Discovering God’s Will by Sinclair B. Ferguson
This book highlights the theological perspective concerning the will of God .Therefore, Ferguson seeks to give his own understanding with regard to the manifestation of the will of God. His submissions in this book are not necessarily the gospel truth but rather his past confessions and experience in his salvation life. Indeed, the advocates of the traditional view with regard to the will of God disagree with his views in this subject. However, he has explored the terms used by the traditional perspective in order to get them identify with his school of thought.
He asserts that the Lord desires a single thing in every decision but he does not give scriptural reference to support this claim. He insists that precise application of the scriptures in the daily life situations results in the living of people according to God’s perfect and permissive will. This owes to the fact that the will of God springs forth from the Authority of the scriptures, the principles of the scriptures and the allegories and illustrations found in the Bible.
He posits that man has one prime obligation of seeking to be acclimatized with the Lord’s word. Moreover, man should be habitually sensitive to the voice of the word of God in every situation in life. He further states that man needs supernatural assistance in order to fathom and apply the Holy Scriptures. The scriptures are the wisdom of God and a source of Godly knowledge concerning all issues in life. The Holy Scriptures of God should inform all decisions man makes in order to be solemnly accept with whichever outcome of the decisions made. In fact, even the subconscious mind of a person, reflects the application of scriptures given that it is the mind that submits to the word of God. The sub-conscious mind comprises of the thoughts, memory and motivational effect. Therefore, thoughts ought to be influenced by the scriptures.
Ferguson argues that the identification of the possible outcomes of a situation in life is pertinent with regard to discovering the will of God. He highlights the subjective aspect in the process of acquainting with the will of God. The subjective aspect is the submissiveness by which a person receives the word of God. This is crucial in the sense that the manner in which a person receives the preached word determines whether person will apply the word in his life. This aspect encompasses the humility and the patience of a person when listening to the word of God. Moreover, he exhorts people to live in love with each in order to discover the hidden will of God in their lives. He also encourages people to walk in honesty and truth in order to discover the wrong from the right in salvation life. In addition, he states that it is in God’s will that people should seek and walk in the wisdom and understanding of God. Indeed, this is summed up as the practice of the moral will of God.
He also argues that people should take into consideration the aspect of law in their actions. He gives reference to Jesus teachings that obedience is better than law and sacrifice. Therefore, people ought to be obedient to the word of God and his oracles. There is need to analyze actions as to whether they are edifying to God because this is the only way in which the will of God will be realized. People should assess their actions in order to find out whether they are slaves of their actions. According to Ferguson, the will of God is for a person to have freedom and to be at peace with the surroundings and the populace around them. People’s actions should be consistent with the principles and teachings of Christ through His word .This will make know and understand the scriptures in the deeper and broader sense.
The Biblical scriptures teach that love should be extended to neighbors. In this regard, Ferguson asserts that people’s actions ought to be supportive to other groups instead of the actions being detrimental to the rest of the neighbors. This enhances the fostering of love among the people. In addition, this helps in the creation of peace, harmony and tranquility amongst people. He also argues that people’s actions should be in congruence with the Biblical examples in order to manifest the person of Christ in the actions. He refers to the Bible with regard to the Christian teaching that disciples ought t set a good example for the other people to emulate.
The proper assessment of the actions done reveals the moral will of God. According to Ferguson, this can also be due to the moral imperative of a person being intelligent. However, it is plausible to seek diligently the will of God in various issues given that man is not a monopoly of knowledge and understanding of all things. He argues that God’s word is the ultimate perfect will of God. He denounces the traditional view of the will of God. He says that God is holy hence, he is not limited by time to accomplish his plans in man. Although the aspect of the imperative moral wisdom is reasonable to apply in situations, it is equally reasonable to submit to the will of God t in order to get more insight concerning situations.
There are instances when there seems to be other options in solving problems. However, people ought to refer to the above tenets of Christianity in order to assess their actions in proper manner. He also advises that people ought to be patient on the Lord. He also reminds Christians that God perceives the human mind hence all that the mind generates is known by God. However, God has given man the freedom of choice hence man can choose to obey the perfect will of God through the application of scriptural teachings. Ferguson employees the approach adopted by theological writers in 1800. He is criticized for not making a clear-cut distinction between the traditional view and the theological view with regard to the will of God. He asserts that the Bible has got the will of God which is the word of God.
