The will of God

In our last church plant meeting, we were discussing some very difficult issues that we (along with any church plant) are currently facing. One of the things that seemed to keep coming up was everyone's desire to "do God's will", and not our own. How do we know what is God's will and what is not? R.C. Sproul covers this topic in his study of systematic theology called "Foundations", and I will be using the outline of that lesson here to elaborate on the topic.

R.C. recognizes two kinds of "God's will." The first is His decretive will. This is defined as 'what God sovereignly, absolutely, efficaciously, brings to pass. It is what He has determined will occur.' With this definition we understand that God's soveriegnty is intact, and that everything that comes to pass is due to God ordaining it that way. Nothing catches God by surprise, and although we may not understand why things happen the way they do, we can trust in the character of God and that all things are for the good of those that belong to Him according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). God does not reveal everything. Deuteronomy 29:29 states 'The secret things belong to the Lord...' which makes clear that we do not know God's decretive will, except for what He has revealed to us (Deut. 29:29b).

The second kind of God's will is His preceptive will. This is defined as 'what God has spoken as right and true. It can be and quite frequently is resisted.' An example of this is that He has called all to repentance. As our world (and even often our church bodies) show is that His preceptive will that all would come to Him is rejected and resisted on a regular basis. Anytime any of us break any of the 10 commandments we are resisting God's preceptive will. These are things that we can know, and should be striving to follow on a minute by minute basis. God's preceptive will has been made known in the Holy Scriptures.

When our church planting group, or when we as individuals want to follow God and His will, all we can do is follow His preceptive will, and pray about His decretive will. If our actions break His preceptive will, then we are not following Him. If our daily decisions are following His preceptive will, then He will open and close doors as we move forward. We need to pray, trust and be aware of these openings and closings, and enter where we feel led to go, not to get frustrated at our lack of complete understanding of where and what we are to do. If we live in a way that fulfills God's commands, He will guide us where He wants us. As is mentioned in the study, "tomorrow is the surest revelation of the hidden will of God."

John Calvin states "Where God closes His holy mouth, I will desist from inquiry." R.C. makes a similar statement with "The hidden will of God is none of your business." While this may seem harsh to our sensitive ears today, we need to seek His wisdom and direction as best we see how, and leave the rest to Him. God is in control, and we must rely on His will, and trust it completely.

Information on our church plant will be coming shortly. If you have any questions about who we are and what we believe, feel free to contact us either via email at hillcountryreformed@gmail.com, or call us at 403-932-0519.