The Will of God

Is the will of God something we have naturally obtained? When I look at the will of God concerning humans, my thoughts turn to duties that God assigns as a specific task for us to fulfill. One thing that is always in the picture of the will of God, is that He receives the glory and honor in everything we do. Is it not true that when our ability is admired, we receive the glory? Where the Bible speaks about the will of God, it never mentions anything that can be accomplished with much practice or great mental ability on our part. Certainly, we all must work to be able to feed ourselves, as the Bible indicates. So, is the will of God in what we do for a living or our common practices in fulfilling obligations? What is the will of God? If the will of God is not included in our work, then the vast majority of Christians would be outside of the will of God.

In the prior writing, I spoke of the three specific forms of God’s will. His good, acceptable, and perfect will. I wrote about the requirements for finding God’s will for our life. Once our own way is surrendered to Christ, His way becomes a visible picture to follow. There are so many people who try to surrender things, but fail to surrender their own way. This writing is a preface to a deeper teaching in the following writings concerning our body, soul, and spirit.

I understand that man is made of three specific functions. The body, soul, and spirit are the triune manifest of the human being. The body is the earthen vessel which was made from the dust of the ground. The soul was the result of the breath of God when He created Adam. The spirit is the divine central heart of the being, and is the very place indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

First, I want to look at the function of the body. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our body contains all three relative functions designed by God, enabling us to do His will. Within this body, we are entirely capable of doing the will of God. When a man becomes born-again, he is brand-new and needs to function in a completely new way. Here is where the word, obedience enters the picture. Obedience is always to one thing; it is continually to the will of God. Knowing the will of God is of utmost importance so that we can fulfill that which we have been created for. We have been created in His image and His likeness. I believe the ‘good will’ includes what the body or human being does. The body does works primarily with hands and feet, and accomplishes things great and small. The body carries the soul and spirit, and transports these functions to where they need to be. The body is needed to function in the good will of God and it is within our body that the soul and spirit can function.

The soul is where our mind, will, and emotion are contained. This is the means of decision for the function of our being. I want to use a simple form of explanation—if our mind says go, and our will says go, and our emotions say go, guess what happens? We go! Our mind decided the direction of our feet. Our will decided to follow through and step forward. The emotions told us how fast to step. This is a simple way of understanding our functions. Our soul must be in subjection to a higher power or else it will fail in every way. Our soul needs to understand the acceptable will of God in the way it adapts its behavior to the purpose it serves.

Our spirit is the antenna that receives hearing by way of inspiration, enlightenment, and revelation. If our spirit is tainted with our self-life, we can easily hear wrong through our imagination and be deceived like Eve. Our spirit is the deeper compartment of our being. This part of our life needs a deeper transformation, otherwise the Holy Spirit will not function there. It must remain in a constant state of transformation by way of daily death, and resurrection. It is in this compartment that the perfect will of God is revealed.

The spirit of man yields upwards in spiritual quest to know God and His ways. Ecclesiastes 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? The transformed spirit of man is spiritually-minded, and the carnal man is earthly-minded. It is within the spirit of man that the Holy Spirit dwells and empowers the whole being to do the perfect will of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. V.10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The Body is for the Lord

The righteousness of God appears to be the underlying foundation upon which all things exist which are subordinate to God’s plan, and the pattern of His eternal supremacy. Our body is a pre-existent design created to function as a constituent of the Creator’s righteousness in the heavenly family extended on Earth. We as man were created to rule over His estate, through His delegations of authority and with simple obedience to what has been designed and written. God implemented His plan through the human race, placing them in the garden Eden. He gave them global dominion over all things on Earth, giving them only one ‘thou shall not’. Humans were designed as representatives, to carry a valuable presence upon their bodily image with the likeness of the supreme Creator. God’s image and likeness carried uncontaminated traces of His eternal strength and supreme power on the earth.

As children of God, we need to have an understanding of what God’s righteousness is, and come into unadulterated surrender to it. This was all forfeited and lost in a spiritual sense in the Garden of Eden. Righteousness is the foundation and forum of continuity that draws from the existence of God’s holiness and influence, bringing us back into perfect fellowship with Him. This plan of endorsement was instituted as a legal acceptance agreement which originated from the eternal and foundational oracles of God; not tainted in any way by human effort. This plan was eternal and original with God and remains in perfect condition, never having changed. God never changed His righteousness. Even His requirements are same. The only way to God’s righteousness is to remain in full, uncontaminated relationship with Him. How is this done? The requirements for righteousness stand eternal as an unending constitutional vendetta against disobedience in any form—whether on earth, or in heaven. God’s eternal plan for His kingdom power, is holiness in righteousness; the plan was perfect. His righteousness never failed, nor was it ever diminished.

