39
True Wisdom (2):
Making Right Decisions
Eph.
5:17b
. . . but
understanding what the will of the Lord is.
In our last study we
examined what wisdom is (v. 15c) and then considered
three things that wisdom involves. There is one other
principle that wisdom involves, which deserves its own
separate treatment.
Understand the Will of God (v.
17a)
but
understanding what the will of the Lord
is.
As mentioned in our
last study, the only way to avoid being foolish is to
[understand]
what the will of the Lord is. The fool tries
to run his own life and tries to do things his own way,
but the wise person desires to know God’s will in each and every given circumstance.
In this part of our
study, we will examine how to make the right decisions,
how to know God’s will. I pray this will be a blessing
to all Christians in making decisions, but especially to
young people as they are early trained to make the right
choices in life.
Understanding translates
suniemi, another
fascinating word that was in use as far back in
Classical Greek as Homer’s day (8th
Century BC). It
“originally meant to bring
together.”[i] Spiros Zodhiates
again explains:
The
comprehending activity of the mind denoted by suniemi
entails the assembling of individual facts into an
organized whole, as collecting the pieces of a puzzle
and putting them together. The mind grasps concepts and
sees the proper relationship between
them.[ii]
A graphic occurrence
of this word is in Matthew 13:13-15, where the Lord
Jesus says:
Therefore speak I to them in
parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias [Is. 6:9-10], which saith, By hearing
ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and
seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this
people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any
time they should see with their eyes and hear with their
ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them. (emphasis
added)
Our Lord
uses suniemi
(“understand”) three times to emphasize why He began to
speak only in parables. Those who rejected Him and did
not want the Truth would not be able to “put the pieces
together” from the stories He told. They would not be
able to comprehend the fuller meaning he was trying to
get across. He was actually presenting deep truths that
demanded deep thinking, but the majority just wouldn’t
get it.
How true that is
today! If our Lord were here today, you would
undoubtedly speak in parables! We hear much about
“loving God” and “loving Jesus,” but much of such talk
is nebulous at best and empty at worst. Many people who
say such things, including pastors, abhor
doctrine and deep Bible preaching and teaching. But
Scripture makes clear that only those who love
the Word of God truly love the Lord. Tragically, many books today are written about
“loving God” and having a “relationship with Jesus” but
never exposit Scripture. They speak of mysticism,
feelings, and impressions but never speak of doctrine
and Scripture Truth. Scripture, however, could not be
clearer that love for God means love for His
Word.
The Apostle John,
for example, declares early in his first Epistle that
“whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of
God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (I Jn.
2:5). Again he emphasizes near the end of the same
letter, “By this we know that we love the children of
God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For
this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:
and his commandments are not grievous” (5:2). There is
no mysticism here, no new revelation that God gives the
seeker, rather God’s revealed
Truth.
David is another
example. As mentioned back in 3:17, of its 176 verses,
all but two in Psalm 119 mention the Word of God using
one of eight synonyms. David mentions four out of the
eight when writing of his love for Scripture: “O how
love I thy law!” (v. 97); “I love thy
testimonies” (v. 119); “I love thy
commandments above gold” (v. 127); and “I love
thy precepts” (v. 159) (emphasis added). Why are
Christians today shallow? Why is church ministry geared
toward entertainment? Because people don’t love
Scripture. Scripture alone is not enough to get
people
and/or keep them coming back. Church leaders,
therefore, try everything else under the sun and call it
“loving God.” Mark it down, however: if we don’t love
God’s Word, we don’t love God.
Specifically, Paul
adds that we understand what the will of the
Lord is. When we speak of
“the will of God,” we must realize that there are two
aspects of God’s will.
First, there is
God’s “Sovereign Will” which is His predetermined plan
and purpose. This has also been called God’s “Decretive
Will” or His “Hidden Will.”[iii] This is
what has determined will come to pass. We meditated on
God’s sovereignty back in our study of 3:1, where Paul
acknowledged God’s sovereign rule in his life
even in the face of being “the prisoner of Jesus
Christ.” As we
noted there, so central is sovereignty to an
understanding of God, that it is more than just an
“attribute” of God. It is the prerogative that arises
out of His very nature and that permits Him to do as He
wills. To say that God is sovereign is to say that God
is God.
