Bro. Michel Lankford.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NASB)
The Third Principle of authentic Christian discipleship is that God's word contains many great promises. Most of God's promises contain qualifiers and conditions which reflect God's character. To receive the promises, we must obey the conditions in a manner that reflects God's character
This Blog Will Discuss:
- Knowing God's will is definitely possible
- God's universal will
- God’s will is for all people to be saved (2 Timothy 2:4)
- God wants all people to repent, to turn away from sin and do right (2 Peter 3:9).
- God wants us all to be transformed so that we will live by and give away His love (Matthew 22: 36-40; 1 John 4:7-8).
- God's will is that we will be made holy (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
- God's will is that we live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).
- God's will is that we will grow in the Lord (2 Peter 3:17-18).
- God's will is that we adjust our attitude (1 Thessalonians 5:16-21)
We Can Know God’s Will
We are about to discuss some of the most profound life questions. These questions transcend ages and generations. They cross far beyond the boundaries of the simple denominations into deeper doctrine. Can we truly know, the will of God, or is it meant to be entirely mysterious? Does God have a specific will for each individual human being or is it more universal? If God does have a specific will for individuals, and He intends for us to know and understand it, then how do we go about receiving God's direction, knowing His will, and putting it into practice successfully? These are all things we will discuss as we study; Knowing the Will of God.Let us pray...
Almighty God, Heavenly Father; Lord Jesus Christ, and gracious Holy Spirit; have mercy upon us and save us according to your unfailing love. Mercifully create in us, hearts that are open and receptive ground for the good seed of your word. Grant that we will produce much good fruit in your word. Give us ears that are open and receptive to what the Holy Spirit says to the church. Give us pure spiritual eyes that are good and full of light; able to correctly discern the truth. Grant us your powerful grace to be evermore open, receptive, and obedient to Your teachings. In Jesus name, amen.
Before we begin, I must point out, that as it is with so many different topics in Scripture, we won't be able to cover everything about the will of God, and how to discern his will. The different variables and possibilities are numerous. Covering all of them and giving each of them the detailed attention they deserve, would be impossible. What we will try to do with God's help as best we can, is to give you answers to the broader questions, and a good sturdy framework from which you can begin to discern God's will for yourselves. May God bless you as we study together.
Please understand that the Bible is God's written word. I believe it to be the only solid foundation upon which to discover truth and gain true wisdom. At the same time, I believe that as we read the Bible, we must do so with the direction of the Holy Spirit. It is He who will guide us into all truth, (see John 16:13
). We must not only believe the Bible, but we must also call upon and trust in the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us about what the Bible says. It is not good to take the most spiritual of books, and try to understand it with carnal eyes. Just because we may not always feel like we know God's will, does not mean he doesn't have one for our lives. What Dave Branon doesn't mention, which I think bears mentioning is that ignorance can be comforting. It sounds almost spiritual; almost like you're proclaiming God's greatness, when you talk about God's will being too vast to understand. There is even a Scripture that would seem to imply that, (Romans 11:33-36
). After all, if we can convince ourselves that God's will is too mysterious or too difficult to understand, we can thereby extension excuse ourselves for not seeking or obeying it. It is a dreadful trap. It's a terrible lie of our age. While we expand in knowledge, we either pretend that there is no God, or if there is, that his ways are so far beyond our finding out, some will not even try. It is a terrible waste of human potential. Why do I say that? Colossians 1:16
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created by Him and for Him. (NASB77) We were created by God and for God. We were meant to bring him glory and honor by the way we use our talents, our time, and other resources. Failure to do that, means that we fall far short of our potential. While Romans 11:33-36
does point out that God is sovereign, and there are parts of his will we will not understand, I believe as we continue our study, you will see that the weight of the biblical evidence, definitely indicates that we are responsible to discover and follow God's will for our lives. I believe you can answer the question, 'can we know God's will' by answering another question. "Is it God's desire that we obey Him?" The answer is obviously yes. Even a cursory look at Scripture will bear out the truth of that statement.
“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the faFat rams.
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. (1 Sa 15:22–23
)[1] Matthew 7:21
"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21 (NASB)
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17 (NASB)Obviously it's God's desire that we should obey Him. It logically follows that we cannot obey God's will, unless we know what it is. Therefore, God surely intends for us to gain knowledge of His will and learn how to obey it. So, what is God's will? How do we know?
God's Universal Will
There are several truths that can be classified as God's Universal will. The Universal will of God, refers primarily to those things that are God's will for everyone. It does not refer to God specific well for individuals, but his Universal will for every person that He created.
