Discovering God’s Personal Will
Romans 12:1-2
* (Read the Text) Did you catch the last part of verse 2? “So that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” The NIV says it this way, “that you might test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” The KJV renders this, “That you may be able to ‘prove’ what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” While the English Standard version says it this way, “That by TESTING you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” From these two verses, let’s direct our thinking to “Discovering God’s Personal Will” for our lives, or better said, “For my life and for your life.”
* Books have been written about knowing and doing God’s will. While this is “going on a limb”, I’ll suggest that every person who possesses an authen-tic faith desires to know and do God’s will. At the same time if we are honest we will admit that discovering and discerning His personal will for us seems to be confusing at best and allusive at worst. And the reason for this is there is much misunderstanding about God’s will. So, let’s dig in.
* The questions are these; 1) what exactly does the term “God’s Will” mean? And 2) what is required for me to know it?
* To answer the first question in Biblical way requires me to turn loose some of the things which I have been taught since I was boy in Sunday school. Let me offer to you an understanding of the 3 different wills of God’s which I hope will simply give us the concept and a point of understanding. Certainly different preachers might develop this subject a little differently than I, but as far as I can tell, this is a Biblical concept.
A. God’s Planned Will (John Piper calls this God’s Will of Decree or Sovereign will). This is His will which does not change. There are many examples of this found in the Bible. Probably the most well known is when Jesus prayed in the Garden, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” God had laid it in stone that Jesus, His Only Son, would come to earth and die on a cross as the lamb slain before the foundations of the world. It was His Planned Will and nothing could change it. For that average person who looks at their Bible occasionally, this concept is difficult to grasp because just as surely as God will Jesus to die, He appointed all the players in the plot to sin by crucifying Jesus. Acts 4:27-28 tells us that Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, Jews, & Pharisees sinned by crucifying Jesus. So sometimes, God’s planned will cause some things to happen that He hates. We can pursue other texts which affirm this truth but suffice it to say that God’s planned will is HISTORY written in advance.
B. God’s Personal Will- (John Piper calls this the will of command). The reason I call this God’s personal will is because this is God’s plan for our Personal best. We could call this God’s Perfect Will because if we would follow it completely, we would become all that God planned for us to be and we would enjoy all the benefits which God has for us. However, this is the part of God’s will for which we are responsible. He has the best plan, but He gives us a choice. We can give several illustrations; a) In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Paul writes, “This is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality.” While this is God’s will for each of us, many are indeed living immoral lives today. B) In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 he writes, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” While it doesn’t get clearer than this, certainly not all fulfill God’s personal will for them. C) How about 2 Peter 3:9 which says in part, “The Lord is not willing or wanting (does not will) for any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” Did you hear that? God does not want anyone to perish in the Lake of Fire called the 2nd death, He wants, wills, and is willing for all to come to repentance. Let’s be honest, not all are willing to repent, which means to turn from their sin. Quite likely some in this room, hearing these words, are living in some private or public sin and are unwilling to repent.
C. God’s Permissive Will- Without hesitation or reluctant this is the will of God each of us wants to avoid. This is literally disobedience.
* Based on these Biblical concepts of God’s will, we would be forced to conclude that the last part of verse 2 of chapter 12 (Romans) is about being able to discern God’s Personal will for your and my life. So what are the necessary ingredients to discovering God’s Personal will? From our 2 verses, I’ll suggest 5 ingredients which will assist you in this trek.
1. Be Clear-thinking. Exactly why is it that you are even considering the trek to discover God’s will for your life? What is your motivation? Paul makes it very plain and simple. Don’t do it because of possible retribution which comes if you don’t. Paul tells us to think clearly about our motivation and respond because of the “mercies” of God. Whether you are 17 or 70 just take a moment and think by over your life. Can you not remember times in your experience where were it not for the mercies of God, your life would have been totally different? Haven’t you seen those time when if God wasn’t a merciful God, that He might have become angry and doled out justice instead of mercy? Consider this, the mercies of God are “new every morning”, and serve as a motivation to know God better & more.
* One of the reasons Paul calls us “by the mercies” is possibly in hopes that our thinking will become more crystallized about the goodness of God toward us.
