MY WILL
I will . . . you will . . . we all will . . . I will not . . . you will not . . . we will not . . . an interesting word . . . ‘will.’ Societies, families, churches, cultures and nations have been destroyed over this little word. What say you? I really don’t care what you have to say, I do care what the scriptures say. But why go to the Bible to clarify any word, or to define a word, or to bring any word into the scope of God’s plan for His universe? The Bible is the only standard of truth, and the only direct witness by God written by the Holy Spirit of God.
The question, or some prefer the words ‘the unsolvable mystery’ of free will versus the sovereignty of God is centered around the word ‘will.’ But why should we even think that it is two concepts in direct opposition to each other? I do not know when this phrase of ‘free will versus the sovereignty of God’ became popular; however, whenever man attempts to set the tone of intellectual superiority to describe biblical concepts beware of a hidden agenda. Bringing God and His Christ down into the realm of man is an attempt to diminish the incomprehensible power and majesty of God, and therefore, creating a controversy that divides the Church into more schisms. It has never been about ‘free will’ versus ‘the sovereignty of God.’ It has always been about the evil heart of mankind fighting against a holy and righteous God. Keep this in mind as you read this article. This is where I am going. I will attempt to show the fallacy in the premise of man’s free will versus the sovereignty of God. Yes, man has a will, and yes, God is sovereign. Let us begin.
There are many words that we use in reference to the Bible that are not mentioned in the Bible, for instance, the phrase ‘free will’ is not mentioned in Scripture, nor is the word ‘sovereign’ or ‘sovereignty’ mentioned, but God is Sovereign. He is matchless. He is supreme power. He is preeminent. He is the Highest. There are enough verse references in the Bible to back up every one of these statements.
The Totality of God — The Sovereignty of God
The Godhead is mentioned only three times in Scripture and all in the New Testament. Did not the Godhead bodily exist in the Old Testament, did not the Godhead bodily exist before the foundations of the earth, and before the creation of the universe? Yes, and God (through the Old Testament writings) revealed Himself (not only through His many titles, and names) but He opened Himself to be seen, understood, and worshiped by His creatures as the completeness of the Godhead. Through the plurality of ‘elohiym (one of His names) He reveals the Godhead bodily united as One in action and in purpose. In the following references note the words, us and our when Jehovah speaks of Himself. (Genesis 1:26; 11:6,7; Isaiah 6:8)
Then His Oneness in sovereignty is later seen in the New Testament in all the fulness of the Godhead bodily through Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) as He who was and is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. (Acts 17:29)
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: (Colossians 2:6) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:7) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8) For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:10)
The Godhead bodily is Sovereignty personified. He is the Sovereign of His creation, and of His universe. There is no greater power than the power of the Godhead bodily. Would this not make Him Sovereign? Don’t be afraid of the word ‘sovereign.’ Sadly, whenever this word is heard then it is quickly labeled as something to be avoided by the mainstream religious word controllers. God must not be seen as sovereign, because that would mean that man is not sovereign. There cannot be two sovereigns acting in one court; nevertheless, God alone is sovereign, and all powerful.
Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and in the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)
Both riches and honour [come] of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand [is] power and might; and in thine hand [it is] to make great, and to give strength unto all. (1 Chronicles 29:12)
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (Matthew 28:18)
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24)
Let us move our thoughts from the Sovereignty of God to the sovereignty of mankind. Alrighty then, mankind is not sovereign. Even though mankind fights and wars to control others, he is unable to control himself. We can concede that man is not sovereign, nor indeed can ever be sovereign. But, you say, Wait a minute, man has free will! Having free will gives mankind the ability to control . . . control what? [There is] no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither [hath he] power in the day of death: and [there is] no discharge in [that] war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. (Ecclesiastes 8:8) You can possess the strongest will, and yet, you will never be able to will enough to stop death. Your will means nothing in the realm of reality. Don’t run away. What does free will allow mankind to do? Here is my main point, man does not have ‘free will’ because man is not free to will. Man is not free! You are not free! You have never been free! Your father, my father, our father (Adam) threw freedom away and became a slave. You say, Whoa there, I’m not a slave! You sure of that? You were born a slave: a slave to sin.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (Galatians 3:22)
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)
Creature Will — Two Wills
Yes, you have a powerful will — a will to survive, a will to fight tyranny and oppression, a will to overcome odds, yes, you have a will, but read what the apostle Paul said about his will.
