Chapter # 12 Paragraph # 1 Study # 8
October 6, 2019
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: Paul declares that "the will of The God" can be viewed as "good", as "well-pleasing", and as "accomplishing His ends"; something that believers need very much.
Introduction: In the two verses that we have been considering, it is beyond apparent that Paul was teaching that "believers" are under two very great "necessities": a deliberate presentation of themselves to God with no strings attached; and a pattern of "follow-through" that involves, on one hand, a rejection of the definitions of "Life" that the people of this age fully embrace and, on the other hand, a pursuit of a re-configuration of their lives through a thorough "renewing" of their "minds" beginning with an embrace of a whole new definition of the "mechanism(s)" of "Life".
These "two very great necessities" are deeply rooted in two most basic issues: 1) God has made "promises" to His people regarding the mechanics of "living"; and 2) God absolutely requires that His people "believe" those promises.
We have seen in Paul's "summons" that God does not expect us to "believe Him" without a solid foundation. This is the "point" of making "the mercies of The God" the viewfinder for the subsequent decisions. But, by the same token, Paul declares that God, having given such a foundation, is adamant that His promises be embraced.
In this "summons" by Paul there are two "issues of faith". The first is that, based upon the believer's experience of "the mercies of The God", "faith" in The God of those mercies must be exercised by the presentation and the follow-through. The second is that there is a further "promise" for those whose faith produces the presentation and follow-through: the "promise" that God's work through "mind-renewal" will result in the believer's ability to view "the will of The God" as it is revealed day by day to be "good", "well-pleasing", and "goal-accomplishing".
It is this second stage of "Promise" that we are going to look into this evening.
- I. Review of Paul's "...Unto The..." Phrase.
- A. Paul's grammar presents the idea that the "objective" to which the "eis to" points is not something that the "believer" accomplishes (Note the former study on the "infinitive followed by an accusative" (013) (014)).
- B. Since this is not something the believer accomplishes, the only other option is that it is a promise of what God will accomplish for those who "believe" Him unto both "presentation" and "follow-through".
- II. The Specifics of What God Will Do For Those Who "Believe" Him.
- A. These specifics are given in a deliberate light: the realities that flow from a persistent resistance (unbelief) so that one can maintain one's delusion of "self-determination" and "self-production" of "Life".
- 1. Every word of God, "believed", brings about the fulfillment of the Truth "believed" without a later revocation: "the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (11:29).
- 2. So also, every word of God, "resisted", has no "Life" impact for the person who maintains his/her resistance.
- B. There is a commitment from God (a promise) that the "believer" will develop a capacity to grasp the "what" of "the will of The God".
- 1. This is pretty much a "given": one cannot see the "goodness" of the will of God, the "well-pleasing" character of the will of God, and/or the "goal-accomplishing" nature of that will unless the "what" is clear.
- 2. This "what" issue has two parts (at least).
- a. The things that have already happened (this is as clear as it gets).
- 1) This is all-encompassing.
- 2) This is "under the umbrella" of Romans 8:28.
- 3) This is a significant challenge of faith because the "proof" of the three-fold character of "the will of The God" often requires a perspective that develops after the passing of time and events.
- b. The things that are "desired" by God "to happen" in the present/future.
- 1) This is rooted in "revelation" applied to the choices with which a believer is confronted.
- 2) This is somewhat complicated by our ignorance of His revelation of what He wants, the incomplete "faith" that enables the rejection of the received mechanisms of "Life" (it is hard/impossible to view something as "good, well-pleasing, goal-accomplishing" when we are still deciding things on the basis of the mechanisms of this age), and our lack of confidence in His promised guidance.
- 3) But, for those committed to the presentation/follow-through, God has made His promise that those will have His will clarified.
- B. There is a commitment from God (a promise) that the believer will come to see things the way He does.
- 1. He is "good" and "wills" good.
- a. James 1:17 pointedly declares that "every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights...".
- b. But Romans 9:22 also pointedly declares that God has "willed" a "revelation" of His power and wrath.
- 1) This means that He wills that His people suffer the consequences of the actions of the wicked for a time because it is those consequences upon the righteous that sponsor His retaliatory wrath (Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 17:12).
- 2) This means, then, that so-called "bad" things are a part of His "will" for His people (as the entire record of Daniel indicates) as a basis for His wrath against those who perpetrate such evil things.
- 3) The "wisdom" of Job directly addresses this "fact of life" and it does not allow men to impugn God's character because of what He "wills" (Romans 8:28 stands over this entire scenario).
- 2. He seeks our "pleasure" in terms of what really produces it and we can experience it.
- a. This "pleasure" is not the hedonistic indulgence of the body.
- b. This "pleasure" is the pleasure of seeing an "approved" action/reaction in a "setting of testing" (Mark 1:11 in the specific context of 1:12-13).
- c. Thus, what is "well-pleasing" in respect to one event because of the response of the "believer" can also be "wrath-generating" because of the perpetration of evil by the "unbeliever".
- d. The result: God extends the ability to "experience" the "pleasure" of divine approval to those who trust Him in a setting of serious difficulty for those who measure "Life" by the standards of this age.
- e. In this way, "the will of the God" is seen as a "pleasure-producing" reality.
- 3. He pursues effective methods so that we can see His will as "goal-accomplishing".
- a. The term is "teleion" and points to "the goal pursued and achieved".
- b. This is mostly a result of "hind-sight" as an "after the fact and its resulting benefit(s)" reality: we have to be able to "see" the goal achieved by inscrutable ways in order to conclude that "the will of The God" does accomplish the goals God has set before Himself.
