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The Will of God: What Is It?


What is the meaning of God’s will? What do we have to do in order to do God’s will? How can we know God’s will?

There are two expressions of God’s ultimate will in the Scriptures. The first is our salvation: "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

The second is our sanctification: "It is God’s will that you should be sanctified" (1 Thessalonians 4:3a).

Both of these were accomplished by Jesus Christ: "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

The will of God for us is our salvation, which includes our justification (conversion), holiness (sanctification), and the redemption of our bodies at the Second Coming. Since we have already experienced justification, our concern now is our holiness (sanctification). Remember, it is already provided for:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness" (2 Peter 1:3).

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:22-24).

Knowing the details of God’s will for the decisions we need to make in our lives is not difficult if we are walking in the light. If we are not walking in it, the will of God could be written on the wall and we would not be able to read it.

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