How to Know God's Will

Life is filled with decisions.  The average person makes about 70 decisions a day, 25,000 a year, and 1,875,000 over the course of 75 years.  That means the difference between people who succeed in life and those who don’t comes down to the ability to make really good decisions.  The good news is that God wants to guide us through life's twists and turns; we just have to learn how to seek and discern His will.  Yesterday we looked at four WRONG ways to seek God's will.  Today we will learn four steps to knowing God's will.  These steps are based on Romans 12:2.  

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

STEP 1: Totally dedicate yourself to doing God's will.

The key to good Bible interpretation is to read the verse in light of the surrounding context.  Romans 12:2 is connected to Romans 12:1, which is the command to totally dedicate yourself to God.  There is no reason to separate these two verses.  The purpose clause in Rm 12:2 ("so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God," depends on the command in Rm 12:1 of total dedication.  

Bottom line: God only reveals His will to those who are committed to obeying it.  Let's say you want to borrow my truck.  I'm only going to let you borrow it if I am confident that you will take care of it.  God is the same with His will.  He is only going to reveal His will to you if He is sure that you will be a good steward of it.

God has two wills for your life: a general will, and a specific will. God’s general will is His revealed will.  It is the same for everyone.  It is clearly laid out in the commands, and principles, and doctrines in the Bible.  God’s specific will is His concealed will.  It is what He wants you to do that is not clearly laid out in Scripture – what college to go to, what to major it, when to start dating, when to get married, etc.  If you want God to reveal His specific will, then you need to totally dedicate yourself to His general will.  If you want to know God’s concealed will, then dedicate yourself to His revealed will.

When I was a kid, if I wanted seconds, I had to clean my plate.  That’s how it is with God’s will.  If you want God’s specific will, then you need to clean your plate with God’s revealed will.  Don’t go to God with a full plate of His revealed will that you are ignoring, asking Him to show you what to do.  He’s going to say, “You go clean your plate first, then come back for seconds.”

STEP 2: Do not be conformed to this age.

The word "age" (Gk. aion) in this verse is often translated "world" (ESV, NIV, NLT, KJV).  The word "world" is used in three ways in the NT.  (1) Planet earth as opposed to heaven, or the moon or sun (Jn 17:24).  (2) All the people of the world (Jn 3:16).  (3) The evil world system with all its sinfulness and corruption.  The word "age" in Rm 12:2 refers to number 3 -- the evil world system with all its sinfulness and corruption.  The is ruled by Satan and inhabited by all unbelievers and everyone who doesn't love the Lord Jesus.  

This present evil age (or world) is dominated by three values (1 Jn 2:15-16):  The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  The lust of the flesh is the passion for pleasure.  The lust of the eyes is the passion to possess.  The pride of life is the passion for position.  In other words, girls, gold, and glory; or sex, salary, and status.  These three values dominate the world in which we live.  As a result we are constantly bombarded with messages that say that if we want to live a happy, fulfilling, significant, meaningful life, then we need to pursue those things.  And if we don't, we are mocked, criticized, hated, and persecuted.  The command in Romans 12:2 is to not be conformed.  Resist the pressure to run after the things of this world.  

In short, to "not be conformed to this age" means don't just do what's normal.  Don't just blindly adopt the world's customs, ways, traditions, styles, morals, and viewpoints.  Don't blindly copy the way the world talks, and dresses, and thinks, and acts.  Don't live thoughtlessly, but try to discern God's will for every arena of your life.

If your goal is to be cool, or in style, or to be liked, then you are going to miss God's will.  If you live thoughtlessly, if you are an early adopter, just adopting whatever is "in" at the moment, then you will miss out on God's will.

STEP 3: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  

The Greek word for "transformed" is metamorphoo, from which we get our English word metamorphosis.  It means a change in outward appearance.  The same word is used of Christ’s transfiguration.  Jesus went up on a mountain with Peter, James, and John, and His appearance changed in front of them.  In the same way we are to be transformed in our attitude and actions to become more and more like Jesus.

The command is in the passive tense, which means that it is God than transforms us; we cannot transform ourselves.  But it is a command, which implies that we have a role to play in our transformation.  Our role is mind-renewal.  We must learn to think as God does; to see the world as God does.  We must learn God's principles, commands, and doctrines.  As we renew our minds, God will transform us to be more like Christ.  And as we become more and more like Christ, God's will becomes clearer and easier to discern in our daily decisions.

How do we renew our minds?  Through the study of Scripture.  R.C. Sproul wrote, “The key method Paul underscores as the means to the transformed life is by the ‘renewal of the mind.’ This means nothing more and nothing less than education.  Serious education.  In-depth education.  Disciplined education in the things of God.  It calls for a mastery of the Word of God.  We need to be people whose lives have changed because our minds have changed.  True transformation comes by gaining a new understanding of God, man, and the world.  What we are after ultimately is to be conformed to the image of Christ.  We are to be like Jesus… our humanity is to mirror and reflect the perfect humanity of Jesus...To be conformed to Jesus we must firsts begin to think like Jesus.  We need the mind of Christ.  We need to value the things He values and to despise the things He despises.  We need to have the same priorities He has.  We need to consider things weighty that He considers weighty.  That cannot happen without a mastery of His word.  The key to spiritual growth is in-depth Christian education that requires a serious level of sacrifice (The Holiness of God, p. 210)."

STEP 4: Trust in the superiority of God's will.

Romans 12:2 describes God's will with three adjectives:

1. "Good."  It is good for others.  When you do God’s will, it will benefit your spouse, your children, your church family, your friends, etc.  You become a blessing to everyone around you.   
2. "Pleasing."  It pleases God.  It furthers God’s kingdom.  It glorifies His name. 
3. "Perfect."  It is the best plan for you.  What is better than perfect?  Nothing.  Perfection cannot be improved or topped.  If God’s will is perfect, then it is the best plan for your life.  If you want the best life, the happiest, most significant, most purposeful, most meaningful, most abundant life, then you need to live in the center of God’s will. 

The devil's strategy to lure you away from God's will is to lie to you about God's will.  He will say, "If you do God’s will, you’ll be miserable.  You’ll miss out.  You will miss out on the best life.  You need pleasure, possessions, and position; girls, gold, and glory.”  Therefore, to discern God's will you must trust in the superiority of God's will.

You must believe two things about God:  (1) God is love; He wants what is best for  you (1 Jn 4:8).  (2) God knows everything; He knows what is best for you (1 Jn 3:20).  Only then will you have the strength to totally dedicate yourself to God’s will; only then will you have the strength to not be conformed to the world; only then will you have the strength to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

When you follow these steps, God’s will becomes clear.  God is able to direct you and guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I’m not saying that God will speak audibly to you.  I’m saying that the right path will be easy to discern.