Second, there is
God’s “Moral Will,” which involves what He has spoken in
His Word and what is therefore absolute. This is also
called His “Perceptive Will” or His “Revealed
Will.”[iv] It is that
aspect of God’s will that
is in view in our text because God’s will
is already revealed in His Word. Will is
thelema,
which as we studied way back in 1:11, denotes a
desire that springs from the emotions. God’s will is not a cold calculation, but rather a heart’s
desire. Where do we find God’s heart’s desire? It
doesn’t come from some “mystical experience,” rather it
comes from the knowledge of His Word.
Both of these
aspects of God’s Will are referred to in a most
important verse of Scripture, Deuteronomy 29:29: “The
secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our
children for ever, that we may do all the words of this
law.” The Hebrew behind “secret” is
satar, which means to “hide
or conceal” and “has the sense of preventing someone to
know or see something.”[v] This verse,
therefore, makes it clear that God has a will that He
alone knows, that He keeps to himself and hides from
everyone else. It is neither our concern nor even
business to know what God is doing in this aspect of His
will.
The other aspect,
however—“those things which are revealed”—are most
certainly our business. These are the things of God’s
will that He gives in His Word and demands that we obey.
Part of this verse’s importance lies in where it
appears. The title “Deuteronomy” can be traced back to
the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament), where the title is
Deuteronomion, which literally means “second
law.” The ancients based this title on 17:18, which
refers to this book as “a copy of this law.”
Deuteronomy, then, is a copy of God’s law, a restatement
and amplification of God’s law. So, God’s law is
“revealed” (Hebrew galah, uncover or disclose) to
us. God has revealed exactly what He wants us to know in
His Word. That is His Moral
Will.
As we
detailed back in our study of 2:10, we see no
less than seven
principles in Scripture that specifically tell us what
God’s will is for our lives. May we just list them again
here:
·
It’s God’s will that we are
Spirit-filled (Eph. 5:17-18).
·
It’s God’s will that we be morally
pure (I Thes.
4:3-7).
·
It’s God’s will that we are constantly being
transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2).
·
It’s God’s will that we thank Him in all things,
that is, we are submissive to the sovereignty of
God (I Thes.
5:18).
·
It’s God’s will that we pray (I Tim. 2:8).
·
It’s God’s will that we submit to
authority (I Pet. 2:13-15).
·
It’s God’s will that we be willing to suffer
for Christ (I Pet. 3:17; 4:19).
Over and above all
that, however, is every other precept, principle, and
precedent in God’s Word. It is God’s Word that should
rule, regulate, and run our lives. It is His Word alone
that should command, control, and conduct our living.
Sadly, however, while
every evangelical would agree with those statements and
claim to do them, the clear fact is that the Bible is
becoming less and less the authority in the Church.
Pastor and commentator Harry Ironside recounts an
incident that is a telling indictment on Christianity.
Back in the mid-1930s there was an open forum on
religion in Chicago. In addition to a representative
from Roman Catholicism, one from Protestantism, and
another from Judaism, also present was the infamous
Atheist Clarence Darrow. Each of the first three rose
and told why he was what he was. Darrow then rose and
said, “Gentleman, I have been very much interested in
one thing. I notice neither Protestant, Catholic, nor
Jew ever referred to the Bible. Evidently they no longer
value that so-called Holy Book as they used to.” He then
went on to declare that he was an Atheist because he had
no use for the Book that they never even
mentioned.[vi]
Oh, how much truer
that is today! The Scripture is far from being the sole, much less
final,
authority. Christian leaders use marketing techniques
for building the Church, psychological jargon for
dealing with personal problems, and even secular
resources to supposedly teach moral values. One graphic
illustration are pastors who show episodes of the old
Andy Griffith Show to their people for the moral
lessons they contain. Where is the Word of God? Yes, we
say in our doctrinal statements that we believe the
Bible to be the Word of God, but in practice we not only
don’t use it exclusively, we
don’t seem to use it even occasionally.