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14)
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. (Romans 7:15)
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. (Romans 7:16)
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:17)
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:19)
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:20)
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (Romans 7:21)
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17)
To the natural man, or also called the unregenerate man, or the unrepentant man: because you are a slave to sin, (and as hard as you try to sometimes be good, and to do the correct thing) you fail to please and satisfy a righteous and holy and Sovereign God. Yes, you have a will, but what do you do with your will? Do you control your will or does your will control you? You see, you are not free from your will, your will controls you, thus, you do not have ‘free will,’ but you have a will controlled by sin. Therefore, the controversy of ‘free will’ versus the ‘Sovereignty of God’ is based on a false premise that unrepentant mankind has a ‘free will.’ Remove the word ‘free’ and you have a totally different understanding of the will of man. The will of man fights against the Sovereign God. At least give me some honesty in your reply! It isn’t ‘free will’ as a doctrine against the sovereignty of God, but it is the reality of a sinful will against a righteous and holy God.
To the born again, the spiritual man, the repentant man: you have been set free from the penalty of sin, you have been made a new person within an old body (the body of death). Our battle is a daily battle wherein we fight not the battle for salvation, nor the battle to be secure in our salvation, but the battle to remain faithful and obedient to a righteous and holy God. We do not fight alone, for it is not our battle for righteousness (that battle was fought and won on the cross of Calvary by our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ). Our battle is for our mind, and for our heart, for it is through the heart that the issues of life are centered.
Yes, I remember that this article is about the ‘will.’ In the unregenerate man, he only has one will and that is the will to please himself, the will of the pride of life, the will that fulfills his natural sinful instincts regardless of the consequences. After all consequences and responsibility can always be rationalized to justify actions.
In the born-again man, we have two wills. Two wills within one body: one spiritual and one of the flesh. There are many interesting anecdotes that describe this dual between two opposing forces within one body. Basically, they all reveal a truth that the one that is fed the most will overcome the underfed force. Feed your spiritual man and you will overcome the carnal man, Feed the carnal man and the spiritual man becomes weak and less effective and obedient to God. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (Romans 6:17) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.(Romans 6:18)
Battle Central — The Heart
The will (even though powerful) is not where we should direct our thoughts. It is the heart of mankind that holds the key to the will of man. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:3)
The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Jesus said, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (Mark 7:21) Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: (Mark 7:22) All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. (Mark 7:23)
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)
We (Christians) have been divided, labeled, and made ineffective by following the teachings and perversions of those who have crept in to cause us to not only doubt the Word of God, but to remove the true essence of the Godhead bodily. God (in His totality) has been diminished in the thoughts and minds of Christians as merely a sightseer, a silent observer, an unknown agent unable to control or rule over His creation. Remove sovereignty from God and substitute the ‘free’ will of man as the controlling truism in all the actions of mankind, and what have we arrived at: the worship of self, the worship of our own will. Scripture is true that I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:5) For with God nothing shall be impossible. (Luke 1:37) Is this not the sovereignty of God? Is this not the power of God? Is this not God in action? Do you really believe that God is desperate to use mankind, and cannot act outside the laws of nature and creation (that He instituted) and therefore, God without man is nothing and can do nothing? Or is it just the opposite: that man without the power of a holy and righteous God cannot (by mans will alone) please God?
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23) I pulled this verse away from the previous verses, so let us read what this is in reference to.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (Colossians 2:16)
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. (Colossians 2:17)
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, (Colossians 2:18)
And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. (Colossians 2:19)
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Colossians 2:20)
(Touch not; taste not; handle not; (Colossians 2:21)
Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? (Colossians 2:22)
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23)
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:9)
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: (Isaiah 29:13)
A Fine Line or a Circle Within a Circle God gave Adam a will, but it was a will based on responsibility to obey God’s will.
