Q & A Community Church
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

I’ve been told that God has no individual will for each one of us, that He has only a moral will for us and, as long as we are within His moral will, regardless of what we do, we are on the right path. How do we know?

Go down

I’ve been told that God has no individual will for each one of us, that He has only a moral will for us and, as long as we are within His moral will, regardless of what we do, we are on the right path.  How do we know? Empty I’ve been told that God has no individual will for each one of us, that He has only a moral will for us and, as long as we are within His moral will, regardless of what we do, we are on the right path. How do we know?

Post by Admin Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:51 am

A great many pastors have said (and written) that, if they had a dime for every time they were asked this question, they would be rich. Fortunately His Word gives us some great insights into the answer. First off, we need to understand that God’s will for people in general, even if expressed in general terms, applies to us as individuals and, therefore, is actually part of His individual will for us. It first starts with our relationship with God; as Moses shared with the children of Israel, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength—Moses, Deuteronomy 6:5. And something that God directly shared with Moses also constitutes part of God’s individual will for our lives: [L]ove your neighbor as yourself—God speaking, Leviticus 19:18a. What is significant about these verses is that Jesus used them to answer a scribe’s question: On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND’; and, ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live”—Luke 10:25-28 (quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18a). On another occasion, it provided the answer to this question: Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”—Matthew 22:34-40 (Mark 12:28-34). Clearly, any talk of the will of God for our lives starts with those two verses—carried over very powerfully by Christ Himself to underscore their validity not only to Old Testament times and New Testament times, but also to our times. In fact, Paul went so far as to say, Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law—Paul, Romans 13:10b. Bottom line: Love God and His people. God affirms His pleasure in our love for Him and each other by rewarding those whose lives reflect such love; as Christ Himself said, I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward—Jesus Christ, Mark 9:41.
The Bible does indeed speak of God’s will in several verses, from which we can imply pieces of what His will for our lives is—some samples:
(1) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will—Paul, Romans 12:2. God’s will for us is NOT going to be found in the world—either its agenda, its perspectives, or its promises.
(2) Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit—Paul, I Thessalonians 4:1-8. It is God’s will that we live lives of purity.
(3) [G]ive thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus—Paul, I Thessalonians 5:18. Since God directs our circumstances, our circumstances are, like all else, gifts from Him, for His perfect purposes.
(4) Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone of you for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free—Paul, Ephesians 6:5-8. The will of God should reflect from how we live our lives; people should see what God wants by how we live for Him.
(5) Remember those earlier days after you have received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised—Hebrews 10:32-36. The will of God is found in action and attitude as well as in word.
(6) Now honor the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will—Ezra 10:11a. A huge way to honor the Lord is simply to live out His will in our lives. Doing the Lord’s will is ultimately an act of worship, acknowledging who He is with our lives.
(7) We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will—John 9:31. This is an amazing verse told at the end of the story in the gospel of John of the man blind from birth who was healed by Christ and how the religious leadership challenged his story of what had happened to him. It is the healed blind man who is speaking. Clearly, God’s responses to us is impacted by how we are living our lives in relationship with Him.
(Cool Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen—Hebrews 13:20-21. God in His mercy and grace provides us what we need to do His will, equipping us and providing for us everything to accomplish the mission He has intended be done through our lives.
Regarding the “moral will,” this simply means God’s children living lives that reflect His holy standards—the standards that are reflected throughout the Scriptures. Regarding any detailed, particular will, the Bible gives only general guidance. One good way to look at this is to see how three components of our lives come together: (1) God’s Word, (2) God’s design—our gifts, how He individually made us, and (3) God’s moment—our circumstances. If you are living according to God’s Word, exercising how He designed through the use of the gifts with which He has graced you, and doing all that in the circumstances in which He has placed you, it can certainly be said that you are living within God’s will for your life. Following the will of God has to do with the person you are in Christ and how that life is impacting those around you with the “good news” of salvation. As Paul said, [S]ince the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins—Paul, Colossians 1:9-14. And, as an example of the caregiving God gives those who love Him, who seeks His direction in their lives, David—the man after God’s own heart—shared these insights of God’s tender oversight of His children in Psalm 25: Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way—David, Psalm 25:4-9. David knew that the starting point for knowing God’s will was to be under His direction. God’s will is not necessarily about getting from Point A to Point B. It is being His child. As we grow in Him, we will place that life He is developing in us where He needs it to be—through circumstances, through answered prayers, through closed doors as well as open ones. He will through all of life’s circumstances bring us to where He wants us to be, doing what He wants us to do, being who He wants us to be. It’s part of what we get when we trust our lives to His care.

Admin
Admin

Posts : 160
Join date : 2015-09-30

https://qnaforgod.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum