Rev. Angus Stewart
Introduction
Our title, “God’s Saving Will in the New Testament,” deliberately limits the field. We are not going to look at God’s saving will in the Old Testament, except by way of passing references; otherwise there would be too much material to treat here. We will especially focus on two Greek verbs for the activity of willing: theloo and boulomai (and their cognates).
The will of the Triune God has historically and helpfully been spoken of in two main ways:
- God’s will of decree—what He has eternally decided to do. This is God’s immutable counsel which determined absolutely everything that has happened or shall come to pass.
- God’s will of command—what He tells man he should do. This is God’s moral and ethical standard for us revealing His holy requirements from us, which are summarized in the ten commandments.
This a fine quote from the entry in The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament on theloo or thelein, the Greek word used most often in the New Testament to refer to God’s will. The passage speaks first of God’s will of decree and then His will of command:
[1] God’s thelein [i.e., will] is always characterised by absolute definiteness, sovereign self-assurance and efficacy. It is resolute and complete willing … it refers either to the divine will in creation (I C[or]. 12:18; 15:38) or to the divine sovereignty in disposing to salvation (J[oh]n 3:8 of the Spirit in regeneration …) … it denotes the independent and self-efficacious power of disposal in the hands of God, who is free to do what He wills with His own. In R[omans] 9:18, 22 Paul shows how the thelein [i.e., will] of free and sovereign disposal is declared in the event of salvation. It finds expression as a demonstration of wrath and power both in having mercy and in hardening … [2] Other statements with reference to God use thelein [i.e., will] to denote that which God requires of the righteous. In this respect there is recurrent reference (M[at]t. 9:13; 12:7; H[e]b. 10:5, 8) to the prophetic statement that God requires [mercy] and not [sacrifice] (Hos. 6:6; [Ps.] 40:6).1
This powerful statement describes well God’s will of decree: “always characterized by absolute definiteness, sovereign self-assurance and efficacy … resolute and complete willing … the independent and self-efficacious power of disposal … [so that God is] free to do what He wills with His own,” etc. After describing Jehovah’s will of decree, the quote mentions His will of command, what He “requires” of us.
There are several interrelated purposes of this series of articles on “God’s Saving Will in the New Testament.” First, it will show us that God’s will, especially His saving will, is a massive theme in the New Testament revelation, as well as in the Word of God generally. There are not merely dozens or scores of references to it but hundreds of texts speak of the saving will of God or Christ or the Holy Spirit. It is a rich field!
Second, it will set forth Jehovah’s glorious control and government of the universe, and especially our salvation.
Third, it will expose both the falsity and the poverty of the well-meant offer, the notion that the Almighty earnestly and fervently wills, wishes, wants and desires the salvation of those whom He eternally and immutably reprobated. This strange doctrine portrays the ghastly spectre of a failing, foolish and frustrated god.
Fourth, it will strengthen our faith in the absolutely sovereign God of heaven and earth, our confidence in His wholly gracious salvation, and our comfort in the all-wise and all-powerful will of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Will in Ephesians 1:1-14
Let us start by considering Ephesians 1:1-14, paying special attention to the words and phrases that are italicized or underlined:
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
This familiar and glorious passage refers to God’s “will” of decree four times (1, 5, 9, 11)—underlined (above). We also have five closely related words or phrases: God’s “good pleasure” (5, 9) or “purpose” (9, 11) or “counsel” (11), as well as the “predestination” of God’s people (5, 11) or our eternal election or being “chosen” in Christ (4)—underlined (above). These six key terms are found 12 times in the first 14 verses of Ephesians 1. Sometimes three or even four of these crucial words or phrases are heaped together in one verse, as in verses 5, 9 and 11. The apostle is using weighty theological terms that reinforce and illuminate each other to build an unassailable case regarding God’s saving will in Jesus Christ.
We can distinguish different shades of meaning in the four references to God’s “will” in Ephesians 1. First, in verse 11, we have the great truth that our heavenly Father “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” This is God’s all-encompassing will of decree that excludes nothing and includes everything in His creation.
Second, in speaking of our legal inclusion in His family, verse 5 brings God’s saving will into sharper focus: “God predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Third, Ephesians 1 declares the oneness of the eschatological catholic or universal church of Christ: the totality of elect Jews and Gentiles in the new creation in the age to come. God has “made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (9-10)
Fourth, the very first verse of Ephesians mentions the will of God in its reference to Paul’s office and ministry in the church: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (1; cf. I Cor. 1:1; II Cor. 1:1; Col. 1:1; II Tim. 1:1). He preached and served the saving purpose of God in the first century, and, by his inspired epistles, he teaches and extols that salvific will to the whole church throughout the last days until Christ’s second coming.
