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Discovering God's Will For Life Decisions

Discovering God's will for life decisions involves understanding various aspects of divine intention, which biblical and theological traditions categorize in different ways. The concept of God's will can refer to His secret decrees, His revealed commands, or His judgments [1].

The secret will of God, often termed His "will of decree" or "predestination," refers to God's eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional purpose that governs all events [6]. This aspect of God's will is not something humans can discern in advance for specific life decisions, as it belongs to the "secret things" of God [6]. Augustine of Hippo, for instance, discusses the definite determination of God's will concerning predestination, noting that some are given the will to obey and persevere, while others are not yet lifted up by grace [12]. He also marvels at God's judgments, where some of His children may not receive perseverance, while others are forgiven great wickedness and made His own [14]. Charles Hodge further explains that God's plan can be inferred from what actually comes to pass, suggesting that events like prosperity, misery, or even the timing of death are in accordance with His holy will [15]. Aquinas states that the will of God is the cause of all things, acting by will rather than by necessity of nature [13]. He also clarifies that while God's will is entirely unchangeable, this does not mean He cannot will for certain things to change; rather, His underlying will remains constant even as He wills different outcomes at different times [17].

In contrast to the secret will, God's revealed will, or "will of command," is expressed through His laws and precepts [1]. This is the aspect of God's will that believers are called to obey and actively seek to understand [3]. The Apostle Peter exhorts believers to live "no longer for human desires, but for the will of God" [3]. Similarly, Ephesians 5:10 encourages believers to be "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" [11]. This revealed will is found in Scripture, which provides guidance for righteous living and decision-making. For example, Deuteronomy 30:19 presents a clear choice: "choose life, that you may live," indicating a divine preference for obedience leading to blessing [9].

The concept of "decision" in a biblical context is often linked to serving God wholeheartedly. Scripture exhorts individuals to make firm decisions, such as seeking God with the heart, keeping His commandments, being on the Lord's side, and following Him fully [2]. This is contrasted with a "divided service," "double-mindedness," or "halting between two opinions" [2]. Names like Uel ("desiring God"), Beraiah ("the choosing of the Lord"), and Deuel ("the knowledge of God") reflect a biblical emphasis on aligning one's desires and choices with God [4, 5, 7].

While God's will is always good, human will can sometimes desire things contrary to it, or even desire what God wills but with an evil intention [18]. Augustine notes that a good son might wish for his father to live, while God's good will is for him to die. Conversely, a bad son might wish for his father to die, aligning with God's will but from an evil motive [18]. This highlights that discerning God's will involves not just the outcome, but also the heart and intention behind the decision.

The doctrine of election, closely related to God's secret will, is mentioned in passages like 1 Thessalonians 1:4, which speaks of the "election of God" [8, 10]. John Calvin distinguishes between a common adoption, such as that of the seed of Abraham, and a greater benefit God bestows on some, indicating a specific divine choice [19]. John Gill, commenting on Romans 11:34, notes that the "mind of the Lord" and the intentions of His heart could not be known unless revealed, and even then, they are not fully known by natural understanding but by the Spirit [16].

