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What the Bible says about God's Will, Harmony with
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Jeremiah 23:21-22

When Moses tried to relieve the oppression of the Israelites on his own strength forty years before, nothing happened. He ran to do the work of the Lord, but God was not in it. The point that God is making is that, no matter how sincere a person is, if he is not tuned into the will of God, even though he does a great work and is noble and pure of heart, real success comes from God because God is in it - not due to the efforts of the man. The result then was a sincere effort but futile. Moses created a stir, but it was ineffective because God was not in it. It was not His will. It did not become His will until forty years later.

What happened to Moses in the intervening years was that he was truly humbled and converted. He had given himself to God to such an extent that he was almost afraid to move, and God had to bring him back a way to restore some of his initiative. However, now that initiative would be used in harmony with a strong relationship with Him. Since Moses truly had the fear of God, he took God into account in every action. That is what the fear of God does to a person: It makes a person consider God and His desires in everything that he does.

Moses grew to know God so well that he could interpret God's mind as few men ever could. Many people have strong beliefs, but are they right? Are they in harmony with God's will? A belief must not only be strong, but it must also be right. It is proved right in the process of living: Righteous actions will produce godly fruit. This is why Jesus says, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16). The fruits of a person's life will show what a person believes, producing in him a resolution that his actions are God-ordered and he dare not turn aside or change them.

Are we living what we believe?

John W. Ritenbaugh
Conviction, Moses, and Us

Habakkuk 2:2-3

God is reminding Habakkuk that what goes out of His mouth comes back to Him having fulfilled its purpose. God is not a man that He should lie. If God says something, it will be done, and done the way and in the time that He says it will be done.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Faith (Part Two)

Zechariah 4:6

This verse is often quoted when speaking of doing the work of God, and doing so follows a correct spiritual principle. When God does something, it is not done through physical strength. It is interesting that might literally means "arms," and power refers to physical activity. The work of God is not going to be done through feats of arms, military victories, or anything that requires physical fighting or contention. Nor can it be accomplished by any amount of physical activity.

As much work and effort as men put into it, they are not what will get God's work done properly. They will be helpful, certainly, because God works though men, and men must exert themselves in order to do God's will. Nevertheless, He says clearly here that all the credit goes to His Spirit. God Himself is at work! Our job is to submit, to do the things that must be done. We must do what the Spirit directs us to do, but God will receive the credit, not us. We could do none of these works by our own means.

God gives the ability. He gives the inspiration, the strength, and the endurance. He opens the doors. He supplies the manpower, the money, and the other resources to go through those doors. He supplies favor so that the doors can be opened. We merely walk through them.

We could say that God's work is an act of grace. It is a kind of oxymoron to say that work is done by grace, since we think of work and grace as two extremes, but they are not! What comes first? The grace comes first: God grants favor and gives gifts, then the work is done. So where is the glory? It appears in the grace. The effort comes afterward and accomplishes God's will.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Four)

Matthew 5:38-40

What kind of justice does God dispense? Is it based on a so-called cruel Old Testament law? The "Christian" churches of this world say that Jesus came to do away with that law. Preposterous! Without law as a foundation, there can be no justice. Jesus explicitly says, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17).

Some think that Jesus condemns the Old Testament system of justice in Matthew 5:38-40. However, He is correcting, not nullifying, an abuse of the eye-for-an-eye principle, which the Romans called Lex Talionis. The Jews of His day were advocating it for settling personal disputes. In effect, each person was taking justice into his own hands, and Jesus says that was not His intent when He gave it to their forefathers.

Considered by many to be barbaric and primitive, the eye-for-an-eye principle is, on the contrary, the basis for God's system of judgment, of civil law, for ruling a nation (Exodus 21:22-25; Leviticus 24:19-20). It has its foundation in equal justice as provided by equal payment for damage done. God established this principle so that a judge could be merciful in evaluating the circumstances of the crime and render a fair and just decision in cases of sin against other men.

This does not mean that if A bloodies B's nose, then B has to punch A in the nose in return. Lex Talionis requires commensurate payment for damage done, punishment fitting the crime. It is the basis for evenhanded justice, demanding fair compensation for damages. As implemented in God's law, Lex Talionis was enforced with a system of fines—with the money paid to the injured party, not to the state (e.g. Exodus 21:22, 28-32).

Though it was to be the basic law, a judge had the power to give mercy. For instance, if he determined that B really goaded A into punching his nose, he was free to show mercy along with the payment required. In His judgment of us, God does the same. When we deserve death because of sin, God shows us mercy by allowing Christ's blood to cover our transgressions. He has decided to forgo the strict application of the eye-for-an-eye principle and extend mercy.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part One)

Luke 11:9-10

First, we must humbly ask according to His will, not our own pleasures (James 1:5-8). If something we ask for is contrary to God's plan, no amount of persistence will force Him to give in (James 4:3). When requesting anything of God, most people often stop asking when He does not immediately intervene. Human nature is easily discouraged because it thinks on a physical plane, but with God all things are possible. We need to be optimistic that God has heard and will respond in a good and faithful manner (I John 5:14-15).

Second, we must seek to know our true motives and God's will regarding the request. We seek to find out what we must do to bolster our faith with works (I John 3:22). Do God's promises include the blessing we ask for?

Third, we must knock. We must persevere, be persistent, pressing the matter until we receive it (Hebrews 4:16). We should faithfully go to God repeatedly, until He responds to our prayers and grants what we ask of Him—if it is according to His will.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Persistent Friend

Luke 11:9

This section contains instruction important to praying effectively. Verse 9 is written in the present imperative tense. It means to keep on doing something that one is presently doing. "Keep on asking." "Keep on seeking." "Keep on knocking." This fits exactly with what precedes it in the illustration of the persistent friend.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Prayer and Persistence

Colossians 1:9-11

The key in these verses is to understand that Paul speaks of a specific knowledge—the knowledge of God's will, God's knowledge. It is not knowledge about God but God's knowledge that we receive through study, teaching, and practice.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Twenty)

1 John 2:17

The will of God is the driving principle of life—indeed, of all of creation because our Creator is gradually imposing His will on the whole creation as He works His purpose to His ends. Those not in harmony with that will are doomed; they will simply cease to exist! Permanent value, reality, abides only in God's purpose and His will. Everything else is vanity. We belong to eternity only as far as we attach ourselves to His will and conform to it.

If we live according to the lusts of the flesh, we are not living according to God's will. We will pass away and be destroyed. Life beyond the grave is bound up in the life we live here and now (Romans 2:5-10). This is because the blood of Jesus Christ and the way we live prepare us for walking with Him eternally.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part Six): Eternal Life


 




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