But Scripture is to
be our
authority because It alone is the
authority. No man, system, religion, philosophy, or
anything else has any authority. Only God does, and He
has revealed His will
in His Word. Period.
With that in mind,
however, the question arises, “What about the countless
things that are not spelled out for us in Scripture?”
What about where you should go to college? What about
who you should marry? What about buying that new house
or car? What about where you should go to church? What
about starting a particular ministry or church program?
Some might even ask, “Should I fix the chicken or the
fish for dinner?” Some take such a view that before we
do anything, no matter how
mundane, we mustn’t move until we stop, pray, and seek
some sign from God for what move we should
make.
Most of us have heard the
old story of the man who wanted to know God’s will on a
particular matter, so he took out his Bible, opened it
at random, and dropped his index finger onto a page,
assuming the verse his finger landed on would tell him
God’s will for the moment. Much to his embarrassment,
however, the verse was Matthew 27:5, which says that
Judas “went and hanged himself.” He thought he should
try again, but this time his finger fell on Luke 10:37,
“Go, and do thou likewise.” Trying one more time, his
finger found John 13:27, “What thou doest, do
quickly.”[vii]
As silly as that is,
many Christians actually believe and practice similar
methods. One of the most common is “putting out a
fleece,” using Gideon as a model. Some will say, “Lord,
if You’ll do this, then I know I should do this.” The
interesting thing about that incident, however, is that
Gideon is actually an example of how NOT to find
God’s will. God’s clear
word to Gideon was that he would
win the battle, that God would use him to deliver Israel
from the Midianites (Judges 6:16), but that wasn’t good
enough for Gideon, so in his unbelief he asked for a
sign (vs. 36-40). Gideon simply did not believe what God
said.
How true that is of
many today. God’s Word isn’t enough so they look for
something else, or make it up themselves. A Christian
might say, for example, “I’m looking for a sign not to
marry that unbeliever,” when God has stated
categorically that a Christian should never do
that (II Cor. 6:14-7:1). The same is true of Christians
who rely on feelings, impressions, circumstances, and
burdens to dictate their decisions. While these things
might confirm a decision, they should not
control a decision. Nowhere
in Scripture are we told that such things are to be used
to dictate decision-making. In fact, the concept of
God’s “individual will” as another aspect of God’s will
that is apart from His sovereign will and moral will is
not a Biblical concept. One writer put it very
well:
The phrase “will of God” is
simply not used in this sense of idealized personal plan
that forms a pattern of decision making. This supposed
“individual will” is not God’s sovereign will, which is
behind providences, nor is it the revealed will of God
in Scripture. It is something in between these two and
separate from them. The passages that are cited (Col
1:9; 4:12; Rom. 12:2; Eph. 5:17; 6:6), all actually
refer to God’s will as revealed in his commandments and
applies to our lives. So advocates of this view are
using a category that is not introduced in Scripture—a
big problem![viii]
Therefore, there are
basically four Biblical principles for making decisions:
Scripture is first, followed then by
wisdom, desire, and
counsel, all of which are
also based on Scripture. Let’s test this
Scripture-centered approach with a an example of how to
make a decision. Probably the biggest decision a
Christian will make is who to
marry.
First, what does Scripture
dictate? The common idea is that there is “that one
certain person” I should marry and that “I must wait for
God to reveal that person to me.” But the Word of God
says several things about who we should marry. One, as
mentioned earlier, is that that person must be a
Believer. Some teachers stop there and feel that as long
as someone is a Christian, then all is well. But the
principle of the “unequally yoke” goes further. There
should also be agreement concerning Biblical doctrine.
Radically differing doctrinal viewpoints are the
ingredients for big conflicts. Each spirit should bear
witness of the other spirit. Another dictate is
agreement concerning the Biblical roles of men and
women. Do you agree about those roles as outlined in
Ephesians 5:21-33 and elsewhere? Do you agree in how to
raise children as outlined in Ephesians 6:1-4 and
elsewhere? If there is not an “equal yoke” in such
areas, you better take another look at the relationship
and where it will end
up.