These two spheres of God’s will of decree—His all-encompassing will that embraces the whole universe and His saving will regarding His elect in Jesus Christ—are, of course, intimately related. Ephesians 1:11 states that we are “predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Thus God’s saving will in delivering us from our sin and misery is served by His all-encompassing will.
Likewise, Christ taught that the Father has “given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (John 17:2). Thus “we know that all things [in the all-encompassing will of God] work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his [saving] purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Ephesians 1 refers to God’s will in relationship to eternity—eternity past, so to speak—and time. God’s will is eternal because we were “chosen” or elected in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (4). God’s eternal will of decree, both in our election and with respect to absolutely everything in His creation, is perfectly effected in history, because He “worketh all things” in space and time “after the counsel of his own will” (11). Therefore, God’s all-encompassing counsel or plan, His will of decree or good pleasure, is realized in an equally all-embracing providence so that He does in time exactly what He willed in eternity (Ps. 115:3; 135:6; Isa. 14:24-27; 46:10; Dan. 4:35). This all-encompassing decree, effected in an all-encompassing providence, serves the salvation of all of the elect through the crucified and risen Christ.
God’s saving will, the apostle teaches in Ephesians 1:1-14, is Trinitarian. Consider even the structure of the passage. After Paul’s address to the Ephesians (1- 2), he speaks especially of the role of the Father in our salvation (3-6). In verses 7-12, Christ, the eternal Son incarnate who redeemed us from our sins, is in the foreground. Then the Holy Spirit is presented as the seal and down payment of our salvation (13-14). Thus God’s redemptive will—in its conception in eternity, its accomplishment at the cross, and its application to us in this world and the next—is Trinitarian: of the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
How must we, the objects and beneficiaries of God’s saving will, respond, especially as we grasp more and more of its riches? First, we worship the Triune God. At the end of the sections on the Father (3-6), the Son (7-12) and the Spirit (13-14), we have some form of the statement that our salvation is all “to the praise of his glory” (6, 12, 14). Second, we bless God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen [or elected] us in him before the foundation of the world” (3-4).
We praise and bless God! That is the practical goal and result for Christ’s children in studying God’s saving will, especially as it is set forth in Ephesians 1!
God’s Will in Romans 9:6-24
Having considered God’s will in Ephesians 1:1-14, we now turn to our second major passage on this glorious subject, Romans 9:6-24:
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory 24 even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Like Ephesians 1, Romans 9 refers frequently to Jehovah’s will: theloo or boulomai or their cognates. It is mentioned four times in the three verses below from this great chapter of Scripture:
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth (18).
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? (19).
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction …? (22).
Whereas Ephesians 1 speaks only of God’s will in election, Romans 9 deals with His will in both election and reprobation. Election, of course, is God’s eternal, sovereign and unconditional choice of certain people in Jesus Christ, both to grace and to glory, to the honour of His name alone. Reprobation, on the other hand, is God’s eternal, sovereign and unconditional purpose to pass by and ordain to destruction all others, in the way of their sins, to the praise of His holy justice.
Election and reprobation go hand-in-hand with God’s love and God’s hatred respectively: “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (13). In the context of Romans 9, the covenant God is saying, in effect, “Elect Jacob have I loved and reprobate Esau have I hated.”
Election and reprobation also go hand-in-hand with God’s mercy and God’s hardening respectively: “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy [i.e., the elect], and whom he will he hardeneth [i.e., the reprobate]” (18).
Putting it all together, there is one people embraced in God’s election, God’s love and God’s mercy. There is also God’s reprobation, God’s hatred and God’s hardening of others.
These two realities, hatred and hardening, are crucial aspects of the biblical and Reformed doctrine of reprobation. Divine reprobation entails divine hatred and divine hardening of those whom He passed by in His absolute sovereignty and ordained to destruction for their sins in His unassailable justice.
God’s saving will regarding His elect is not only served by His all-encompassing decree of providence (Eph. 1:11) but is also served by His rejecting will. That is, God’s election of some in Jesus Christ is served by His reprobation of others: “The elder [i.e., reprobate, hated Esau] shall serve the younger [i.e., elect, beloved Jacob]” (Rom. 9:12).
Both God’s will in election and His will in reprobation are irresistible, as the apostle teaches in his rhetorical question of Romans 9:19: “who hath resisted his will?” No one has or will for “none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou” (Dan. 4:35).
Of course, objections to this biblical teaching always arise from unbelieving, proud man. The apostle brings them up and deals with them in Romans 9. Thus he writes, “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?” The response? “God forbid,” literally, “May it not be!” (14).
Paul anticipates another protest: “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?” (19). The apostle counters, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (20-21).
The former Pharisee makes it clear that his inspired teaching in Romans 9 is in full accord with the Old Testament Scriptures on God’s will in election and reprobation. In the space of only eleven verses (7-17), Paul quotes the first two books of the Pentateuch as many as five times.
