Road to Spiritual Growth

What Is the Will of God and How Do We Know It?

by: John Piper

 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  

The aim of is that all of life would become "spiritual worship." Verse 1: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." The aim of all human life in God's eyes is that Christ would be made to look as valuable as he is. Worship means using our minds and hearts and bodies to express the worth of God and all he is for us in Jesus. There is a way to live — a way to love — that does that. There is a way to do your job that expresses the true value of God. If you can't find it, that may mean you should change jobs. Or it might mean that verse 2 is not happening to the degree it should.

Verse 2 is Paul's answer to how we turn all of life into worship. We must be transformed. We must be transformed. Not just our external behavior, but the way we feel and think — our minds. Verse 2: "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind."

Those who believe in Christ Jesus are already blood-bought new creatures in Christ. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (). But now we must become what we are. "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened" ().

"You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (). You have been made new in Christ; and now you are being renewed day by day. That's what we focused on last week.

Now we focus on the last part of verse 2, namely, the aim of the renewed mind: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, [now here comes the aim] that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." So our focus today is on the meaning of the term "will of God," and how we discern it.

The Two Wills of God

There are two clear and very different meanings for the term "will of God" in the Bible. We need to know them and decide which one is being used here in . In fact, knowing the difference between these two meanings of "the will of God" is crucial to understanding one of the biggest and most perplexing things in all the Bible, namely, that God is sovereign over all things and yet disapproves of many things. Which means that God disapproves of some of what he ordains to happen. That is, he forbids some of the things he brings about. And he commands some of the things he hinders. Or to put it most paradoxically: God wills some events in one sense that he does not will in another sense.

1. God's Will of Decree, or Sovereign Will

Let's see the passages of Scripture that make us think this way. First consider passages that describe "the will of God" as his sovereign control of all that comes to pass. One of the clearest is the way Jesus spoke of the will of God in Gethsemane when he was praying. He said, in , "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." What does the will of God refer to in this verse? It refers to the sovereign plan of God that will happen in the coming hours. You recall how says this: "Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." So the "will of God" was that Jesus die. This was his plan, his decree. There was no changing it, and Jesus bowed and said, "Here's my request, but you do what is best to do." That's the sovereign will of God.

And don't miss the very crucial point here that it includes the sins of man. Herod, Pilate, the soldiers, the Jewish leaders — they all sinned in fulfilling God's will that his Son be crucified (). So be very clear on this: God wills to come to pass some things that he hates.

Here's an example from 1 Peter. In Peter writes, "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." In other words, it may be God's will that Christians suffer for doing good. He has in mind persecution. But persecution of Christians who do not deserve it is sin. So again, God sometimes wills that events come about that include sin. "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will."

Paul gives a sweeping summary statement of this truth in , "In him [Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will." The will of God is God's sovereign governance of all that comes to pass. And there are many other passages in the Bible that teach that God's providence over the universe extends to the smallest details of nature and human decisions. Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Father in heaven (). "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" (). "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord" (). "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" ().

That's the first meaning of the will of God: It is God's sovereign control of all things. We will call this his "sovereign will" or his "will of decree." It cannot be broken. It always comes to pass. "He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" ().

2. God's Will of Command

Now the other meaning for "the will of God" in the Bible is what we can call his "will of command." His will is what he commands us to do. This is the will of God we can disobey and fail to do. The will of decree we do whether we believe in it or not. The will of command we can fail to do. For example, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (). Not all do the will of his Father. He says so. "Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven." Why? Because not all do the will of God.

Paul says in , "This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality." Here we have a very specific instance of what God commands of us: holiness, sanctification, sexual purity. This is his will of command. But, oh, so many do not obey.

Then Paul says in , "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." There again is a specific aspect of his will of command: Give thanks in all circumstances. But many do not do this will of God.

One more example: "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (). Not all abide forever. Some do. Some don't. The difference? Some do the will of God. Some don't. The will of God, in this sense, does not always happen.

So I conclude from these and many other passages of the Bible that there are two ways of talking about the will of God. Both are true, and both are important to understand and believe in. One we can call God's will of decree(or his sovereign will) and the other we can call God's will of command. His will of decree always comes to pass whether we believe in it or not. His will of command can be broken, and is every day.