Knowing God’s Will

So, we are looking at moving house.

Should we? Shouldn’t we? Why would we?
Where to? What should we be looking for?
Is there a good church where we could worship and contribute?
How can we know God’s will in this matter?

How can we know God’s will?
That is the question we all regularly ask ourselves. Especially when it comes to “The Big Ones”:

Will I marry? Whom shall I marry?

Where will I/we live?

How should I spend my money?

What church should I go to?

And, for some, nowadays (it seems) more than in former times:

Should I enter “full time ministry”?

Forty years ago Gary Friesen got people thinking with his “Decision Making and the Will of God.”
This was followed by a spate of books along the same, or a similar, theme – including: Tony Payne’s and Phil Jensen’s “Guidance and The Voice of God” (1997), Peter Masters’ “Steps for Guidance: In the Journey of Life” (2008), and others.
These books were helpful in refocusing our attention on God’s Word, rather than inner feelings, or a sense of inner peace. They proved a useful antidote to the decision making chaos that was coming out of the charismatic movement.

However while I agreed with much that Gary Friesen wrote, I think he was confusing and misleading when he denied there was such a thing as a “calling” to the ministry. Scripture itself asserts that the ministry is a specific calling from God, and I know from my own 40 years serving as a full-time pastor, at home and abroad, that without the witness of the Spirit sustaining that conviction, I would not have persevered in the face of the challenges that confronted me.
In other ways too, I think Friesen overstated his case. From memory (I seem to have misplaced my copy in our moving chaos) Peter Masters sought to address some of these deficiencies in his work.

So, what is God’s will for me in all these areas?

Pursue what you already know to be God’s will

This is where we must begin.
There is no point searching out God’s will for me in areas where I don’t know, if I am not first pursuing God’s will in areas that I do know.
The Bible is crystal clear on the necessity to pursue God’s will, where we already know what His will is.

Jesus owns as His “whoever does the will of God”. Such, He says “is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)
On the other hand: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt 7:21)

The writer to the Hebrews promises: “You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (Heb 10:36)
And therefore, the apostle Peter bids us: “Arm yourselves also with the same mind [of Christ], for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Pet 4:1-2)
For this reason Epaphras believed it was so important to be “always labouring fervently in prayers” for his brethren in Colossae “that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)

Does this mean we are saved by our works, doing the will of God?
Absolutely not. With the apostle Paul “we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” (Rom 3:28)

But this does not negate the necessity to do God’s will. “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” (Rom 3:31)
Or, as James put it: “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (Jas 2:17)

What do I already know to be God’s will?

There is so much we already know.

For instance, the Bible tells us “not to be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Eph 5:17)
What is God’s will? Paul goes on to tell us this is God’s will for you:

“Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation.

“Be filled with the Spirit.”

“Speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.

“Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Are you already doing that?

In a similar vein: “This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

“Rejoice always.”

“Pray without ceasing.”

“In everything give thanks.” (1 Thes 5:16-17)

Earlier, in the same epistle, Paul tells us: “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thes 4:3)
Paul then specifically spells out what this means in the area of sexuality:

“…that you should abstain from sexual immorality”

“…that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel[1] in sanctification and honour, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.”

“…that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter”

“This is the will of God”! Are you already doing that?
Sexual purity is the will of God. “God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.”
“Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

Likewise, bondservants (employees?) are told: “Be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers.”
Why? Because “as bondservants of Christ, you will thereby be doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” (Eph 6:5-7)

In fact, for this reason we are all to submit to proper authority:
“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors.”
Why? “Because this is the will of God.”
Furthermore, “by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” (1 Pet 2:13-16)

In the above quotes I have only focused on those Scriptures that specifically refer to “the will of God”.
But, of course, this is just the tip of the ice berg. Because, whatever God has commanded is His will.
The Scriptures are replete with God’s commands – whether those encapsulated in the Ten Commandments, or God’s exhortations to us in the Psalms and the prophets, or Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes, or the instructions given to us by His apostles in their New Testament letters. These are all the will of God.
Leave aside the unknown answers to the “Big Ones” for the time being. Begin with making sure you are doing what you do know is God’s will.

But can I be sure this is really God’s will?

We may read God’s will plainly stated in God’s Word and still miss the point.