First, he provides three citations from Genesis, with the last two prefaced by introductory remarks: “In Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Rom. 9:7; Gen. 21:12); “For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son” (Rom. 9:9; Gen. 18:10, 14); “it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger” (Rom. 9:12; Gen. 25:23).
Second, Paul uses quotation formulas before citing two verses from Exodus: “For he [i.e., God] saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15; Ex. 33:19); “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth” (Rom. 9:17; Ex. 9:16).
Romans 9:6-24 quotes not only the first two scriptural books, Genesis and Exodus, but also the last book of the Old Testament, as is arranged in our Bibles, Malachi: “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom. 9:13; Mal. 1:2-3).
Clearly, the doctrine of the apostle to the Gentiles in Romans 9:6-24 regarding God’s will in sovereign election and reprobation is divinely authoritative. It fits with, and unpacks, six Old Testament texts: five from Moses, in Genesis and Exodus, and one from Malachi. Moreover, Romans 9, like all of Scripture, consists of words breathed forth by the Holy Spirit (II Tim. 3:16), who was sent by the ascended Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of the Triune God.
This authoritative teaching in Romans 9:6-24 refutes two common errors. First, it condemns man’s free will, the Arminian heresy that man is able to choose God and His salvation with the help of an alleged resistible divine grace. The biblical and Reformed faith boldly proclaims God’s free will in both election and reprobation, not man’s free will! Paul explicitly draws this conclusion: “So then it [i.e., salvation] is not of him that willeth [i.e., man and his supposed free will], nor of him that runneth [i.e., man and his works, even his most strenuous religious exertions], but of God that sheweth mercy” (16).
Second, Romans 9 also exposes the well-meant offer of the gospel, that is, the idea that God earnestly desires to save absolutely all men head-for-head or everyone who hears the gospel (including the reprobate). This is a position that is intrinsic to Roman Catholic and Arminian soteriology, but it is now promoted by many in Reformed and Presbyterian circles as if it were the biblical and Reformed gospel.
However, Romans 9 actually states the exact opposite. It is not merely that God does not earnestly want to save the reprobate but, instead, He earnestly wills and desires—and this has to be said reverently because it is a fearful thing—to punish the wicked for their sins.
It is not that God delights in hurting people (Eze. 33:11), but rather that He wills to reveal His own infinite holiness and omnipotence in punishing the impenitent as they justly deserve. This is what the chapter clearly says, “What if God, willing [i.e., wishing, desiring, wanting] to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction …?” (22).
This is the true and sincere desire of God—a desire which He always fulfils!—in accordance with His unchangeable will of decree in reprobation. It is the exact opposite of what is claimed to be scriptural and Reformed teaching and preaching by many in our day.
Finally, it is striking that Romans 9’s theodicy or justification of God in election and reprobation is stated in terms of God’s will concerning salvation, both with regards to whom He wills or wishes or wants or desires to save in Jesus Christ and whom He wills or wishes or wants or desires not to save in Jesus Christ.
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (22-24).
Clearly, the Bible’s own inspired theodicy or justification of God’s decree of election and reprobation in Romans 9 includes the truth that He wills or desires to glorify Himself by the manifestation of His justice and omnipotence in punishing those whom He has eternally ordained to destruction. So how can advocates of the well-meant offer, who claim that He desires to save the reprobate, properly defend the absolute sovereignty of God, truly explain the coherence of biblical theology and faithfully exegete this great chapter?
The Will of the Triune God
So far we have treated two major Scripture passages, Ephesians 1:1-14 and Romans 9:6-24, on God’s will. Now we are going to consider the will of the Triune God in several texts in the New Testament.
The elders in heaven utter this doxology regarding Jehovah’s will: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:11). God created everything to honour Himself and for His pleasure!
Not just the whole vast creation, but even the nature and form of all kinds of tiny plant seeds are determined by the sovereign will of the Almighty: “God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body” (I Cor. 15:38). It is not due to time and chance or millions of years of evolution after a gigantic explosion; it is the will of the Most High that determines the shape and size of the seeds of all the types of vegetation!
In the parable of the vineyard, the Triune God, portrayed as “the lord of the vineyard” (Matt. 20:8), asks, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” (15). Our Father in heaven explains that His unconditional decree of election is determinative in salvation: “for many be called [i.e., externally in the preaching], but few chosen” (16). As the sovereign Lord, He has the right to do whatever He wills or wishes or wants, including in eternal predestination!
What about regeneration, the first element in the application of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ? John 1:13 states that elect sinners are “born [again], not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” No one has been, or ever will be, regenerated by his own will or by the will of another human being, whether it is the will of their minister or parents or neighbours. Instead, the new birth comes solely by the will or desire of the blessed Trinity! James 1:18 teaches the same God-exalting truth: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.”
