Introduction:

When a person passes away they may leave a legal document expressing their wishes concerning the property they left behind, which is called The last Will and Testament. The instructions are a persons last “Will” or desire being put into effect. Every day we put our will into the things that we do. God gave each person the ability to think and to act upon our will. We act on what we will and what we act upon is our will, Although our actions do affect others, our will is simple compared to God’s and does not hold the same degree of authority, power, and dimension that God’s will does. God does what he pleases without consent from anyone or anything. 

 Isaiah 46:10: “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” 

In other words Gods will is not shaped by any outside influence or force, however a believer's long life goal is to align and shape our will, with the will of God. 

To quote from the book Everyones a Theologian  “Those who earnestly want to live in obedience to Him desire to know what God wants them to do. "  which matches up with what Jesus said 

John 14:15

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

The different aspects of Gods will. 

Theres the The Decretive will of God

 and the Preceptive will of God

• Gods Decretive will is that which he has decreed which must take place. 

•  The Preceptive will of God is Gods revealed will through his precepts, his commandments and principles. 

**There are also some sub categories which will be mentioned as we go

The Decretive will of God

God’s Decretive will is also known as his sovereign and hidden will.  

Also known as the determinate forecounsel of God, and absolute will of God. 

It is called the Sovereign or Decretive will, because God decrees sovereignly that certain things happen, and hidden because it is not revealed to us until it takes place. God governs in the counsel of His own will and needs no advice or help in it. God's sovereignly brings to pass whatever he wills. When God decrees sovereignly that something should come to pass, it must indeed come to pass. For example the crucifixion: when God decreed that Christ should die on the cross in Jerusalem at a set time in history it had to happen at that place and time. it came to pass through the determinate forecounsel or decretive will of God, it had to happen, it was absolute. Another example of the decretive will of God, is when you were born again, the day that God rescued you was decreed by God that it would take place, it also had to happen at that time and place. 

Ephesians 1:11 

 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will

https://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html

When Ephesians 1:11 describes God as the one “who works all things according to the counsel of His will,” it speaks of God’s sovereign or decretive will. Isaiah 46:10: “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Because God is sovereign, His will can never be frustrated.

The sovereign or decretive will of God can be subcategorized into 

His efficacious or effectual will: meaning Some of His decrees directly contribute to the fulfillment of God’s desire

and His permissive will: meaning His decrees are permissive ( they allow for an indirect fulfillment of God’s desire).. 

We must do this because God does not directly “cause” everything to happen, God commits no evil. but because God is sovereign, He must at least “permit” all events and happenings. Within God’s sovereign will, He chooses to permit many things to happen that He takes no pleasure in. For example the destruction of the wicked, Jobs test, and the enslaving of Joseph. All of which have a have a purpose in Gods hidden plan which God promises to work out for good. 

An example I can think of is whenever we took the kids to get shots. We hid from them reason that we were taking them to the doctors, and we didnt delight in their pain but we knew it was for their good. In those cases our will for them was hidden but it was for their good. Now when they caught on to the fact that we wouldnt tell them, it kind of backfired, they thought everytime they went to the doctors they were getting shots. They could look back and see what our plan was. In the same way we only see Gods hidden will after the fact. All things that come to pass fall under the Decretive will of God. The hidden will of God becomes the revealed will of God when we see it take place. Knowing the end from the beginning is Gods buisness not ours. But once we know they are for us and for our children. 

English Standard Version

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

A little off topic: Incorporated in God's decretive will is His working hand through the prayer of His people.

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God decreed he would work through the prayer of the saints. An instrument God decrees to work through is the prayer of his people. The Bible says that he knows what we are going to ask before we ask it.  It's not that God only reads our minds, He knows what were going to ask even before we know were gonna need to ask for them and already has a response. The answers to prayer are the sovereign, decretive, hidden will of God now revealed.   

The Preceptive will of God

Aka: Gods revealed will

The preceptive will of God: refers to God's laws his precepts and his commandments.

A Precept: is a commandment, instruction, or order intended as an authoritative rule of action

“God’s revealed or preceptive will is not hidden from us like Gods decretive will. 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

 “Unlike God's decretive will, we not only can resist it, but we resist it all of the time. for example the first commandment “you shall not have any gods before me.” is part of the preceptive will of God. When asking about God's will we should ask ourselves do we want to know God's hidden and decretive will or the preceptive will of God. We cannot read God's mind to know his hidden will but we can read God's words. God's word gives us his revealed will.” Everyone's a Theologian by RC Sproul. 

The preceptive will of God is what God wants us to do (or not do). For example, we know that it is God’s will that we speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), repent, and turn to God (Acts 3:19). It is God’s revealed will that we not commit adultery (1 Corinthians 6:18) or get drunk (Ephesians 5:18). God’s revealed will is constantly “making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Gods-will.html) Gotquestions.org

 John Calvin said "When God closes His holy mouth let us also stop the way, that we may not go further. " RC said the hidden will of God is none of our business."

 If it were he would reveal it. God has a secret plan for our lives in which everything works out for our good and glorifies him. And the future details which are hidden will be revealed in time. In the meantime our duty is to trust our God, that he is like Psalms 23 says our "Good Shepherd", and to listen to our Shepherd's voice.

Living Gods Will:

What does the Bible say about God's leading? It says that if we acknowledge God in all our ways, he will direct our paths Proverbs 3 5-6 the scriptures are God's will written to us his heart made known to us, profitable for all areas in life.