Many feel that the sovereignty of God and the ‘free’ will of man is a fine line separating the two; however, instead of a fine line maybe it is a small circle turning on its own axis within a larger circle turning on its own axis. Sometimes the circles do not move rhythmically or are balanced with each other, but nevertheless, the outer circle, the larger circle is the main and controlling force. God cannot stop being Sovereign. He never handed His sovereignty over to His creatures. Yes, God gave Adam a will, but it was a will based on responsibility to obey God’s will. When Adam disobeyed His Creator, his will became a will controlled by sin and outside the will of God. Adam was conditionally created, meaning Adam was made under the first law instituted by God: obey and live, or disobey and die. This first law is called The Law of Sin and Death. Was it the ‘free’ will of Adam, or was it the evil heart of Adam that acted in disobedience? It was the heart of Adam that caused him to act in rebellion and in sin. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
What followed next? Adam’s sinful will followed next. Adam’s sinful rebellious will became the outward active agent fighting against the will of His Creator. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:27)
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (1 John 5:14)
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2) It is not a will based on freedom that humanity needs, but a will based on God’s will.
When our wills agree with the will of God then we are in the will of God. Believing that it is necessary for humanity to have ‘free’ will or else humanity is then nothing but a machine or a robot is not looking at the true condition of humanity. It is not a will based on freedom that humanity needs, but a new heart based on what God has done in providing a new heart set free from sin and death.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:18)
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. (Romans 6:22)
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
I have found that many who follow the ‘free will’ teaching have tremendous difficulty in accepting that mankind is as really as sinful and lost as Scripture states. Many deeply feel that somehow within mankind (within themselves) is a little piece (a little smidgen, a small code of DNA, a tiny piece of tissue) that is good and not sinful. The feel-good-free-will people feel that there is something within them that somehow escaped sin. Their free will can usher them into salvation. Others believe that their free-will coupled with the gospel gives them the key to life eternal. To live in the fantasy that sin is not within everyone only leads me to feel that the feel-good-free-will people truly think that their will alone will lead to heaven. They have selective salvation. Their will is so powerful that they can will themselves into heaven. What saith Scripture? But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
One of the many issues that I have with the feel-good-free-will believers is that they almost dismiss the will of God. As soon as someone uses the word ‘sovereign’ they go bonkers. Bonkers — 
— that’s a nice scriptural word. Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23) When God’s will is replaced with your will than that is will worship. When God’s will is made secondary to human will that is will worship. Your will, your way will lead you to God’s wrath. It is God’s way and only God’s way because it is the will of God that none should perish, but all should come to repentance. It is not the will but the heart that fights against God. What keeps anyone from repentance and from salvation? It is the rebellious heart that keeps anyone from the blessings that God has purposed for His creatures. The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
But doesn’t God’s purposes overcome man’s rebellious heart? What if one of God’s purposes is to show His mercy in longsuffering, and in rejection; what if one of God’s purposes is to show that His love did not exclude anyone, but all are offered His salvation? God’s purposes are not limited to our own understanding and enacted only in our physical realm. The purposes of God began in the far reaches of His Being before He set His plan in action.
Side Note: The Will and The Heart Before Time – Going back to the beginning or foundation when considering any subject is necessary in order to get a broader understanding. Where and when did evil originate? Read Isaiah Chapter 14, verses 12 – 15, and Ezekiel Chapter 28, verses 12 – 19. I will move quickly through this section and attempt to bring out just a few points that are connected to this article.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12)
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (Isaiah 14:13)
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:14)
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isaiah 14:15)
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (Ezekiel 28:12)
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. (Ezekiel 28:13)
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:14)
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (Ezekiel 28:15)
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:16)
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. (Ezekiel 28:17)
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. (Ezekiel 28:18)
All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. (Ezekiel 28:19)
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:3) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) ♦ End of Side Note: The Will and The Heart Before Time
Sin did not originate with humanity. Sin, however, did begin in a created angel. (I suggest clicking to this link to understand what drove Lucifer before he sinned into a state of rebellious madness in attempting to overthrow God and His Christ. CLICK HERE.) Let us not be distracted by the how or the why, therefore, we will concentrate on the process. God (being the Sovereign Creator) never acts based on surprise, or emotion, but He acts on the principles of righteousness and holiness. Satan’s nature is revealed to us through these short sections in Scripture, and God the Holy Spirit allows us to receive just the correct amount of information to understand the process of evil without getting readers entangled with things beyond our earthly ability to comprehend things concerning another sphere: a supernatural realm that is far beyond our level of comprehension.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Isaiah 64:4)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Because God is Sovereign, His understanding is far beyond mankind’s abilities in language and in writing, but nevertheless that doesn’t stop us from looking at our great God and His goodness towards His creatures. In God’s determinate counsels and in His foreknowledge our Great Sovereign God allows us a minuscule view of His purposes and plan. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23) If it was not for the Word of God we would know nothing about God’s determinate counsel, nor would we know about the foreknowledge of God, or predestination, or election, or redemption, or substitution, or blood sacrifice, or the indwelling of the Spirit of God, or the Messianic Kingdom (also known as the millennial kingdom), the Incarnation, or resurrection, or grace.
