If God Will

The Evangelist said, “And this will we do, if God permit” (Hebrews 6:3). 

James said, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15). 

The Apostle Paul said, “But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus” (Acts 18:21). 

If God permit, if the Lord will, and if God will. It sure sounds like we have to ask God permission to do just about everything, doesn’t it?

If you had to boil down what exactly is the problem between God and man, it would boil down to the battle of the wills. It is not a battle between God and the devil, for we know that fight has been fought and won. No, it’s the very thing that got mankind in trouble in the first place, Eve’s will against God’s will. The devil just instigated, encouraged and helped facilitate the sin. Pride was the leverage the devil used to motivate and encourage Eve’s will, then Adam’s will to sin.

The entire human race is now sin stained, “and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:15). This is the goal of the devil; Death!

So, are we to simply take orders from God? How is that having “free will”? Well first off, “free will” is a contradiction in terms and a misnomer. If we truly had free will then mankind would be nothing more than a carnal beast. Freud called it the Id. It’s the lustful devil inside each of us.

But do we really want to forfeit our will for God’s will? Yes we do, in fact we pray for it.

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).

God’s will be done in earth is what we pray for. Why? Because God wants us to live!

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die….But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezekiel 18:20,21,23,31-32).

As James and God have pointed out; sin equals death. So it is quite simple. God wants to, and will, lead us back home to Him, if we let Him.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

How do we do this? We must accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and follow Him in spirit, essence, truth and love.

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

Now, we can exercise what is called our free will. We can ignore the call of Christ and the will of God. We can let the carnal beast out. But we will not like what happens, because we will get exactly what we ask for.

 “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!” (Psalm 81:11-13).

“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:24-25).

Notice that God didn’t punish the unrepentant sinner. He gave them up to their sins. He let them have what they wanted. When we let go the inner sinful beast, we are not releasing our self, but rather imprisoning our self to lust, desire and sin and eventually death.

It should be obvious by now that God knows better than us. His will is our protection and life. Stepping away from the cover of God leaves us victim to something worse than the enemy. It leaves us victim to our selves!

“The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Psalm 121:5-8).

“The choice of the will then, is truly free only when it is not the slave of vices and sins. God gave to the will such freedom, and now that it has been lost through its own fault, it cannot be restored save by Him.” (Augustine, The City of God Against the Pagans)

Remember what James said. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).

God’s way is the pathway to righteousness and to life. Freedom of spirit and will only come’s through salvation.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

Bill Hitchcock