"I Delight to Do Your Will"
"I Delight to Do Your Will"
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. (Psalms 40:8—NASB)
I was not raised in a Christian home and knew little or nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ or His plan of salvation. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of seventeen. I became a Christian and was called to preach while in the Corps.
It was a custom for us Marines to hold a Bible study each night in a Quonset hut, and later, after the end of the war, in an abandoned Japanese barracks.
There I was taught, by dedicated Christian Marines, the basics of Evangelical doctrine, including grace and the "rapture."
The idea was, no one can really do God's will, and that is why we have "grace." I imagine when the Apostle Paul saw from Heaven that we were using his doctrine to get people to Heaven apart from doing God's will, he must have been ready to come back to earth and explain himself.
The purpose of Divine grace is not that of bringing people to Heaven because man cannot do God's will, although I guess that this incorrect idea is still taught in some Christian churches.
Rather it is true that "grace" is a means of releasing us from the Law of Moses so we can gain righteousness of behavior by following the Spirit of God instead of by the "works" of the Law of Moses.
The Apostle Paul always taught the Gospel from the standpoint of a Jew who was brought up to believe that people can gain righteousness only through obeying the works of the Law of Moses.
Paul, in a complete departure from his upbringing as a devout Jew, revealed to us that the "grace" of the new covenant is a way of gaining righteousness apart from the "works" of the Law of Moses, by believing in the atonement made by Jesus and obeying the Holy Spirit as He leads us to victory over sin.
"By grace we are saved through faith, not by works of righteousness we have done"; that is, not by performing the works of the Law of Moses.
Since we now have come to the place in the plan of redemption where God is ready to create us in His image and likeness, which always has been His goal, we can understand that a "grace" that does not result in actual righteousness of behavior is not fulfilling God's purpose of creating us in His moral image.
Our goal as Christian believers is not eternal residence in Heaven. Our goal is God's original goal of being in God's moral image and outer likeness.
This is so clear to us today; but it apparently has not been as clear in time past.
This Sunday morning (August 18, 2013). I pointed out to our congregation that when God does great things it is not always perceived by everyone. A good example is the bringing of the baby Jesus into the Temple. Of the numerous people there at the time, only Anna and Simeon perceived that God was doing something unprecedented and with worldwide significance.
So it is in our day. We have the blood atonement. We know of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can pray and receive the Holy Spirit.
Now we have come to something farther along in the plan of redemption: we are to follow the Spirit of God into the creating of us in God's moral image.
Such change requires, as we might imagine, the conquering of our sinful nature; the filling of us with Christ; and, in the Day of Christ, our resurrection from the dead.
We recently may have become aware that the Holy Spirit is revealing to us the sins we are practicing. We are to confess these, as they are shown to us, and turn away from them with the help of the Lord Jesus.
As we gain victory over the sins of our behavior, we are being fed in the Spirit the body and blood of Christ. This is the "hidden manna" that is forming Christ in us, along with the operation of the gifts and ministries in ourselves and in others.
As Christ is formed in us, and we are keeping the commandments of Christ, the Father and the Son come and take up Their residence in us.
The acts of the Divine redemption are creating the moral image of God in us, in accordance with God's original declaration at the beginning of the creation.
The final act of redemption (although we will have eternity to become more completely in God's image) will be the raising of our flesh and bones from their place of interment and the filling of them with the Spirit of God.
I was not taught about these mighty works of the Spirit when I first received Christ. I was taught that "grace" took their place.
Upon leaving the Marine Corps, when the Second World War was concluded, I attended Bible school.
There I was taught the same definition of grace that I had learned while I was in the service. But I was taught something even more destructive. I was instructed that no one is able to do God's will perfectly. Some person some day might be able to do God's will perfectly, and then marvelous things would come to pass.
My father was living in a hotel in Los Angeles. My mother was in a hospital in San Bernardo. I have no brothers or sisters or relatives who were close by the Bible school in San Diego. I was not married. I was as free as the air, in that respect.
So one day at the Berean Bible School, during recess, I said to the Lord: "If you will help me, I will do your perfect will." I don't remember if at the time I wanted to do great things for God. It just seemed right to me. I could not understand what was so difficult about doing God's will.