God's Desire Is That All People Receive His Salvation: God desires that every single person be saved. When I say, "be saved," I am referring to the fact that it is God's will that every single person comes to intimately know God, and His Son Jesus Christ (John 17:3
). It is God's will that each person receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and that Christ's sacrifice would become the atonement for every individual person's sin, as they believe in Him. 2 Peter 3:8-9
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 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. (NKJV)2 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (ESV)
John 3:16-21
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV).3 God Desires That We; Receive, Are Transformed by, and Give Away His Love: If there was one desire that God had for human beings, if one word could define God's will, it would have to be love. It's God's desire that we would receive and be transformed by his love. Furthermore, it's God's will that we who are transformed by God's love would show God's love to others. There are countless places in Scripture where God identifies love as the standard of judging righteousness. (See 1 John 4:7-8
; Matthew 22:36-40). God is so intent on the idea that we should love Him with our whole being, and others as ourselves that he makes a very interesting command. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, God's Word says, pursue love. Now, that is a very interesting phrase. In the biblical Greek the phrase is transliterated as follows: dee-o'-ko ag-ah'-pay (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary). For a moment, let's focus on the first word in the phrase. The word dee-o'-ko literally means to seek, run after, give chase, press forward and to pursue with such a veracity as to persecute. At first, my little FAS brain had difficulty with the Greek definition of these two words. To me it seemed that the concepts of pursuing something to the point to persecution and love were oxy-moronic. After some discussion with the Lord, and a relatively short season of waiting, God showed me something interesting. He reminded me that at the time these words were written, the Jewish religious leaders and the pagan world were voraciously chasing Christian believers down, in order to persecute them. What the Lord was saying to the church of that day was that believers ought to pursue love, with at least the same passion and veracity that the nonbelieving world was using to pursue and persecute them. A contemporary application of that concept might look something like this. We who believe Jesus Christ, and have been touched by the love of God, should pursue love with the same level of veracity that the ACLU seeks to abolish God's teachings from all public forums. We should pursue love with the same tenacity as terrorists use to pursue their victims. It's important to add that the command is to "pursue love." Notice if you will, that it says nothing about catching love. To God, the successes in the pursuing. The command assumes that pursuing love is a lifelong endeavor that will not be complete until we reach our eternal home in heaven. God Desires our Sanctification: Sanctification is a fancy word. It refers to the idea that we are being transformed from the inside out by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses God's Word, various ministries in the church, and almost every circumstance in our lives to transform and refine us. God begins doing this work at the moment of our salvation, and He will continue working until our desires, attitudes, words and actions are an excellent reflection of Jesus Christ. It is God's will that those who have been forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, would be completely set free from their sinful nature and sinful habits, which hinder them from being the best they can be in Christ. (See 2 Cor 7:1
) 1 Peter 1:14-16
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."(NKJV) 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
“For it is God’s will that you be sanctified: You must abstain from sexual immorality;each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,not with passion and lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;and you must never take advantage of or exploit a brother in this regard. For the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we already told you and warned you.For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction is not rejecting human authority but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–8, ISV)4 Hebrews 12:14
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (KJV) God's Will is That We All Live a Life of Faith: We live in a world that prizes independence and self-reliance, very highly. God says that he wants his people to be utterly dependent on him, not themselves. God values a relationship of trust so completely, that he regards the person who trusts him as righteous (Habakkuk 2:4
; Romans 4:3). So important is faith, that without faith, it's impossible to please God. (See Hebrews 11:1, 6). God considers living a life of faith so critical, that he considers anything done in the absence of faith, to be sin. (See Romans 14:13-23, especially verse 23; Psalm 37:3). God's Will Is That We Grow: it's God's will that we would grow in grace and our knowledge of Him, (2 Peter 3:17-18
). It would be a tragic shame for anyone who is experienced the love of God, to somehow quit learning or stop actively growing. All healthy living organisms grow. Likewise all healthy spiritual people grow. In the physical sense, if a person is not growing physically, we know something is drastically wrong. The same holds true if a person is noNot owing spiritually or emotionally. Something is dreadfully wrong. If we are truly spiritually alive who will grow. If you look at a human baby, they are hungry to discover and learn. They pull themselves up, using furniture over and over again until they learn to stand. It's a natural desire, but what drives them to do this? They are driven by a God-given desire to grow; they want to learn, discover and achieve more than they have been able to up to that point. If you want to know how healthy you are, in doing the will of God, check your desire to grow. How hungry are you to grow beyond, where are presently with the Lord? (See John 15:1-5; 2 Peter 1:1-11).God's Will Is That We Adjust Our Attitude
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-21 (ESV)
Hey, when God specifically says, "This is the will of God," I'm thinking that's a good place to start. One of the most important aspects of Christian discipleship is that we must be willing to be adjusted by the Lord . we must be adjusted in the area on our desires , our attitudes , our thoughts and our behaviors . Today we looked at God's general, or universal will for humankind. in our next blog entry, we will look athow we can use this as a springboard to help us discover God specific will for our lives. t thank you so much for taking the time to come study with me. I do hope you'll come and join me again. Until then, God be with you.
Brother Michel Lankford
[1] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (1 Sa 15:22–23
). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. 2Scriptures designated (NKJV) are taken from: The New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, used by permission. All rights reserved.
3 All Scriptures which are designated (ESV) are taken from the The holy Bible, The English Standard Version copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved
4All Scriptures which are designated (ISV) International standard version New Testament : Version 1.1. 2000 (Print on Demand ed.). Yorba Linda, CA: The Learning Foundation.
5. The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2009 (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version.). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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