What is the key to understanding the Bible? Faith is the key! Faith is the key that opens the doors to us; therefore, only those who have the Spirit of God within (the born-again ones, the Christian) are able to understand the Word of God. That leaves no Christian out from being able to understand the Word of God.
God has a plan and a purpose. A plan isn’t that great, that God has a plan for you and for me. He has a plan. He has a purpose. You are part of God’s plan and part of His purpose. We would never know this if it was not for the Word of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. (Romans 8:28)
(For [the children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (Romans 9:11)
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: (Ephesians 3:11)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8)
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9) That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:10) In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11) That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. (Ephesians 1:12)
The Mystery of His Will
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9)
There are many ‘mysteries’ mentioned in Scripture, in fact, the very word ‘mystery’ is found only in the New Testament, and mentioned twenty-two times, and the word ‘mysteries’ is mentioned five times in the New Testament. Sometimes whenever we read ‘mystery’ it is not some great secret that will never be known, but it is something that had not been previously revealed before. CLICK HERE and you will be safely redirected to an article about the great mystery.
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (Matthew 13:11)
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Luke 8:10)
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1)
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, (Romans 16:25)
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)
[Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: (Colossians 1:26)
Christians are stewards of the mysteries of Christ, we are stewards to reveal the gospel of Christ, we are stewards blessed with the understanding (as revealed by the Holy Spirit of God through the Word of God) the mysteries of the things of God. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Ephesians 1:9) God’s will is a mystery. Our Sovereign God has shown us that there are depths to His will that are truly beyond our comprehension, but nevertheless He has (through His written Word, and through His Living Word) uncloaked and unveiled Himself as having a righteous and holy will. God’s will has been shown to us as having a purpose for us. There is the mystery of faith which has been shown to us. There is the mystery of godliness: And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)
Your sinful will can never stand as having any power against the mighty will of a Sovereign God. You can stamp your feet all you want to, but your will is nothing but a spoiled child’s attempt to overthrow the mighty sovereign will of God. The will of God is centered in Himself. You cannot even will your next breath. You cannot even will that tomorrow you will be alive.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (James 4:13) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.(James 4:14) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (James 4:15)
Your will means nothing outside of the will of God. It is the will of God that gives meaning and purpose to life. Go ahead and plan tomorrow without God, plan next year without God. Believe that you are in control of tomorrow. Only when your will lines up with the will of God will you understand your true condition before a righteous and holy God. When you can say, ‘Yes, Lord I know I am a sinner. I know that I deserve your full judgment and death is my just reward, I believe that Christ took my sins onto Himself and through His death my sins have been removed from your judgment. I believe that the blood of Christ has made me clean in your sight.’ When your heart can say, ‘Forgive me Lord, who have I but Thee.’ When you finally can say, ‘Not my will, but Thy will be done’ . . . then and only then you will finally understand the will of a Sovereign God. When our wills agree with the will of God then we are in the will of God.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (Matthew 26:42)
And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. (Luke 11:2) )
The Will of God
Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, (Galatians 1:3) Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; (Ephesians 6:6)
That he no longer should live the rest of [his] time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. (1 Peter 4:2)
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:17)
© Copyright 2019, Mary Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)