Tomorrow is the last day of the eight week study on Free Will and Predestination… I thought last week was…
Since I shared my conclusions last week, I asked those in the class what they would like to cover this week. Since I shared in my summary that our free will is restored at redemption, they wanted to know how God’s sovereignty interacts with that restored free will. There were other questions but they mostly fell under this category.
One of the men asked how we should react to those who use the will of God as a foil. That is they share what they are going to do and state that they know it is God’s will thus ending all questions. It is a great question. Great because I have encountered and continue to encounter people like that.
As I think back over my walk with God, the issue of God’s will was a lot more important for me when I was a young Christian. I think some of that is because being a driver, I was looking for the boundaries. Also, I was afraid He would send me to some remote place like Nepal or Morocco, like He did in November and December.
Some of those who are claiming to know God’s will are on pretty thin ice. Thin in the sense that they have not engaged in some of the things that God suggests, check that, commands us as believers to do. Yet, they figure they have the will of God nailed.
The way my Bible reads, in order to know the will of God we have to have a fairly significant relationship with and understanding of God’s Word. I get that from several passages but notably John 15:7 and 2 Timothy 3:14 – 17 are good places to start – oh, go ahead and add 1 Peter 2:1 – 2.
So if someone has told you they have the will of God figured out and they do not have a strong foundation in the Word, red flags should be waving.
There are more issues, but this one is key.
One other thing, if they are not receptive to questions about their understanding of God’s will or are not interested in explaining how they got there, they are probably just following their own desires.
Since I shared my conclusions last week, I asked those in the class what they would like to cover this week. Since I shared in my summary that our free will is restored at redemption, they wanted to know how God’s sovereignty interacts with that restored free will. There were other questions but they mostly fell under this category.
One of the men asked how we should react to those who use the will of God as a foil. That is they share what they are going to do and state that they know it is God’s will thus ending all questions. It is a great question. Great because I have encountered and continue to encounter people like that.As I think back over my walk with God, the issue of God’s will was a lot more important for me when I was a young Christian. I think some of that is because being a driver, I was looking for the boundaries. Also, I was afraid He would send me to some remote place like Nepal or Morocco, like He did in November and December.
Some of those who are claiming to know God’s will are on pretty thin ice. Thin in the sense that they have not engaged in some of the things that God suggests, check that, commands us as believers to do. Yet, they figure they have the will of God nailed.
The way my Bible reads, in order to know the will of God we have to have a fairly significant relationship with and understanding of God’s Word. I get that from several passages but notably John 15:7 and 2 Timothy 3:14 – 17 are good places to start – oh, go ahead and add 1 Peter 2:1 – 2.
So if someone has told you they have the will of God figured out and they do not have a strong foundation in the Word, red flags should be waving.
There are more issues, but this one is key.
One other thing, if they are not receptive to questions about their understanding of God’s will or are not interested in explaining how they got there, they are probably just following their own desires.
if we are significantly relating to people at all we will experience this. I have experienced this in my own life. I know my perverse heart well enough to know it is capable of all sorts of deception even if the Deceiver himself is not involved.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm wrestling with such an issue. Biblically from all I know it could be either God's will or not. I see some evidence for either. In this case the tipping point for the next step is godly counsel from a couple I trust, who know God and the Scriptures and have my best interests (unselfishly) at heart. They will know the situation when I share it.
That will help me with the next step.
Woe to the believer who doesn't have confidants with deep relationships in his (her) life.
Good words. Brings to mind Proverbs 1:5, 12:15, 13:10, 19:20.
Delete