What is Jehovah’s will regarding the elect children of believers? Our Redeemer teaches us, “it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” (Matt. 18:14). Since God does not wish the destruction of any of His young children, their preservation in this life and everlasting salvation are divinely guaranteed!
Hebrews 6:17 declares that our heavenly Father, “willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability [or unchangeableness] of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” These “two immutable things” are Jehovah’s promise (13) and oath (13-14, 16-17). By nature, the true and faithful God cannot lie. By adding His promise and oath, He shows that He “more abundantly” wills and earnestly desires that His people know that His “counsel,” decree or purpose to bless us is absolutely unchangeable (14)!
I Timothy 2:4
In the history of the New Testament church, over the sixteen centuries from the Pelagian controversy to the present day, I Timothy 2:4 has been the most prominent text urged in support of the false doctrine that Almighty God earnestly wishes or desires to save absolutely all human beings, including the reprobate. Hence it is worth taking more time with this verse than the preceding texts.
I Timothy 2:4 states that Jehovah “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Advocates of the well-meant offer wrongly interpret “all” men here to refer to everybody head for head.
Our first argument against this position involves the link between I Timothy 2:4 and its succeeding context (5-6): “[God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (4-6).
Logically, there are four—and only four—options regarding the interpretation of the word “all” in verses 4 and 6, and the resulting doctrines.
[1] “All” in verses 4 and 6 means absolutely everybody, resulting in the well-meant offer and universal atonement.
[2] “All” in verse 4 means absolutely everybody but “all” in verse 6 refers to (the elect of) all kinds or sorts of people, resulting in the well-meant offer and particular atonement.
[3] “All” in verse 4 speaks of (the elect of) all kinds or sorts of people but “all” in verse 6 means absolutely everybody, resulting in God’s effectual saving desire and universal atonement.
[4] “All” in verses 4 and 6 refers to (the elect of) all kinds or sorts of people, resulting in God’s effectual saving desire and particular atonement.
Theologically, [3] is incoherent, and I know of no one who believes both that God effectually desires to save the elect alone and that He sent His only begotten Son to die for the sins of everyone head for head. [1] is consistent Arminianism: God wants to save everybody and so Christ died to try to save everybody. [4] is consistent Calvinism: God effectually desires to save all His sheep out of every kindred, tribe, tongue and nation, and so Jesus shed His precious blood for all of them. [2] is an amalgam of Arminianism (an ineffectual divine desire to save the reprobate) and Calvinism (particular atonement).
Textually, the position of well-meant offer Calvinists [2], is excluded. I Timothy 2 explains why God “will have all men to be saved” (4): “For there is … one mediator between [the one] God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all” (5-6). If the “all” in verse 4 refers to absolutely everyone, it has the same meaning in verse 6. That is, if the “all” whom God desires to save is every human being head for head (4), then the “all” for whom Christ died is every human being head for head (6). In other words, if I Timothy 2:4 teaches the well-meant offer, then it leads to the heretical doctrine of universal atonement in verse 6! This is something that professed Calvinists should seriously consider, before swiftly drawing back from the Arminian abyss (cf. Canons II)! The fact that the “all” in both verse 4 and verse 6 refers to the same group provides textual support for [4] as the correct interpretation.
Our second argument looks not at the succeeding context but at I Timothy 2:4 itself: God “will have all men [1] to be saved, and [2] to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” The two things that Jehovah is here said to desire are essentially one. In fact, I Timothy 2:4 contains a hendiadys, that is, [1] through [2]. In other words, the Lord wants to save “all men” through their coming to the knowledge of the truth.
By any reasonable analysis, if God really desires everyone to come to the (saving) knowledge of the truth, He is making a very poor job of it. After all, in the history of the world, only a minority of people have ever heard the gospel even once. In Old Testament days, only the Jews received God’s verbal revelation (Ps. 147:19-20; Rom. 3:2). Even in the first 1,500 years of the New Testament era, the gospel was largely confined to the Mediterranean area or northern Europe. Is it really credible that the Most High passionately wants everyone head for head to come to the knowledge of the truth of His crucified and exalted Son, yet He has not even brought the preaching of His Word to most of them?
In our third argument, we move from the succeeding context of I Timothy 2:4 and the text itself to the preceding verses, which exhort us to pray, and express our gratitude to God, for civil rulers:
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth (1-4).
Have you prayed today for a politician or king or anyone in a position of civil authority? You might think, “What’s the point? They are trapped in a politically correct system where it is almost impossible for them to believe in Jesus Christ and live unto Him within that ungodly framework.”
Yet consider Paul’s own day! The Roman Empire in which he lived was the fourth beast of Daniel 7. Under its auspices, the incarnate son of God had been crucified. Paul himself had been imprisoned multiple times by imperial authorities and he would later be martyred by the Roman state in its capital city on the Tiber.