God’s word applies to various institutions to instill the needed experience in overcoming challenges. The walk in the will of God culminates in the absolute change in lifestyle and habit. It brings reformation and transformation in a person’s life. It makes a person unique in some way because a person abandons all the habits and past way of life to pursue a new life free of corruption and sins. A person develops commendable features in behavior manifest of the Holy spirit.t to practice the virtues Christians ought to practice the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Christians should understand the will of God. The principle of Christianity should be understood well in order for a person to make the right choices out of many choices.
God’s principles are reflected in His will for humanity. Ferguson argues that Paul, the apostle, has spoken about God’s will in the Book of First Corinthians. Paul’s message in this letter delivered to the Church of Corinth is still relevant in the understanding of the will of God. Paul’s teachings help in the discernment of the will of God. This owes to the fact that they evoke questions, which lead to better understanding of this subject especially for learners. Paul in his letter stated that Christ has set the human kind free. However, Apostle Paul comments that freedom is not the only value in the Christian walk.
The freedom the Christians have been guaranteed is there to enable them to practice Holiness in the salvation life. This will result in the expansion of the church of God hence netting many people to the will of God. Indeed, the freedom Christ has bestowed to the church is the freedom from the guilt of sin and bondage. This has been done in order for the Christians to appreciate the suffering of Christ on the cross in order for them to live Holy lives just like Christ himself did. Paul, the Apostle highlights some misconduct which bar a person from doing God’s will. However, he points out that all kinds of sins are forgivable so long us a person faithfully confesses and repents them before God. Indeed, the Corinthian were also short of God’s glory given that they had committed the very sins yet God forgave them.
The kingdom of God is governed by the commandments of God hence all the people who claim to be God’s chosen people ought to faithfully and obediently follow these teachings. In this case, Paul seeks to explain that obedience to the word of God is paramount in the Christian living. He further says that anything which is ethically wrong can never be justified by Christian teachings because whatever is immoral, it is also sinful. Real liberty in Christ is found in the obedience and love of the oracles of God.
Law is of essence in discovering the will of God. Jesus, the Author of Christian salvation stated that he died on the cross in order to fulfill the law but he did not come to destroy the law. The fact that, a person is saved by the blood of the lamb should make the person act in a Holy manner always. Ferguson conjectures that a person’s action should be based on the consequences and the nature of the action in quest. He further refers to the Book of Corinthians. He points out that although all things are allowed, not all things done by people are beneficial to them. Therefore, any action should be subjected to analysis with regard to its benefits to a person with regard to pursuing the perfect will of God.
Ferguson argues that it is plausible for people to make judgments on all things, which come their way because this helps in making informed decisions in life. However, no person is mandated to pass judgment on another person because scriptures state that only God is the Righteous judge of humankind. People are usually not the same hence one action by one person can be hurting to another person. He also says that the will of god is manifest in the making of sound decisions. For instance, a person’s actions should reflect control of the situation. Man is by nature sinful hence it takes the will of God for a person to do things as per God’s will. Man is naturally expected exercise authority over his subjects. Therefore, it is plausible for a Christian to do things, which are not enslaving.
Every person should be focused on what God’s will require him or her to do. This will help them avoid being slaves to the valuables of this world. It is good to have self-control and patience in doing things. This aspect is comparable to the athletes in competition whereby each of them has the potential of winning the match but all of the competitors must control their desires to win in order to manage their bodies in the process. According to Ferguson, the scriptures state that God’s will surpasses man’s will hence man’s being should be based on the word of God because it is the only source of eternal life.
Freedom is costly because it has responsibilities attached to it. In the Christian walk, responsibilities are inevitable hence; a person should ensure that he or she is not compromised by freedom of choice. For instance, going to church meeting is an optional thing for some people but the impact of not going to church results in irresponsibility on the moral setting. Spiritual liberty is an aspect, which should be explored by the Christians in the process of seeking for the will of God. Moreover, the Christians are expected to develop some sensitivity to holiness. This will enable a person to discover the will of God.