Sources

  1. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Judgments of God — (1.) The secret decisions of God's will (Ps. 110:5; 36:6). (2.) The revelations of his will (Ex. 21:1; Deut. 6:20; Ps. 119:7-175). (3.) The infliction of punishment on the wicked (Ex. 6:6; 12:12; Ezek. 25:11; Rev. 16:7), such as is mentioned in Gen. 7; 19:24, 25; Judg. 1:6, 7; Acts 5:1-10, etc.”
  2. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Decision — Necessary to the service of God -- Lu 9:62. Exhortations to -- Jos 24:14,15. Exhibited in Seeking God with the heart. -- 2Ch 15:12. Keeping the commandments of God. -- Ne 10:29. Being on the Lord's side. -- Ex 32:26. Following God fully. -- Nu 14:24; 32:12; Jos 14:8. Serving God. -- Isa 56:6. Loving God perfectly. -- De 6:5. Blessedness of. -- Jos 1:7. Opposed to A divided service. -- Mt 6:24. Double-mindedness. -- Jas 1:8. Halting between two opinions. -- 1Ki 18:21. Turning to the right or left. -- De 5:32. Not setting the heart aright. -- Ps 78:8,37. Exe”
  3. I Peter “I Peter 4:2 (LEB) — in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for the will of God.”
  4. Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Uel — desiring God”
  5. Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Beraiah — the choosing of the Lord”
  6. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Predestination — This word is properly used only with reference to God's plan or purpose of salvation. The Greek word rendered "predestinate" is found only in these six passages, Acts 4:28; Rom. 8:29, 30; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:5, 11; and in all of them it has the same meaning. They teach that the eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional decree or "determinate purpose" of God governs all events. This doctrine of predestination or election is beset with many difficulties. It belongs to the "secret things" of God. But if we take the revealed word of God as our guid”
  7. Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Deuel — the knowledge of God”
  8. King James Version “[KJV] 1 Thessalonians 1:4 — Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.”
  9. Deuteronomy “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; -- Deuteronomy 30:19”
  10. I Thessalonians “I Thessalonians 1:4 (KJV) — Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.”
  11. Ephesians “Ephesians 5:10 (NASB) — trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”
  12. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 58.--THE DOCTRINE TO BE APPLIED WITH: DISCRIMINATION. Now, therefore, the definite determination of God's will concerning predestination is of such a kind that some from unbelief receive the will to obey, and are converted to the faith or persevere in the faith, while others who abide in the delight of damnable sins, even if they have been predestinated, have not yet arisen, because the aid of pitying grace has not yet lifted them up. For if any are not yet called whom by His grace He has predestinated to be elected, they will receive that grace w”
  13. theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), The Will of God, Art. 4: Article: Whether the will of God is the cause of things? I answer that, We must hold that the will of God is the cause of things; and that He acts by the will, and not, as some have supposed, by a necessity of His nature. This can be shown in three ways: First, from the order itself of active causes. Since both intellect and nature act for an end, as proved in Phys. ii, 49, the natural agent must have the end and the necessary means predetermined for it by some higher intellect; as the end and definite movement is pre”
  14. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 18.--SOME INSTANCES OF GOD'S AMAZING: JUDGMENTS. It is, indeed, to be wondered at, and greatly to be wondered at, that to some of His own children--whom He has regenerated in Christ--to whom He has given faith, hope, and love, God does not give perseverance also, when to children of another He forgives such wickedness, and, by the bestowal of His grace, makes them His own children. Who would not wonder at this? Who would not be exceedingly astonished at this? But, moreover, it is not less marvellous, and still true, and so manifest that not even t”
  15. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 66: his purposes. If this be so, then we can learn with certainty what God’s plan is, what He intended to do or to permit, from what actually comes to pass. If one portion of the inhabitants of a given country die in infancy, and another portion live to mature age; such was, for wise reasons, the purpose of God. If some are prosperous, and others miserable, such also is in accordance with his holy will. If one season is abundant, another the reverse, it is so in virtue of his appointment. This is a dictate even of natural religion. As much as”
  16. Romans (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Romans 11:34: For who hath known the mind of the Lord,.... The intentions of his mind, the thoughts of his heart, and the counsels of his will: these could never have been known, if he had not revealed them; nor can the doctrines relating to them, though externally revealed, be known by the natural man, or by the mere dint of nature, but only by the light of the Spirit of God; who searches them, and makes them known in a spiritual manner to spiritual men, who have a spiritual discerning of them; and yet even by these they are not known perfectly, only in part, and are seen through”
  17. theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), The Will of God, Art. 7: Article: Whether the will of God is changeable? I answer that, The will of God is entirely unchangeable. On this point we must consider that to change the will is one thing; to will that certain things should be changed is another. It is possible to will a thing to be done now, and its contrary afterwards; and yet for the will to remain permanently the same: whereas the will would be changed, if one should begin to will what before he had not willed; or cease to will what he had willed before. This cannot happen, unle”
  18. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 101.--THE WILL OF GOD, WHICH IS ALWAYS GOOD, IS SOMETIMES FULFILLED THROUGH THE EVIL WILL OF MAN.: Sometimes, however, a man in the goodness of his will desires something that God does not desire, even though God's will is also good, nay, much more fully and more surely good (for His will never can be evil): for example, if a good son is anxious that his father should live, when it is God's good will that he should die. Again, it is possible for a man with evil will to desire what God wills in His goodness: for example, if a bad son wishes h”
  19. CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 76: it appeared that his calling was without repentance. When God ever and anon gathered his Church from among the sons of Abraham rather than from profane nations, he had respect to his covenant, which, when violated by the great body, he restricted to a few, that it might not entirely fail. In short, that common adoption of the seed of Abraham was a kind of visible image of a greater benefit which God deigned to bestow on some out of many. This is the reason why Paul so carefully distinguishes between the sons of Abraham according to”
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