2. Be Committed. Paul says, “think clearly about this and then be committed to this process.” How? By presenting our entire beings (starting with our bodies) as a “LIVING SACRIFICE”. This requires the deepest commitment! For we are enamored with our bodies. Everything we can, we do, for our bodies. We dress up, paint up, fix up, and prop up, our bodies in every way imaginable. And at the end of the day we have a body that looks like it has been dressed, painted, fixed, and propped up. The reason we have to present our body is because it is so important to us and until we present it to Him, it will be a bottleneck which will stand in the way of our discovering His will for us.
* In verse 1 the word “present” is a technical term (Grk) which speaks of the sacrifices given on the altar. It speaks of “standing before being present, to show, to yield, to dedicate, to provide.” That is exactly when commitment is. Charles Stanley writes in Counterfeit Christianity that “there is a big difference in a decision and a commitment.” Then he talks about an airplane pilot speeding down the runway, at some point, he passes the point of no return—he is committed. The problem today in our churches is this; too many have made a decision for Jesus and have not committed to Jesus. Listen, without this commitment God will never reveal His personal will to you and you’ll find yourself stumbling along in the dark, alone, and on your own.
* This commitment is truly seen in the “living sacrifice” statement. Can you imagine the reaction of those first century Romans Christians who read this? In those days sacrifices tended to NOT BE LIVING at the end of the sacrificing process. We are to present (offer, provide, yield, etc) our lives to our Lord is total and complete commitment and submission, in return, He will give to us the life which we have never had.
3. Be Clean. Truthfully, we can never make ourselves “clean” enough for Jehovah God, but we can make a “clean offering” as opposed to an unclean one. This is pretty simple to say, teach, and understand, but it is difficult to do. We are back to the principle of “first fruits.” When Paul says, “holy and acceptable” perhaps he meant to give God our best.
* In other words, we give Him exactly what He expects which is NOT what is left over in our lives. He expects our best, to be center of our existence, and first in our lives. How many times do we allow the things of God to go undone while we are about our business? It’s like in Haggai where the indictment is leveled by God through the prophet, “You say it’s not time to build the Lord’s house while you live in your mansions.”
* God is never pleased with people who do not put Him first. The first and 2nd commandment say, “No Other Gods or other things” are to be more important to you than me. As long as other things are more important to us than God, in effect, we have another God & He will not make His will known to us until what we offer is done cleanly, without reservation.
4. Be Consistent. Our text reads this is your “Spiritual Worship” while the NIV says this is your “Spiritual Act of Worship.” Now, contrasts these two against the KJV which says it’s you “Reasonable Service.” Without getting too deeply involved in any language a study, the first word means “rational, reasonable, or even of the word”, along with the following Greek work tends to read like “Spiritual service found in worship.” Literally, the most reasonable action for a believer to take is spiritual in nature and the greatest service we can render is a bowed knee in worship. When we do the spiritual-reasonable thing by service-worship the result is that we meet with God personally, He speaks to our hearts, and our lives take on new meaning and become consistent.
* Many people have jobs which require them to get recertified or checked-out. As a pilot over 40, every two years I am required to get a flight physical and take a check ride with a licensed instructor. This served to renew my knowledge and update my skills. Right now, I’m not current so I would probably be unsafe in the air. Why? Lack of consistency. The same holds true for us in our spiritual lives. We must give the Spiritual Worship of reasonable service and meet with God to renew & refresh us.
5. Be Converted. We have saved the best and most crucial for the last. To discover God’s personal will for your life, you must be converted, saved, born again, or whatever term you choose. First, we know this because Paul addressed this to “Brothers” or “those in the family.” For those outside of Jesus Christ, God’s personal will for you is this; Come to Jesus, Repent of your sin, and trust Jesus as the Savior & Lord of your life.
* Verse 2 gives us a snapshot of this process (which speaks to all of us). One translation says, “Don’t be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world.” Truthfully, before Jesus all of us were being conformed and sadly, after Jesus some continued. It’s the difference in the decision versus a commitment. However, “Be transformed” which means be morphed into something else, a new creation. Jesus Christ wants to reshaped & remake you into His likeness. How does this happen? He forgives your sin and renews your mind. In coming to Jesus you are raised to a new plane of life, living, and thinking. Transformed from the inside out.
* Do you desire to discover God’s personal will for you? These verses remind us that we will only be able to do this, IF we put Him first in all areas of life.
