This morning we had a guest preacher, Dr. David Wells of Gordon-Conwell. He put some theological terms on what I was trying to describe in my previous post on the will of God.
He called them by two names: "Particular Will" and "Moral Will."
He said particular will is very difficult or impossible to discern. That is what I meant by watching out for people who claim special revelation from God. If I were to say God told me to take my family, marry some more wives, and move to Waco to resurrect David Koresh's compound...well...let's just say anyone in their right mind would be correct to run the other way. In effect, I would be trying to ascertain God's particular will...and not doing a very good job at it!
On the other hand, he mentioned that His moral will IS possible to understand, for it is found in Biblical revelation. When God commands, or gives precepts, or establishes patterns, then we can say with great confidence that organizing our lives in response to them would be living in God's will.
He called them by two names: "Particular Will" and "Moral Will."
He said particular will is very difficult or impossible to discern. That is what I meant by watching out for people who claim special revelation from God. If I were to say God told me to take my family, marry some more wives, and move to Waco to resurrect David Koresh's compound...well...let's just say anyone in their right mind would be correct to run the other way. In effect, I would be trying to ascertain God's particular will...and not doing a very good job at it!
On the other hand, he mentioned that His moral will IS possible to understand, for it is found in Biblical revelation. When God commands, or gives precepts, or establishes patterns, then we can say with great confidence that organizing our lives in response to them would be living in God's will.
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