Paul’s point in I Timothy 2 is, Pray for all kinds of men, even kings and magistrates, because God wants to save all sorts of people, even pagan rulers, including those who persecute Christians (1-4). Among them too are those for whom our only mediator “gave himself a ransom” (5-6). The apostle gives another good reason for intercession for civil authorities: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (2).
After this examination of I Timothy 2:4 in its context, the Reformed man or woman responds, first, with a measure of holy relief: “It is good to see clearly that I Timothy 2 does not teach either a failed desire of the Lord of glory to save everybody or the Arminian lie of universal atonement.”2 Second, the apostle’s exhortation regarding intercession and thanksgiving for civil magistrates often forces us to conclude, “I need to pray more for politicians for I have been sorely tempted to neglect this, since it must be so hard for civil rulers to trust in Jesus alone and operate as faithful saints in their environment.”
II Peter 3:9
Besides I Timothy 2:4, II Peter 3:9 is a second New Testament text that is often cited as if it taught a frustrated desire of the Triune God to save everyone head for head. The verse reads, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
But what one usually hears cited is only this bit: “The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The “any” and “all” allegedly refer to absolutely everybody. Thus the well-meant offer claims that God does not wish or desire that a single person perish in hell. It is wrong, however, to take half a verse from the Bible and then run with it into strange theological positions, without even explaining it in its context.
First, what is the situation that II Peter 3 addressing? Some people denied that the Lord would ever return: “Where is the promise of his coming?” (4). By the inspiration of the Spirit, the apostle explains why Jesus has not yet appeared, over against the “scoffers” and their arguments (3-4).
If Peter is teaching that Christ delayed His second coming because God is not willing that any individual human being should perish, as the well-meant offer teaches, the Lord is never going to come back, since everybody will never be saved. It is certain that not everybody has been saved in the past, not everybody is saved now and not everybody shall be saved in the future.
Thus Peter’s argument would reach the same conclusion as the scoffers: Christ is not returning. If He will not come back until He has saved everybody, then we are in for an interminably long wait! Some of the postmillennial Reconstructionists say that the last day might be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of years away. The well-meant offer reading of II Peter 3:9 is even worse: There is no point looking, longing or praying for the Saviour’s second coming since He will never return!
Second, Peter exhorts believers to “account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (15). All of those to whom God is longsuffering (9) will certainly be saved, for “the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation” (15). Peter instructs us that we are to “account” or reckon this as a first principle of the Christian religion!
Third, we should notice the word “usward” in the apostolic affirmation that “God is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish.” Are we to think that God’s longsuffering is particular and always effectual (15) “to usward” (9), that is, His “beloved” elect (1:10; 3:1, 8, 14, 17) in His “beloved Son” (1:17), but that, when the next clause in II Peter 3:9 states that He is “not willing that any should perish,” the word “any” is to be understood universally of each and every human being, most of whom eternally perish? No! God’s eternal love and irresistible longsuffering toward us, the predestinate, carries through the remainder of the verse: “But, beloved … the Lord … is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any [of us] should perish, but that all [of us] should come to repentance” (8-9).3
Christ cannot come back so long as there is even a single elect sheep who has not yet been effectually called, any more than the Almighty could have rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom while righteous Lot remained in that city. The full company of the elect, the whole body of Christ, must be regenerated and only then will the Lord return. All of those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world must be physically conceived and spiritually reborn before He will appear with great majesty to make all things new!
The Will of Christ
Having exegeted both Ephesians 1:1-14 and Romans 9:6-24, and set forth Scripture’s teaching on the saving will of the Triune God, we now turn to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Even in the Old Testament, the Messiah proclaimed that His mission and His joy was to obey Jehovah’s will:
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart (Ps. 40:6-8).
The New Testament quotes and expounds these words, framing Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion as the execution of His Father’s saving will:
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb. 10:5-10).
In three successive chapters in the Gospel According to John, our Saviour makes the same point:
My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work (4:34).
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (5:30).
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me (6:38).
The book of Acts explains that the terrible (yet wonderful) events that happened to Christ, including His arrest, crucifixion and death, were according to God’s sovereign will of good pleasure: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (2:23). The opposition of both the people and the leaders of the Jews and the Gentiles was likewise included in Jehovah’s eternal decree:
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done (4:27-28).
The apostle Paul states the purpose and result of our Saviour’s death as the realization of the will of the Triune God in the deliverance of His church: He “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world [i.e., age], according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1:4). As we have seen earlier, this is the will of God in the election of His church (Matt. 20:15-16; Rom. 9:6-24; Eph. 1:3-14).
Orthodox doctrine is that our Lord Jesus Christ, being both fully God and fully man, had two wills: a divine will and a human will. His sinlessly holy human will was always subservient to His divine will, the will of the Triune God. For proof, we cite the words of Christ Himself on a Sabbath at the temple, in Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee and in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives:
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me (John 5:30).
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me (John 6:38).
