God’s Will(s)?
Romans 12:2-
“And 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.”
My heart’s desire is to live my life according to God’s will; with a clean conscience and an ear tuned in to the Holy Spirit’s voice. Some years ago, when I was really struggling with making a decision I began to meditate on this verse. I feel that God revealed to me that He is not a Yes or No God (of course He isn’t! That’s why He created free will!). Is it possible that God may not have The Perfect Will for us, as we assume many times? Could he possibly have more than one will?
Example: Marriage (I’m sorry if I offend anyone at this point. But, I am using my own personal experience and this is the best example I got)
In a past relationship that had the potential of marriage, I felt torn because I was not sure if getting married was God’s will. In the end, I decided that it was not. But, before coming to that decision, I spent many a night in tearful prayer begging Jesus to show me His will. Our conversation went something like this:
“Lord, tell me what to do. I just want your will, only your will.” Sob, sob. Sniffle.
“Sarah, I’m going to let you choose what you want to do”
“Really? But, why can’t you just tell me so I can just do it? If you want me to get married, I will. I do what you want. Just tell me, please.” Sob, sob. Groan.
Soft, still, peaceful silence was the response. So, I chose.
What if I had chosen the other path? I’m sure God would have greatly blessed me then as He has now. Because my heart was in the right place, He was able to flex His will to what my heart’s desire was.
Thus my theory of God’s three wills:
Perfect:
He has a perfect will; which I know we can learn of an obey, but (in our humanity) how often do we obey perfectly? God’s perfect will was to have a perfect, sinless creation. That didn’t happen. So, he made adjustments so that His good and/or acceptable will could be carried out. Enter, Jesus Christ, our wonderful Savior.
Good:
If two people have sex outside of marriage (which is not God’s will) and conceive a child- it is God’s will for that child to be born into the world? I believe so. A child was the result of sin, but God loves that baby nonetheless and so He adjusts His will for the child.
Acceptable:
For those of us who are at times (and maybe most of the time) just stubborn sheep. His grace is sufficient; His will is acceptable.
Let me know what you think of my theory! :)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
♥ God's will(s)?
Posted by Daily Offensive (baha!) at 12/11/2008
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9 comments:
I agree with this, but to a point.
I am stealing a really good way to look at God's will.
Let God make your mistakes His will. The analogy you gave about pregnancy before marriage is the perfect example of this.
However...
The only thing I dont like about separating out the three, is that if you're not careful, you can be tempted to settle for "acceptable". It's more fun right?! :) We should always aim to lead a Godly life, a goal to live in His perfect will. Thank God for his abounding grace and forgiveness when we dont, and for straightening out our path when we decide to wander.
Aim for perfect, and if you miss the mark, let God make it His will.
Not to split hairs, but God really has only one will unless, of course, the fork in the road is equal with regard to righteousness. Essentially it comes down to this: God will not compromise on what is true and righteous. Hence, His will must complement the absolution of His character. In a different way of putting it, God's will is always sinless and He never agrees "with" sin. However, His will should not be confused with what He allows and thereby interpreting that what He allows is His will. The two can actually be strikingly different: what He allows and what He prefers.
2 Pet 3:9
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (NAU)
God’s perfect will is that none should perish. What He allows are people to make their own decision as to their choice of accepting Him or rejecting Him.
There are times when the Spirit of Grace is resisted with such strength over a long period of time that God stops resisting people to bring them into His "life-saving" will. As a result He hands them over to their own choice. In this case, He allows it, but it is not His will, yet He allows it”
Rom 1:25-27
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
(NAU)
Rom 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (NAU)
In this passage:
Good means:
18 agathos-
1) of good constitution or nature
2) useful, salutary
3) good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy
4) excellent, distinguished
5) upright, honorable
Acceptable means:
2101 euarestos (yoo-ar'-es-tos);
from 2095 and 701; fully agreeable:
KJV-- acceptable (-ted), wellpleasing.
Perfect menas:
5046 teleios-
1) brought to its end, finished
2) wanting nothing necessary to completeness
3) perfect
4) what is perfect
a) consummate human integrity and virtue
b) used of men, full grown, adult, of full age, mature
In any case, nothing of the three words speaks to compromise or tolerating any degree of sin.
Deacon Don
As I see it, the 3 words or wills, when it comes to God's will, are interchangeable and synonymous, with none looking at sin as “okay”. I too believe that God only has one will for us; He desires our obedience and love, love which He has given to us without question and which we hardly deserve. The path to Him is narrow and treacherous, while the path away from God is quite wide, easy, and filled with road blocks. He knows that we will not always be perfect, or do what is good and acceptable to His eyes. But He sent His son to us to guide us on the straight and narrow and to lead us to Him, again because He knows we will fall off the wagon repeatedly.
If our actions in daily life not only help us to avoid sin but also lead us to be close to God, I believe that is acceptable to Him. In the case of any choice, of course He wants us to choose the path that leads to Him. If we don’t, He still loves us, but not our sin, for which at some point, we will be made to pay. True repentance and true attempts to change one’s life guide the way to righteousness.
Gods will is this: That all may know Him. Period.
I honestly believe that without sin, we wouldnt feel the need to know Him (deeply KNOW Him!) Sin makes it so we seek Him and it brings us closer to Him.
The cool thing is: GODS WILL CHANGES. When we make mistakes, he gloriously and graciously forgives us and gives us another chance to be more like Him.
I am amazed everyday at how He can take a wrech like me and make me pure and white freshly fallen snow.
I do not pretend to know what Gods will is. I do not think anyone really knows Gods will is when it comes to sex before marriage. God created us as a biological being. Sex is as natural as the sun rising or a flower blooming. You cannot stop nature from happening. Having a baby is a gift from God no doubt about that. I like reading your blog!
Oh I am pretty sure that God's will is not for us to have premarital sex. :) That one is a given.
He does want us to enjoy it, you're right about that....but with one person, after the vows. Resisting temptation, and your "stopping nature" is the one and the same.
Correct and this blog is not about an opinion or about what I think is proper; its about what the Bible says.
If you don't take the Bible literally, then there is really no point in discussing this... considering I'm talking from a stand point of Biblical standards.
Thanks for reading though!
The blog's about "what the Bible says", and elsewhere you emphasize that the blog was named "Offensive" for a reason. So, are you saying that your position is that the Bible is offensive? I'm really seeing some extreme swings in what you claim to represent: soliciting street slang for breasts, semen recipes, mocking others behind their back, and then reciting Bible passages. Now I'm genuinely confused, which side are you on?
It must not take a lot to confuse you. Or, you're confusion seems to be more of a way to get your own offensive comments in and, really, it doesn't work.
A blog is like a diary- only public. There are entries of feelings and pet peeves (and by the way, semen recipes are in no way proof of anything against the Bible). Obviously no one is perfect. Obviously. So, quit trying to hold us to a perfect standard. I did say that this specific entry is about certain issues of the Bible. Did I ever say that I hold to those issues without fault? Heck no.
So, why don't -you- get off of that high horse and just enjoy the blog. Eh?
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