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What the Bible says about According to God's Purpose
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Joshua 9:3-15

Though in a subservient position, the Gibeonites could still influence God's people, and their gods eventually ensnared the Israelites. Through deception, Joshua's exception to God's command to drive out the Canaanites set a precedent that allowed other pagan peoples to co-exist within Israel, ultimately leading to her downfall.

In all these events, a tension exists between God's sovereignty and man's choice, between God's will and "free will." Within the Christian zeitgeist floats an idea that because God is sovereign, everything that takes place must be His will—that if He wanted something different, He would have caused that other course instead.

Indeed, God is sovereign over all, and He does guide events according to His purpose. However, not everything happens because God has willed it, especially where sin is involved. We must differentiate between what God allows—a great deal!—and what He truly intends, desires, and enjoys. He has allowed countless sins that He could have prevented, yet Scripture rarely shows Him preventing someone from sinning or acting foolishly. He clearly does not intend or take pleasure in sin, but He allows it. He says to choose life—that is His will—but allows us to choose death (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

The events relating to the Gibeonites show that God allows matters that do not please Him to play out. Though they are not what He intends, He will still bring about His purpose despite them. We must be careful about ascribing human behavior—especially human sin—to God, concluding that it must be God's will, or it would be different.

As we know, the ends do not justify the means. When it comes to doing God's will, how we do things can be just as important as what we accomplish. Cain concluded that one offering was as good as another, but God rejected it. Nadab and Abihu thought any fire would work for God's altar, and they died instantly and shockingly. How we do things determines whether God accepts the result—whether it is truly what He desires and pleases Him or whether He forebears as He does with countless other acts. How we act affects what we produce.

David C. Grabbe
Joshua and the Gibeonites (Part Three)

Proverbs 19:21

You probably have heard the expression, "Man proposes but God disposes." God does not want us to stop making plans, but He always wants us to understand that those plans are subject to His will and His purpose. God is judging the thoughts of our hearts and the plans that we make, and if they are not in harmony with His plan, then His judgment may result in something that might be emotionally or physically painful to us in order that we are put back on track.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Fall Feast Lessons

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)

Matthew 8:26-27

Jesus' awestruck disciples receive newfound understanding of the power and glory of their Lord and Master. His power definitely impresses them, but His faithfulness, peace, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are what truly awed them. This miracle brings them in reverence, wonder, and godly fear before Him. Christ shows that the power of the earthly elements is dwarfed by the mighty word of the Lord, and it stirs them deeply.

This reveals what the full measure of God's Spirit can accomplish through a faithful human being. Jesus explains to His disciples in Mark 11:23-24:

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

We should understand that this promise stands firm for us too, if we ask according to the will of God (I John 5:14-15).

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Stilling a Storm

Matthew 9:28

In Matthew 9:28, Jesus asks the two blind men seeking healing, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Christ's challenge concerns their faith. If faith is present, miraculous healing will occur according to God's will. If it is absent, God will grant no healing. A person of faith receives preferential treatment, and in fact, faith is so important to God that His Word declares, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

The blind men answer Christ's challenge with outstanding, genuine faith, saying, "Yes, Lord." In the Greek, this is a strong affirmation, carrying a tone of certainty. The men had no doubt that Christ could heal them, unlike many people today. They believed Jesus was the son of David, indicating that, though they were blind, God had begun to open their minds.

These men faced many disadvantages that worked against producing faith, but they still trusted Christ in impressive ways. Those who—unjustifiably—excuse their lack of faith because of life's difficulties hinder their spiritual growth. Many with handicaps and weaknesses have come to have faithful relationships with Christ.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing Two Blind Men (Part Two)

Matthew 21:18-19

Many readers of God's Word have found this incident to be very disturbing, and it has been a stumblingblock to more than a few. The idea that Jesus would become angry and curse this tree to wither and die—just because it had no figs at a time when figs were not even in season—seems completely unreasonable to a great many people.

But surely there is more to the story. The Jesus we know from the rest of the gospels is not One who, in a fit of temper, would do something so impulsive and cruel. He is the same Man who healed many people suffering from disease and demon possession throughout His ministry. He took little children in His arms and blessed them (Mark 10:16). He let the woman caught in adultery go with only a warning to repent (John 8:11). He wept at Lazarus' tomb (John 11:35) and grieved over Jerusalem's unwillingness to seek God's help (Matthew 23:37). He even asked God to forgive those who put Him to death (Luke 23:34)!

Do these examples portray a Man who would unjustly curse an insensate tree to death? Was Jesus' cursing of the fig tree an unreasonable act?

Over the years, we have come to learn that God put everything in the Bible for a purpose. We are to live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4). Nothing is there that has not been inspired! The apostle Paul writes in II Timothy 3:15-17:

[T]he Holy Scriptures . . . are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In addition, as we saw, Jesus Christ was no egomaniacal, out-of-control hothead who went about "shooting from the hip" and speaking His mind whenever it pleased Him. He was thoughtful and caring, willing to help those who needed it, and even those who deserved justice He treated with mercy.

To the contrary, His purpose was not to please Himself but to follow God's will in every act and word. He says of Himself in John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." He says something very similar in John 5:30, "I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."

Therefore, we know what happened on the road from Bethany to Jerusalem was not a reaction from disappointment or anger, but it was apparently God's will for Him to curse the tree. God inspired it to be included in the Scriptures for our edification.

Dan Elmore
The Cursed Tree

Romans 9:16

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:5 that we are part of the church "according to the good pleasure of [God's] will." So we are not where we are because we desired it, willed it, or earned it. We are here because of God's mercy.

The Jews thought they were in the position they were in because they were so good and had the law. The first drastic effect of this was that they were circumventing God's supremacy, His sovereignty over His creation. The second effect was that they were also circumventing the true way of justification because, according to them, justification was something God owed because one earned it. Therefore, the Father's grace and Christ's sacrifice flew right out the window, and from their perspective, Christ had died in vain.

Paul could see that this was nothing more than a vanity trip, made in ignorance undoubtedly, but nonetheless completely and totally wrong. They could say, "Look how great we are that we can do these wonderful things, so that even God is indebted to us!" Samuel Bacchiocchi writes in his book, Biblical Perspectives:

One's status before God came to be determined by one's attitude towards the law as a document of election and not by obedience to specific commands. The law came to mean a revelation of law God's electing will manifested in His covenant with Israel. Obviously, this view created a problem for the uncircumcised Gentiles because they felt excluded from the assurance of salvation provided by the covenant. This insecurity, naturally led Gentiles to desire to be under law, i.e., to become full-fledged covenant members by receiving circumcision, and Paul felt compelled to react strongly against this trend because it undermined the universality of the Gospel. (p. 103)

Because of these factors, Paul appears in Galatians to be quite anti-law. First, because of the matter of justification. Justification is achieved through Jesus Christ, not by our works Second, because we do not come to God through a covenant system of law. We are drawn to God because He elects to call us. So, with both of these issues, Paul had to address law. In every case, he was against it.

If we do not understand what he is talking about, we cannot but conclude that he is anti-law. However, we cannot throw out the baby with the bath water, as it were. We cannot throw out what God has graciously given for our guidance on how to live simply because a group of misguided people has devised incorrect concepts about law and our relationship with Him. No, we must get rid of the wrong concepts, which is Paul's aim in Galatians.

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

Ephesians 1:9

"Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure" means that it was completely by His initiative that we came to understand this.

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


 




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