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matt. 26:39; cf. Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42).
Christ executes God’s saving will not only in accomplishing our redemption 2,000 years ago but also in applying that redemption to us in accordance with His gracious election, which is accompanied by its necessary and scriptural corollary: unconditional reprobation. Thus we quote Christ’s reflections upon the results of His preaching and miracles:
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him (Matt. 11:25-27; cf. Luke 10:21-22).
Here observe four important points. First, the sovereign God, the “Lord of heaven and earth,” reveals the gospel to some and hides it from others (as the temporal outworking of eternal election and reprobation respectively; Rom. 9:18). Second, all this happens according to God’s eternal good pleasure: “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Third, Jesus expresses gratitude to His heavenly Father for all this, thereby displaying the perfect unity between the will of Jesus and the will of the Triune God: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” Fourth, Christ’s word here is the repudiation of the well-meant offer, an ineffectual divine desire to save the reprobate: “neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will [or wants or wishes to] reveal him.” To all those whom He desires to save, He certainly grants spiritual illumination!
Jesus also speaks of regeneration or the new birth in terms of His saving will: “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will [or wants or desires or wishes]” (John 5:21). Here again Christ explicitly rejects the well-meant offer.
In the upper room on the night He was betrayed, the Lord warned Peter of the danger he and the other disciples faced: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you [plural], that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Then He spoke words of personal comfort and calling to Peter: “I [according to My will or desire] have prayed for thee [singular], that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (32). In our Saviour’s utterance to one man, Peter, we have an example of Christ’s prayer and promise to preserve all His saints (cf. John 17:9, 11, 15; I Cor. 1:8-9; Phil. 1:6; I Pet. 1:5).
The Lord Jesus desires the glorification of His people, as we see in His high priestly prayer: “Father, I will [or want or wish or desire] that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). As with other Scriptures we have cited recently on Christ’s saving will (Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 5:21), here again we see that He wishes or wants or wills or desires to save only and all the elect, those “whom thou hast given me.”
Having considered texts which speak of individual elements in the ordo salutis or order of salvation (specifically regeneration, preservation and glorification), we now turn to a biblical passage that mentions several spiritual blessings in connection with Christ’s saving will:
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:37-40).
Here we read of God’s election of the church in eternity (perfect tense: “all which he hath given me”) resulting in our being given to Jesus in time (present tense: “All that the Father giveth me”). All those given to Christ in eternity and time are granted the following blessings: faith (“come to me”), preservation (“I will in no wise cast out;” “I should lose nothing”), “everlasting life” and the glorious resurrection of the body (“I will raise him up at the last day”).4 All this is the outworking of God’s saving will which is accomplished through Christ’s will (embodied in actions) during His earthly ministry, throughout the church age, at His second coming and forever!
The miracles that Jesus wrought during His public ministry were marvellous works of God that authenticated His Son and His message. Like salvation, they depended solely on Christ’s will. On one occasion in Galilee, the Lord told the Twelve, “I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way” (Matt. 15:32), so He performed a wonder in feeding 4,000 men, besides women and children (33-38). In connection with the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6, Jesus revealed Himself as the Bread of Life and the agent of God’s saving will (37-40).
The wise leper understood and professed that his healing lay solely in the will or desire of Jesus:
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matt. 8:2-3; cf. Mark 1:40-42; Luke 5:12-13).
Repeatedly, we see that Jesus always performs His will or desire, as with His choice of the 12 disciples: “And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him” (Mark 3:13). During Passion Week, His disciples asked, “Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?” (Mark 14:12). The sovereign Lord explained that an upper room was already prepared for them, and He gave details to Peter and John as to how they would be led to it (Mark 14:13-16; Luke 22:8-13). Later that day, Jesus said to them, “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15), and so He saw to it that His wish was fulfilled for His sovereign desire is always realized!5
Sometimes even Christ’s closest disciples, such as Peter, James and John, misunderstood or opposed His will:
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias (Matt. 17:4).
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? (Luke 9:54).
Jesus did not allow such tabernacles to be built or such fire to descend, contrary to the wishes of His disciples. When there is a clash between His holy will or desire and that of even His most intimate friends, His will must always prevail, as even Peter (“Lord … if thou wilt”) and Zebedee’s sons recognized (“Lord, wilt thou …?”).
Matthew 23:37
Just as there are especially two New Testament texts on the saving will of the Triune God that are wrongly cited by many as support for the well-meant offer (I Tim. 2:4; II Pet. 3:9), so there is a verse that is often appealed to as if it taught that Christ desires to save everyone head for head, including the reprobate:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matt. 23:37).
“There you are,” they proclaim, “Jesus wanted to save people but they were not saved. Here we have proof that the Son of God has a universal saving desire that tries but fails to deliver many people. Thus Christ preached the well-meant offer!”