Abram was the first man after the fall to be accredited as righteous before God. God’s acceptance was complete and assured based on one thing—he believed God. Genesis 15:6 And Abram believed in the Lord; and he accounted it to him for righteousness. How is it that faith is so powerful, it actually reconciles with the eternal God? It is the only acceptable God-approved way to bring us back under His divine authority. This is why it is impossible to please Him any other way. Abram did not believe in God in the way which we in our modern day hear about believing. He did not believe things about God, he believed God. He moved by faith in that which he was told to do, and that which was told to him was by faith.

There is only one source of acceptable righteousness with God in our day; it is through the Son of Righteousness. Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; V.22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference. It’s all in Jesus because He paid God’s acceptable price for our sin, to restore God’s righteousness to fallen mankind. This avenue is called grace by God’s gift of kindness. This grace allows God to accept faith which does not even come from us, but has made an appeal to us as a means of redemption. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Emphasis added).

There are people who say they believe this truth, but only know it in their mind and their life remains filled with sin and filth. If the truth does not set us free, it is not truth. It is within our body that all of this is contained. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. There are many temples which are filled with other things, where the Holy Spirit is a stranger at the door. It is our duty to welcome the Holy Spirit into our temple and give Him full access to use the vessel as He desires, without argument. 1 Corinthians 6:19 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? V.20 For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. We do not belong to ourselves anymore. If we belong to ourselves, then we do not belong to God. We were purchased when Christ hung on the cross. 1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. The Holy Spirit will only dwell in a holy place. So, what is our purpose on earth? We are the temple of the Holy Spirit—here to bring glory to God by His authority alone in Christ. Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Hallelujah!

Finding the Will of God

Today I will write about two key verses that have brought clear direction to me throughout much of my Christian experience. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. V.2 And 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.

In my young Christian life, I used to have the constant question – ‘how can I know the will of God for my life?’. I would also hear this question among many of my fellow youth during question-and-answer periods among our group. In those years, my future looked like a blur with no clear definition. I also never heard any minister of the gospel give a clear answer to my question. It was not until I set out to seek God for a revolutionizing change in my life, that I found these life-changing verses. When I followed the direction of this verse, immediately I found God’s will for my life. I have relived this verse many times throughout the ministry that God has placed upon me, to assure me, to hold me, to recommit the vision for my life.

Life, at times, becomes very complicated and extremely difficult to endure concerning God’s will and how we relate to it. We are challenged on every side to lay down what has been placed in our heart. If the enemy can cancel our submission to the will of God, then we will walk in our own will!

How do I find God’s will for my life? The clear key is to present our body as a sacrifice before God. We die to our own ideas, hang-ups, desires, and all private reservations as we lay them completely and unreservedly before the Lord without any hesitation. This is one complete package of surrender; it is all given up here. All fear and doubt and personal initiative is brought before God with one thing in mind—we will lay it down, and leave it there. All becomes silenced and final. This we do before the Lord as a lamb to the slaughter. This entire surrender to God is not unreasonable in any way, but is simply what God desires before He can lead us further. Let’s take a moment and do this today before the Lord.

What just transpired is called holy and acceptable to God, and He calls it “reasonable service”. Now our personal conformity to the world has lost its grip on our soul. It has shed itself from us, and has no more control over us in this position. Conformity to the world has all to do with our mind, and our thinking. We used to want approval from the world; now we desire approval from God alone. When we present our body as a living sacrifice before God in a spiritual sense, we become holy and acceptable before God in a moment.

The next thing we notice is that there has been a renovation of the mind. We are transformed by the renewed mind. The mind does not bear the old things nor the despicable struggles that enticed us at one time. Old arguments linger no longer, they have left us, and we are not controlled by those thoughts anymore. They lay dead at the feet of Jesus. When things are surrendered, they lose their power in a moment. It is alone in this state of surrender that our mind is renewed in a notable way. Now the will of God for our life becomes clear before us. Now, being transformed by the renewing of our mind, we may prove the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We can now understand the will of God because we have the mind of Christ.
There are three distinctive forms of God’s will:
1. His good will.
2. His acceptable will.
3. His perfect will.
God leads us in these as He sees us in three consecutive depths of surrender. The more spiritually mature we become in Christ, the deeper our purpose within His will is revealed. The deeper the perfection that the Holy Spirit’s refining brings, the more perfect His will becomes for us to fulfill. There is clearly a good, acceptable and perfect will of God.

When your deep surrender to God becomes a genuine reality, there arises a spiritual passion that is formed within to do a specific task known as the will of God. This task is one that rests in your heart as a burden and does not go away. This task is what God will lead you into only as you live a surrendered life. This alone is how we know and do the will of God. It is never complicated, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Hallelujah!

1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.