- if you want to know the will of God for your life the Bible tells you

 “this is the will of God your sanctification” 1Thessalonians 4:3

 so when people wonder what the will of God is for their life they should study closely the preceptive will of God, they should study the law of God to learn the principles by which they are to live their lives from day to day

Think over what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 

2 Timothy 2:7 

were to meditate on Gods word!

Like Psalm 1 says  blessed is the man who walks not in the Council of the wicked.. but his Delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night

A person focused on the preceptive will of God, the principles he has set for us, will be shaped and blessed like the man in Psalm 1. They are like a tree anchored by streams of water that yield good fruit in season and whose leaves dont shrivel up.  

They dont conform to the will of the world and become dry and empty, blown away by the wind. Obeying the will of God brings fruitful gain and blessing,  while walking in ungodly counsel brings trouble and ultimately death. 

“Neither can we claim that our sin simply fulfills God’s sovereign will, as if that absolves us from guilt. It was God’s will that Jesus suffer and die, but those responsible for His death were still held accountable (Mark 14:21).” Gotquestions.org 

What shall we say then, should we continue sinning that Gods grace may abound? 

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

If we want to know what choices to make in life that align with Gods will

for example 

which job to take,

 who to marry,

 where to move, 

how to respond to people

You have to master the principles in God's word. As you do, you will discover that it is Gods will that you make a sober analysis of your gifts and talents. And that requires a lot more work than using a Ouija board. It means applying the law of God to all the various things in life. “

“If you want to know the will of God in terms of what he authorizes, what God is pleased with, and what God will bless you for, the answer is found in His preceptive will, the law,” Everyones a Theologian by RC Sproul. 

What do we say if someone says this is the Lords will for you?

Hold it up to the lamp, if it matches Go let it be a lamp to light your way. On another hand there's no new word someone can give you that tops what God has said. 

Summary:

The will of God involves these aspects:

 1) God’s sovereign will is revealed in His unchangeable decrees. He decreed that there be light, and there was light (Genesis 1:3)—an example of His efficacious decree. He allowed Satan to torment Job (Job 1:12)—an example of His permissive decree. 

2) God’s revealed will is contained in His precepts, given to us in order that we may walk in holiness. We have the ability (but not the right) to break these commands.  Gotquestions.org

Does that mean that God is a micromanager, 

who does not want us to make any choices for ourselves? No, God wants us to make choices based on his preceptive will. Choices that he gives the guidance, and commands for us to see and experience his goodness. What does it mean to experience God’s goodness? It means to witness the outcomes of His good works and good character displayed in our lives. In this case through the obedience of his preceptive will. If we view this attribute of God as something negative, that may be a sign that you are not saved. “Those who are earnest in their Christian faith and want to live in obedience to Him desire to know what God wants them to do.” RC (pg71)

These are Signs of a micromanager from Teambuilding.com and we will compare flawed humans with a God complex with The perfect God. and we will see that the negative attributes that we assign to people are not negative when assigned to God. 

 Signs of a micromanager

1.  They do not delegate, (God does delegate and he won't where he cant, only God has the power to do certain things. He sends his church out to do works]

People who typically move that way want things done in a certain way this is not always a negative and with God it certainly isnt, God has and order

2.  Overcommunication: Communication is a good thing, micromanagers give details about every little step and how they want things done. God, unlike people, works to perfection. If you think about the human body it is literally a code and if not expressed in detail we would literally not exist. All the universe is upheld by the word of his power by his will. God also communicates with the lowly in as much detail as we can handle. 

3. They Hover: they are always around, everytime you look up they happen to be nearby. We desire for him to be close to us. (the High Priestly Prayer) (He would send a helper) it should be our desire to be with God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

4. Calls constant meetings: If you call constant meetings you cant finish tasks. As we work we can have constant check in with God. Because his ear is attentive and cant be divided we have his constant attention. Were also called to separate time to meet with God. Meetings with God are always productive, not always the same case with people. 

5. Asks you to account for every minute of the workday: With virtual work now there's been an increase in accountability when it comes to work time, there are calendars and schedules that can be seen by our employers and software that can tell employers how much time was spent at your computer. Although this is new technology God has always been able to see where we spend our time. God does require us to give an account for how we spent our time. (on the day which God judges our works?)

Redeem the time? Worship is how we spend our time. The rewards for our time will be much greater with God than a paycheck.

6. Demands continual hustle: Negative leaders never allow rest and continually demands top tier performance. God incorporates rest into our life by giving us a command to rest. And to find rest for our souls in him and to work when its time to work. He also commands that we not be lazy and  idle.( Garden of gethsemane pray w/ Jesus

7. Wants to sign off on every step: He is sovereign and we should desire to have him as our leader to bless our lives every step of the way. 

8. Positions self as the sole point of contact. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man and we should be grateful that he is in the details, for we would be lost without Him. 

Discussion Questions:

- Discussion question: how do God's different aspects of His will affect our lives?

Sort out these examples of God's 

Decretive/Hidden Will vs Perceptive(Gods Precepts)/Revealed Will

Creation of the world

The NT letters to the churches

The exodus of Israel from Egypt

The Sacrifice of Jesus

The Guidance and submission to the Holy Spirit

Where we live and when

The salvation of the saints

The Return of Christ

The 10 commandments

Proverbs

The anointing of David as king

Submission to Jesus words

Definitions:

efficacious

adjective

ef·​fi·​ca·​cious ˌe-fə-ˈkā-shəs 

Synonyms of efficacious

: having the power to produce a desired effect

https://www.gotquestions.org/Gods-will.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/prayer-conditions.html