Notice, first, what Jesus did not say. He did not complain that He had willed or desired to gather Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was not willing (and had stopped Him). He did not protest that He had willed or desired to gather Jerusalem’s children, but Jerusalem’s children were not willing (and had stopped Him). Logically, if Christ had willed or desired to save X but X was not willing (and had stopped Him), that would teach that His saving will or desire is not irresistible, but this is not what Matthew 23:37 says.
Second, a key distinction is made in the text and must be observed by its readers. On the one hand, there is Jerusalem, the Jewish religious leaders, the people whom Jesus has been excoriating throughout this chapter, including in His repeated denunciation, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). On the other hand, there are Jerusalem’s children (Gal. 4:26), the elect sons and daughters who belong to the spiritual Zion (Heb. 12:22-24), whom He wills or desires to gather together as His beloved people in the blessed fellowship of the covenant of grace.
The third point follows from the last and concerns Christ’s tone. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus is not pleading like a beggar, beseeching the hypocritical Jerusalem religious establishment to allow Him to save them. Instead, He condemns them, asking rhetorically, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (33), so why would He be trying to save them? Immediately after the controverted text, the Lord pronounces this judgment: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (38)!
A fourth issue concerns the application of Matthew 23:37. It is not a gospel appeal, as in the apologetics and preaching of the well-meant offer. The text is the climactic and heartfelt rebuke by Jesus Christ of the false Jewish religious leaders who, contrary to their office and profession, did not want the Messiah to gather the true children of God. The incarnate Son contrasts His holy saving will regarding His own seed with their unholy desire and efforts to stop Him: “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
By extension, Matthew 23:37 is a searing indictment of all leaders of the false churches in our day who try to stop people from learning the true biblical gospel and coming to Christ for salvation. Its application in the twenty-first century is the same as that of two other fearful utterances from the lips of our Lord:
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in (Matt. 23:13).
Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered (Luke 11:52).
Nicodemus and the man born blind in John 9 would gladly attest, as would converts from Roman Catholicism, liberal Protestantism, the cults, etc., that despite the evil wills and cruel efforts of unbelieving church leaders, the saving will of the Triune God in Christ triumphs in all the elect. The word of Jesus Himself, quoted earlier, explains why:
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me … For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day (John 6:37-39).
The true interpretation of Matthew 23:37, as outlined in the four points above, has impressive historical pedigree, including Augustine (354-430), the doctor of grace, who battled against the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians in the early church:
Our Lord says plainly, however, in the Gospel, when upbraiding the impious city: “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” [Matt. 23:37] as if the will of God had been overcome by the will of men, and when the weakest stood in the way with their want of will, the will of the strongest could not be carried out. And where is that omnipotence which hath done all that it pleased on earth and in heaven, if God willed to gather together the children of Jerusalem, and did not accomplish it? Or rather, Jerusalem was not willing that her children should be gathered together, but even though she was unwilling, He gathered together as many of her children as He wished: for He does not will some things and do them, and will others and do them not; but “He hath done all that He pleased in heaven and in earth” [Ps. 135:6] (The Enchiridion, xcvii).6
The Will of the Holy Spirit
After considering the saving will of the holy Trinity, which is carried into effect by the will and work of our Saviour Jesus Christ, we now come to the Holy Spirit, who is sent forth by God through His Son. The Bible speaks explicitly of the Spirit’s will in connection with the doctrines of Scripture (bibliology), salvation (soteriology) and the church (ecclesiology).
Turning to the first of these subjects, II Peter 1:19-21 asserts,
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation [or origin]. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Here the source of God’s verbal revelation, both oral (21) and written (19, 20), is attributed to the “will” not “of man” but of the Spirit (21). Through the ages, God has used His Word, both spoken and penned, as a means to realize His will in saving (II Tim. 3:15), illumining (Ps. 119:130) and sanctifying (John 17:17) His elect.
The Holy Spirit is not only the blessed personal origin of the Scriptures but also, second, of regeneration, the first element in the application of our salvation. As we have seen earlier, the new birth is ascribed in Holy Writ to the will of God (John 1:13; James 1:18) and the will of Christ (John 5:21). Now we note that the Father’s will is effected through the Son’s will and the Spirit’s will: “The wind bloweth where it listeth [or wants or desires or wishes], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).7 It is worth noting that, in all the Bible, it is especially the Gospel According to John that deals with regeneration in terms of the will—not “the will of man,” but the will of God (1:13), the will of the Spirit (3:8) and the will of Christ (5:21), to cite the texts in the order of their occurrence.
Third, the Bible refers to the Spirit’s will in connection with ecclesiology, and specifically the spiritual “gifts” (I Cor. 12:4), “administrations” (5) and “operations” (6) that are wrought by God (6) through the Lord Jesus (5) and by the Holy Spirit (4), in and for the church (7). After listing various first-century charismata (8-10), the apostle Paul adds, “all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will” (11). The sovereign will of the Spirit in distributing gifts to the members of the church can be paralleled with the sovereign will of God in assigning roles to believers in the church: “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (18). Remember that ecclesiology is God’s saving will regarding His elect corporately, just as soteriology is His saving will regarding His elect individually.