This is exacerbated by the fact that nowadays there seems to be a whole “Christian commentary” industry dedicated to casting doubt on what is the will of God, even when Scripture speaks plainly enough.
Though this is nothing new. From the beginning Satan tempts us: “Has God really said…?” (Gen 3:1)

Take Balaam for example.
The king of Moab sent for Balaam to come and curse Israel. Balaam sought out the will of God in the matter. Whether he already knew it would be wrong we don’t know, but God soon made it clear that it was wrong; it was not His will to go. This left no doubt in Balaam’s mind: “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.” (Num 22:18) There was no doubt: he knew God’s will in this matter.
So, when Balak persisted and sent again, there was no need to “just pray about it.” It is a sin to pray for guidance to know God’s will when you already know for sure what it is. It is tempting God, and “you shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deut 6:16). So God let him go, to pursue the path to his own destruction.
Why did Balaam do it? Because “he loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2 Pet 2:15). He was covetous; and covetousness is idolatry (Eph 5:5).
When your heart is with another god other than the true God, you will look for ways to get round the will of the true God. “Has God indeed said…” – and you begin wonder if there could be “another interpretation”, even though there is no room to wonder.

Living God’s will

If we want to be sure of God’s will where the Bible speaks plainly we must be living out what we know is God’s will in our lives. If we do not practise what God says, we will soon make room for doubts that God says it.

Concerning His own teaching, Jesus put it this way: “If anyone wills to do God’s will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God.” (John 7:17) Our conviction of the truth of Jesus’ sayings, as well as the will of God, comes as we do the will of God.
On the other hand, Jesus upbraided the Jews: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.” (John 8:43) They may have “heard”, as did the foolish man who built his house on the sand; but they did not “listen”, they did not “hear these sayings of mine and do them.”

Listening is in the doing.
The wise man is not the armchair thinker who contemplates “Life, The Universe, and Everything.”
According to Scripture, eg. in the Book of Proverbs, “wisdom” is in the doing. “The wise man is the one who hears these sayings of Mine, and does them.” (Matt 7:24)
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (Jas 1:22). “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.” (Jas 3:13)

Wisdom is lived. It is living God’s will.
To know God’s will, you must be living God’s will.

Knowing God

In the end, this comes down to knowing God: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

The believer’s great desire is to know God through Jesus Christ.
“Indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord… that I may be found in Him…  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.” (Phil 3:8-10)
Knowing God lies at the heart of knowing His will, then with a view to doing His will.

The whole era of the new covenant was foreshadowed by Jeremiah in these words:

“This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (Jer 31:33-34. Cf Heb 8:10-11)

To know God is to have His law (the same law revealed in Scripture!) written upon our hearts so that we know, and do, the will of God.

“Without the renewed mind, we will distort the Scriptures to avoid their radical commands for self-denial, and love, and purity, and supreme satisfaction in Christ alone.” (John Piper)
When Paul told the Christians in Thessalonica: “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality…” he contrasted that with the conduct of “the Gentiles who do not know God.”

To do the will of God shows that we do know Him.

“By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 Joh 2:3-5)

Know God’s will for sure?
Know God – the only way you can know Him: through Jesus Christ.

Knowing God’s will in the “Big Ones”?

So what about:

Will I marry? Whom shall I marry?

Where will I/we live?

How should I spend my money?

What church should I go to?

Should I enter “full time ministry”?

There is no Scripture that explicitly tells you what to do in the details of your life like this.
Though there are certainly Scriptural principles to guide you in each of these areas. But in applying these principles we need wisdom.

Which brings us back to what we said before: Live out what you already know is God’s will: that will be wisdom in applying the principles of Scripture where there is no explicit instruction in Scripture.
To know God’s will in the unknown, you must first be living God’s will in the known.
Then, God promises: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov 3:5-6)

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
“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.” (Rom 12:1-2)

“What is necessary is that we have a renewed mind, that is so shaped and so governed by the revealed will of God in the Bible, that we see and assess all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is calling us to do.” (John Piper)

Summary

Know God’s revealed will?
.      Know God’s Word!

Be convinced that it is God’s will revealed in God’s Word?
.      Live out God’s will revealed in God’s Word.

Know how to live out God’s will revealed in God’s Word?
.      Know God!

“…and He shall direct your paths.”

Pray for us in our move. But pray especially that, any decisions we make, will be made “knowing Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.”

[1] Though some take this to refer to one’s body, I believe Paul is referring to one’s wife. See here.