Slides: God's Will for Your Life

Romans 12

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This presentation draws many insights from a book by Garry Friesen, Decision Making and the Will of God.

Discovering God's Will?

• Moral will: God's desire for us, revealed in the commands and principles of Scripture
• Sovereign will: God's decree for all that happens in the universe, hidden in his secret plan which predestines everything
• Individual will: God's ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each person, which he progressively reveals to a believer through inward impressions and outward signs

God reveals his moral will in the Bible, so we should do all we can to discover and obey his moral will. However, God keeps secret many decrees of his sovereign will until after they happen, so we cannot discover his sovereign will in advance. Also, God does not reveal all details of a personal life plan in advance, so we do not need to discover his "individual will" for every choice before we can make a good decision.

Common view of God's "individual will" for you

• Premise: For each of your decisions, God has a perfect plan or will.
• Purpose: Your goal should be to find God's individual will and make decisions that fit it.
• Process: You interpret inner impressions and outward signs; this is how the Spirit leads.
• Proof: Inner peace and outward success confirm that you decided rightly and are "in the center of God's will."

This view is common but not correct.

Don't try to discover God's "individual will"

God does not have an ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each believer that must be discovered in order to make correct decisions. The concept of an "individual will of God" cannot be established by reason, experience, biblical example, or biblical teaching. (Garry Friesen, Decision Making and the Will of God)

• The Spirit gives personal guidance as he chooses, but seldom by advance details.
  

Practical problems of seeking God's "individual will"

• Ordinary decisions: This view must be ignored in countless minor decisions.
• Equal options: This view denies equal options and causes anxiety about "missing the dot" at the center of God's will.
• Subjectivity: Certainty of God's individual will is impossible without objective knowledge.
• Immaturity: This view tends to promote rash and immature decision making.

Seeking God's "individual will" promotes immature decisions

• Defending unwise choices with "God told me”
• Delays when uncertain of individual will
• Rejecting personal preferences when facing equal options
• Using fleeces and letting circumstances rule
• Overconfident that perfect decisions can be made without counsel if they are sincere
• Misusing the Bible in specific decisions

Don't base decisions on finding God's "individual will"

God has a secret, sovereign plan for each of us that orders each detail of our lives. God also has a revealed, moral will for us... The wisdom we seek in divine guidance is God's moral will applied to the believer's life. Guidance is discerning God's moral and spiritual preferences as they apply to our life situations. It is not a detailed plan to be discovered or communicated by God in extra-scriptural communications. (James Petty, Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians)

Discovering God's Will?

• Moral will: God's desire for us, revealed in the commands and principles of Scripture
• Sovereign will: God's decree for all that happens in the universe, hidden in his secret plan which predestines everything
• Individual will: God's ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each person, which he progressively reveals to a believer through inward impressions and outward signs

Secret things and revealed things

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

• God reveals his moral will for us to obey.
• God conceals most of his sovereign will until things happen.
• God does not promise to reveal a personal life plan to you or tell you to discover it.

Decision making under God's sovereign will

• Believers should make plans humbly, remembering that God has the final say.
• Believers should trust God to work all things together for good even though he does not reveal his sovereign plan in advance.
• God is sovereign over open doors and the circumstances surrounding every decision. He requires us only to be moral and wise. He will secretly guide in everything else.

Special guidance: sometimes but not most of the time

God's sovereign will includes a detailed plan for each of us, but we should not assume that He will reveal in advance every detail of this plan, and we should not refrain from making all decisions until we get special guidance for each choice. I should not assume that there is a detailed individual will for me that God wants me to discover before I can make any good decision.

Does this mean I should never expect any individualized, special guidance at all? No, God sometimes guides me quite specifically in key decisions. He does this sometimes, but not most of the time. So I should pray and ask God if he wants to give me special guidance, especially when facing a major decision, and I should  be open to any special guidance he provides. But I should not be disappointed or frustrated when He leaves decisions to me rather than telling me exactly what choice to make. God sometimes provides individual guidance, but more often he leaves it to me to think through, consult with others, and decide as a person informed by the Bible and indwelt by the Spirit of wisdom.

Even when God does not provide special, explicit, individual guidance for a particular choice, I must make sure that my choice does not contradict God's moral will revealed in Scripture and that I use wisdom in making my choice. But I should not insist on discovering "God's individual will" on every occasion before I decide anything or do anything.

God's usual way

Personal messages from heaven are not and never were God's usual way of leading and guiding... God's regular way of showing us what he calls us to is by appropriate application of the once-for-all revealed truths of the Bible. (J. I. Packer)

Knowledge of his will

... filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23)

Understand the Lord's will

This is the will of God, your sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)

The will of God

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

The new you

• A self defined by God's mercy given in Christ and experienced in the Spirit
• A body offered for God's service
• A mind renewed by God's truth
• A will in tune with God's goodness