The Will of Man
The object of the saving will of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is the predestinate, who partake of the same total depravity as the rest of our fallen race, as the apostle laments, “among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph. 2:3). With such evil wills, it is no wonder that the ungodly “are taken captive” by the devil “at his will” (II Tim. 2:26).
The scoffers who mock at Christ’s second coming do not want to know the truth of the world’s creation and the global flood:
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men (II Pet. 3:5-7).
The perverse will of fallen man does not desire to believe in Jesus, as He said, “ye will not come to me, that ye might have life” (John 5:40). Given that unregenerate man does not wish or want or will or desire to come to Christ, salvation is not, and cannot be, by man’s will (Rom. 9:16). Since salvation is not only deliverance from sin, Satan and hell, but also deliverance to covenant fellowship with God, so that we love and serve Him, our salvation must include the renewal of our wills.
First, God regenerates each of those whom He has chosen and redeemed, so that we thirst for Jesus Christ and His salvation, such that “whosoever will” takes “the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). Second, the saving will of God, Christ and the Spirit transforms our evil wills, so that we want and desire to please Him, as Paul explains, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).8 Our heavenly Father “infuses new qualities into the will, which, though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree it may bring forth the fruits of good actions” (Canons III/IV:11).
Our Lord Jesus speaks of believers doing or obeying God’s preceptive will (which indicates what He commands, and so what He approves of and delights in, as conformable to His righteousness):
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother (Mark 3:35).
If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself (John 7:17).
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).
Servants, be obedient to … your masters … as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart (Eph. 6:5-6).For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men (I Pet. 2:15).And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (I John 2:17).For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise (Heb. 10:36).Now the God of peace … make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Heb. 13:20-21).
Note the three adjectives that Paul uses to describe the “will of God,” when presenting our calling antithetically in Romans 12:2: “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
I Peter 4 speaks of the holy preceptive “will of God” (v. 2), as opposed to the carnal “lusts of men” (v. 2) and licentious “will of the Gentiles” (v. 3), for we
no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries (I Pet. 4:2-3).
This is our Heidelberg Catechism’s fine exposition of the third petition of the Lord’s prayer:
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven; that is, grant that we and all men may renounce our own will, and without murmuring obey Thy will, which is only good; that so every one may attend to and perform the duties of his station and calling as willingly and faithfully as the angels do in heaven (A. 124).
In other words, being renewed by God’s effectual saving will, we will to, and do, pray that He would strengthen our wills more and more, so that we not will to sin but will to do His will.
Since the following two verses from I Thessalonians speak of God’s will for His elect, ransomed and adopted children, whom He will “save … to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25), they not only express His moral approbation of our gratitude and holiness, respectively, but also His omnipotent desire and irresistible grace to effect them in us in this life (progressively) and the next (perfectly):
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (5:18).
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification (4:3).
Scripture presents the painful struggle between the flesh and the spirit or between the old man and the new man in terms of the believer’s will in Galatians 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
A longer passage on the interior battle involving our wills is found in Romans 7:14-25:
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
The saving will of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit not only renews our wills, so that we desire to obey God’s preceptive will and actually perform good (though imperfect) works, but God’s saving will is also personalized for each and every believer in that it includes the length of his or her life, all his or her journeys and all his or her deeds:
… ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that (James 4:15).
[Paul] 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 (Acts 18:21).
I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will (I Cor. 4:19).
The Bible specifically states that the sufferings of Christ’s faithful saints in their bodies and souls are included in God’s all-comprehensive will concerning us: “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing” (I Pet. 3:17; cf. 4:19).9
The truth of Jehovah’s saving will is to be fully proclaimed by faithful preachers who imitate Paul, who confessed, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). What about the manner in which a pastor is to bring God’s truth, including to those who resist it? He is to be gracious in communicating God’s will to sinners, knowing that their will is enslaved to Satan’s will:
… the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (II Tim. 2:24-26).
All the desires and intentions of the sovereign God are always realized in time (Ps. 115:3; 135:6), including His gracious will to have mercy, which flows from His eternal election, and His righteous will to punish, which issues from His unconditional reprobation (Eph. 1:1-14; Rom. 9:6-24). Preachers (and all Christians), unlike God, are not simple, unchangeable, omniscient and omnipotent, but are weak creatures of time. Thus it is right and proper for us, like the apostle Paul, to desire, pray for and seek the salvation of our neighbours, submitting always to God’s sovereign saving will:
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh (Rom. 9:1-3).
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved (Rom. 10:1; cf. Acts 26:29).
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