

There are people who need food, shelter and clothing.

There are children who need adopting.

There those who are sick that need care.

There are those who are emotionally fragmented that need our understanding.

The book of James teaches us that we show the world our faith by our works.

It is God’s will that you be grateful.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

This is one of my go-to Thanksgiving verses, because it helps reveal the importance of gratitude in the Christian life.

It is God’s will that you make a choice.

Spouse, school, job, move, purchase, church

If you are a saved, Spirit filled, sanctified, grateful, do gooder then do whatever you feel like doing.

If you are those things and you are doing those things then it is the Lord who is controlling your desires anyway.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

when we truly rejoice or “delight” in the eternal things of God, our desires will begin to parallel His and we will never go unfulfilled.

Practical Considerations

The Word of God- God’s will is never something that God’s Word forbids.

The Spirit of God - remember our main point when we discussed the gray areas? The same applies here.

The People of God - find good and mature believers who know you and follow their counsel.