This is in response to a blog by the Christian Conservative, Michael Gallaugher. Let me first say that he is a dear brother in Christ and this is in no way bashing him. However, I have some problems with a few things he said yesterday and would like to hash them out. Much of his post, apparently, is based on Bruce Waltke's Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion?.
I have Waltke's book but haven't gotten to it yet. If you haven't read Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen, you must. It will rock your world. Since I haven't read Waltke I can't critique him, though I want to respond to some of what Michael said.
He said, "These are the mediums Bruce Waltke identifies as the ways in which we can know God’s will." What exactly do you mean by God's will? I think we can separate God's commands into 2 categories from the Bible- God's sovereign will and God's moral will. His sovereign will being those things that God decrees or allows. God is sovereign, meaning He has ultimate control over everything. This is, of course, affirmed throughout Scripture. There are two ways, typically, that w can find out God's sovereign will. One is retrospective. I'll know God's sovereign will for today tomorrow. The other is through His Word in which He has reveal specific things. Things like thejudgmentt of the world, the fate of those who deny Christ, etc.
The other category is God's moral will. This contains God's desires for how we ought to live. This also is revealed in Scripture. God's guidance for us universal. We are all under God's moral will and there's no question about it. Every moral principal that we are to live by has already been revealed to us.
There is no third category. There is no individual will of God that I can tap into to find out who I should marry or where to eat lunch today. God has sovereign desires and moral desires, but His will is not some elusive puzzle that we have to piece together to get right. When God did have specific decrees for individuals in the Bible He made it clear. Thesedecreess were ALWAYS supernaturally given and there was no mistake about what God wanted. Some disobeyed God, but no one was confused about what they were supposed to.
One other thing that Michael said, "Look for God's providence." What is meant by providence? Most people take it to mean circumstances, open and closed doors, etc. The Bible seems clear that God does not reveal His will in these ways for the basis of making decisions. If God wants you to do something He'll let you know in a supernatural way and there will be no question as to what He wants.
Michael refers to the story of Zedekiah, which I think is a good illustration of the problem today. We are often too dependent on this notion that God's going to reveal something personal and specific for us right now that we miss out on what He has already revealed. Zedekiah did the same. All he needed to do was follow what the Lord has already decreed. Many people today miss out on God's blessings because they wont follow what God has already revealed about His wills. Everything we need to make good and Godly decisions has already been made known to us. We simply need to follow it.
Another resource that everyone should get is a lecture by Greg Koukl- Decision Making and the Will of God. If what I've said has troubled you, that lecture and Friesen's book will rock your world.