1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
The apostle Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians (4:3) is remarkably clear and straightforward: “For this is God’s will, your sanctification.”
If you want to know what God’s will is for your life, there it is in black and white.
Live a life pleasing to God (v. 1).
Keep away from sexual immorality (v. 3).
Let the man of God control his own body in holiness and honor (v. 4).
Do not take advantage of a brother or sister (v. 6).
You don’t have to wonder about hitting the bullseye of God’s will or walking some spiritual tightrope as you try to intuit special messages from the Lord. We can all know God’s calling. “God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness” (v. 7).
The will of God is one of the most confusing concepts in the Christian life. Part of this confusion stems from the fact that the Bible talks about God’s will in at least two different ways.
Some passages speak of God’s will as fixed and inviolable. We can call this God’s will of decree.
God’s works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11).
God does what He wants, and no one can block His hand (Dan. 4:35).
God will of decree includes what is good (Eph. 2:10),
what is wicked (Acts 2:23; 4:28; Gen. 50:20);
where we live (Acts 17:26),
and how long we live (Job 14:5; Psalm 39:4).
Neither sparrows in the sky nor the hairs on our head fall to the ground apart from the will of our heavenly Father (Matt. 10:28-30).
Other passages speak of God’s will as something we can obey or disobey. We can call this God’s will of desire. There aren’t two wills in God, but the Bible does use the same language in two different ways. In 1 John 2:15-17, for example, the will of God is the opposite of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions. Likewise, Jesus teaches that “only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” will enter the kingdom (Matt. 7:21). In passages like these, the will of God refers to the way God wants us to live.
To make matters more complicated, when Christians talk about “finding the will of God” they are usually thinking about a mysterious will of direction. The Bible, however, does not speak of God’s will in this way. Yes, God has a specific plan for each of our lives (Ps. 139:16), but there is no indication that he ordinarily means to reveal this plan to us ahead of time. Instead, He wants us to trust Him.
We don’t have to know the future because we belong to the God who not only knows the future but exercises sovereign control over it.
Embracing the will of God is not about discerning—by some nebulous process of inner impressions—where to live, whom to marry, and what job to take. Rather, it is about the far more ordinary, and ultimately more important and more spiritual task, of seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all the while believing that whatever you truly need will be provided for you (Matt. 6:33).
This article appears in the CSB Men's Daily Bible.
Scripture
Ephesians 1:11 In him 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,
Daniel 4:35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and 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?”
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Acts 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
4:28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Acts 17:26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
Job 14:5 Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,
Psalm 39:4 “O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
Matthew 10: 28-30 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
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