Second, what does wisdom contribute to the
decision?
As James declares, “If any of
you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given
him” (Jas. 1:5). This entails just examining the
relationship and wisely discerning compatibility. Do you
get along well with each other? I’ve seen dating couples
who argue constantly but who think they want to get
married. Do you both have some of the same interests?
This probably won’t include everything, but are there
some things you can do together? What are your goals and
priorities? What are your views of money and how to
handle it? Each one of the questions, and others that
will arise, must be tied back in with Scripture.
More often than not,
these first two principles will dictate your decision,
but there are two others to consider when there are
still questions.
Third, how does
your desire fit into the equation? I was
listening to one teacher on this very issue who asked,
“Well, what if there are two choices of a prospective
mate, two that meet the qualifications? Simple—pick one.
Which one do you want?” Desire does have something to do
with our decisions. Now, the most important aspect of
desire is found in James 4:3: “Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your
lusts.” Be sure your desire is not just lust, but a
Godly, Biblical desire. With that established, what do
you want to do? Psalm 37:4 declares, “Delight thyself
also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of
thine heart.” The Preacher of Ecclesiastes 11:9 agrees,
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart
cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the
ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but
know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee
into judgment.” There is nothing wrong with desire, as
long as the desire is pure. Paul speaks of desire in
this very area in I Corinthians 7:39, “The wife is bound
by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her
husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom
she will; only in the Lord.” “Will” is the Greek
thelo, which
means “to will, desire” and “by implication it means to
be disposed or inclined toward [something], delight in,
love, in which case it is a synonym of
phileo, to
love.”[ix]
There are a couple
of extremes to avoid here. I’ve heard some people say,
“Love God and do what you want,” but that is clearly
weak. It’s quite possible to love the Lord but still not
have the right desires in a particular situation. I’ve
heard others say, “If you’re saved and living right,
then whatever you choose will automatically be what God
wants.” But that assumes that you already know what
Scripture and wisdom dictate on every single question
that exists, and that of course is not likely.
Fourth, how does Godly counsel influence the decision? Here is the final
“safety valve.” Proverbs says much about Godly counsel.
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that
hearkeneth unto counsel is wise” (12:15). “Without
counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude
of counsellors they are established” (15:22). “Hear
counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be
wise in thy latter end” (19:20). “Ointment and perfume
rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s
friend by hearty counsel” (27:9). A Godly friend,
parent, or pastor might see something you don’t or might
give an encouragement you didn’t
consider.
This same procedure
will apply to those other questions we asked earlier.
What about where you should go to college? What about
buying that new house or car? What about where you
should go to church? What about starting a particular
ministry or church program? And it will apply to any
others that come our
way.
In closing, we have
examined the basics of understanding the will of God and
how it relates to making decisions. If you want to go
deeper or have more questions, I would recommend the
book Decisions, Decisions: How (and How Not) to Make
Them by Dave
Swavely.[x] It should be the
desire of every Believer to [understand] what the
will of the Lord is.
[i] Brown, vol.
3, p. 130.
[iii] Hidden Will, Latin
deus absconditus.
[iv] Revealed Will,
Latin deus revelatus.
[v] Baker and Carpenter, p.
702.
[vi] Ironside, pp.
264-5.
[vii] Windows on
the Word, p.
59.
[viii] James Petty,
Step By Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary
Christians (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing,
1999). Cited in Dave Swavely, Decisions,
Decisions (Phillipsburg, NJ:
P&R Publishing, 2003), pp.
55-56.
[x] (Phillipsburg, NJ:
P&R Publishing, 2003). I much prefer this book over
Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry
Friesen (Multnomah). Swavely is much more readable, and
I think at times Friesen’s emphasis on wisdom
overshadows the centrality of Scripture. Whether by
precept or principle,
Scripture always has the answer, but Friesen seems to
miss this. I also feel he is a little weak on the
Sovereignty of
God.
