GOD’S WILL?

If a calamity happens in a city has not Yahweh done it? Amos 3:6

When we speak of “God’s will,” we often profess to discover it, obey it, and accept it. But such varied usage indicates that when we speak of God’s “will,” we don’t always mean the same thing.

There is God’s PRECEPTIVE WILL. God issues precepts, or commands (e.g., Exodus 20:1-17). If we violate His negative commands (“you shalt NOT”) or fail to fulfill His positive mandates (“you SHALL”), we have violated God’s revealed will. Such a violation brings judgment.

There is God’s DISPOSITIONAL WILL. This expresses God’s desires and emotional existence. Men grieve the great heart of God when they sin (Genesis 6:6; Ephesians 4:30), and God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23).

There is God’s SOVEREIGN WILL (a.k.a., His efficacious, or decretive will). God has issued eternal decrees that embrace whatever comes to pass—either through the agency of His active will or through His permissive will. Everything that happens has been sovereignly, effectively, and unchangeably ordained of God (Amos 3:6, Isaiah 45:7)—yet, in such a manner that God is never the direct author of sin (James 1:13), nor is the free agency of His creatures eliminated. God’s sovereign designs often represent God’s hidden will.

We see various aspects of God’s will referenced by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:22-24). According to God’s sovereign plan, the Lord Jesus Christ was put to death through the Divinely decreed agency of wicked men. Despite being God’s appointed instruments in accordance with His holy purposes in Redemption, these wicked men freely violated God’s revealed, preceptive will (Exodus 20:13)—and will thus be held eternally accountable for their sin—for which they bear responsibility (Matthew 26:24).  

An infinitely complex interaction—but who knows the Mind of the Lord? (Romans 11:33-34)

Terry L. Reese