Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 9
May 30, 1957
NUMBER 5, PAGE 8-9b

The Proper Attitude Toward The Will Of God

Robert H. Farish, Lexington, Kentucky

Certain subjective conditions are essential to understanding the will of God. These conditions are necessary to knowledge of God's will whether His will be expressed through command, approved example or necessary inference. In order to understanding, neither learning nor anything else will serve as a substitute for the proper mind or attitude toward the will of God. It is imperative that we learn the proper attitude and cultivate it. This attitude can be cultivated and maintained or God would not have made our understanding of His will dependent upon it. The right attitude is a human responsibility and is in the reach of all responsible beings. The condition of our heart is a personal responsibility.

God requires us to understand His will. "Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5:17.) None of the excuses so frequently offered for not understanding the will of God is valid; nothing can justify the failure to understand. The only alternative to understanding is foolishness. One either understands what the will of the Lord is or he is foolish.

The will of God was not revealed to the "greatest minds" of the ages; it was not expressed on such a level as to be in the reach of only the wise and understanding, but was designed for the understanding of "babes." In proof of this is the language of Christ, "I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding and didst reveal them unto babes: Yea Father, for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight." (Matt. 11:25, 26.) The majority of the earth's population must be classified as "babes." The arrangement of divine wisdom is that "the world through its wisdom knew not God." The "babes" are not dependent upon the wise, mighty and noble of this world for their understanding of the will of God. The revelation of the will of God is within the reach of the "babes."

How would such a one (a "babe") view the examples of the scriptures? Let us imagine what would be the result if such a one approached the scriptures with his mind undisturbed with the doubt and indecision which the worldly wise have created by their appeals to logic and human experiences for knowledge of the will of God. When the "babe" had read what the Bible said in Acts 20:7, what idea would he have as to the time and frequency of observing the Lord's supper? The earnest seeker after truth can make the same application with reference to other examples. The "babe" will have no difficulty with the accounts of incidental acts but will readily recognize them as incidental. Would the ingenious sophistries which have sprung up in the fertile soil of the worldly, proud-minded ever occur to a "baby"?

Our entering the kingdom of heaven is conditioned upon doing the will of God. Christ said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21.) The apostle John writes that "he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." (I John 2:17.) Here again the importance of doing the will of God is emphasized. Abiding forever is assured to the one who "doeth the will of God." The fact that eternal life in heaven is dependent upon doing the will of God is enough to arouse the greatest interest in doing the will of God.

Understanding is a necessary precedent to doing the will of God, for according to Matthew 13:15, one must understand with his heart before he can turn. Our Lord explained that the wayside soil of the parable of the sower represented the one that "heareth the Word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not." (Matt. 13:19.) From Matthew 13:15 we see that seeing and hearing cannot produce understanding in the gross heart. The heart that is waxed gross will close the eyes and stop the ears to all the requirements of revelation which clash with the wishes of that type of heart. The divine order is: see with the eyes, hear with the ears, understand with the heart and turn. In every case, turning is preceded by understanding with the heart.

These considerations emphasize the importance of the condition of our heart. Without the proper attitude we cannot understand the will of God; without understanding, we cannot do the will of God; without doing the will of God, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

These considerations emphasize the importance of the conditions of our heart. Without the proper attitude we cannot understand the will of God; without understanding, we cannot do the will of God; without doing the will of God, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Peter writes, "Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind . . . . that ye no longer should live with the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." (I Peter 4:1,2.) The reason assigned here for arming ourselves with the "same mind" that Christ had is that we should live the rest of our time to the will of God. Here we see that the attitude which Christ had is a necessary precedent to doing the will of God. It must be cultivated and maintained.

Determination to do the will of God is a condition of heart which precedes knowing that the teaching is of Divine origin. Christ said, "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself." (John 7:17.) This singleness of purpose characterized the mind of Christ. He said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work" (John 4:34) and again he said, "My judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (John 5:30.) He stated further that he came "down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." The determination to do the will of God, irrespective of his own personal wishes or will in the matter, expressed here by Christ, is the attitude which we must cultivate and maintain if we are to understand the will of God. We need to realize that Christ himself could wish to provide salvation for man in some way other than by drinking the bitter cup of Calvary, but that his determination to do the will of God always had precedence. His attitude is seen in his words, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done."

Love of the truth is another subjective condition necessary to understanding of the will of God. "And with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (II Thess. 2:10-12.) In this is seen the vital importance of one's attitude toward the truth. Here also is the explanation of the unthinkable extremes to which men will go when they come to love their plans and schemes more than they love the truth. We need not be surprised at the length to which such men will go, for God has revealed that the obstinate pursuit of error will result in that one receiving a "working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged."

An objective attitude is essential equipment for one who would understand the will of God. "Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the scriptures daily, whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11.) These noble ones were neither prejudiced ("they received the word with all readiness of mind") nor were they gullible (they examined "the scriptures daily whether these things were so").

Success will crown the efforts at understanding the will of God only when we study the Bible with the right attitude of mind and the proper objective in mind. Failure in this area is perhaps the greatest contributor to the misunderstanding which is so widespread, not only among people of the world but even in those who consider themselves children of God. With the right attitude and proper objective, we can understand, not only that the scriptures teach the will of God by examples but we can also understand when those examples are binding and when they are only incidentals.