When recess was over, I returned to the classroom. Someone at the rear of the class, I do not know who, prophesied. He or she said: "If you mean what you say, it will be a blessing to many people." I meant it then. I mean it today, 68 years later.
Have I made mistakes along the way? You bet I have. Have I ever been deceived as I attempted to follow the Spirit? Yes. But when I realized I was in error, I confessed my mistake; made restitution when it was necessary; and continued to press forward.
Anyone can do that!
In addition to being created in the moral image of Christ, we must learn to do God's will. And not just doing God's will, but delighting in God's will. The primary law of the Kingdom of God today, and for eternity, is stern obedience to God's King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the greatest pleasure of all to the mature believer..
In the Book of Hebrews we are told about the importance of entering the "rest" of God. The "rest" of God is compared to Canaan, to the land of promise.
Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11)
We enter the rest of God when every enemy that would seek to prevent us from doing God's will has been overcome through Christ.
Some of the enemies that strive against us are: our bodily appetites and lusts; our sinful nature; Satan; the demons and fallen angels; the world; and our self-will.
We can see from this that our discipleship is one long warfare against every enemy that is opposed to our doing God's will. Christ will help us come to the position where we are in untroubled rest in the center of God's Person and will. Such is our goal, along with being created in Christ's internal moral image and external bodily image.
We do not strive toward these two goals, change into Christ's image and rest in the Father's will, so we can go to Heaven. Heaven is where rebellion against God began! Rather, we press toward these two goals so we may have fellowship with God and so we may assist in establishing and maintaining the Kingdom of God throughout the creation.
How did the Christian churches ever get so far away from God's Word that they decided no one could do God's will and must be brought to Heaven by forgiveness independently of any moral change?
I think this persuasion comes directly from Satan, who understands that immature Christians who are brought to Heaven by "grace" and do not undergo moral transformation are no threat to him or his kingdom.
Does the Bible say it is impossible to do God's will and we must be saved by "grace"?
This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. (I John 5:2,3)
Would you deduce from the verses above that we show our love for God by doing His will? What if we do not keep His commandments?
"If you love me, keep my commands." (John 14:15)
What if we do not keep the commands of Jesus? What is your conclusion?
And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. (Hebrews 3:18,19)
Could we gather from the passage above that we demonstrate our belief in Christ by obeying Him?
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32)
I can understand how a theologian might interpret Romans 11:32 as meaning that God has made us disobedient so He could bring us all to Heaven by mercy (grace).
Please keep in mind that God's actual objective is not to bring us to Heaven but to make us in His image. The unscriptural tradition that eternal residence in Heaven is the goal of salvation produces confusion when one is seeking to determine God's will for us.
Notice in the following passage that Paul's conclusion from his preceding comments in Chapter Eleven is not that we surrender to the bondage of unbelief but that we seek God's perfect will for our life.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1,2)
"Therefore (that is, because of what I just said in Chapter Eleven), offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." That is not the usual conclusion of many theologians. What they suggest is that we merely assent to the fact that God is merciful and trust in His mercy to carry us off to Heaven no matter how we behave. What else can we do, since He has bound us all over to unbelief?
What is the purpose of offering our body as a living sacrifice to God? It is because our body, with its lusts and appetites is an enemy of God. Our mind, in particular, is hostile to God.
Paul sought to keep control of the desires of his body:
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
(I Corinthians 9:27 )
If we do not, through Christ, gain control of the lusts of our body, we cannot possibly attain to untroubled rest in the center of God's Person and will.
" Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Because of the multitude of communication devices in our day constantly bombarding our mind with information of one sort or another, plus the attractiveness of the American culture, it is exceedingly difficult to keep from being conformed to the pattern of this world.
That doesn't sound much like being saved by "grace," does it? It is a daily fight to keep our mind in the heavenlies, and not surrender to the various lusts and fears that abound in our culture. It hardly is a passive assent to the fact that we are destined to be disobedient and so we are to drift along until we are "raptured" to Heaven because of God's mercy.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Is it important that we find out God's will, which is good, pleasing and perfect? Apparently so.
I have heard it said that there are three wills of God, the good, the pleasing, and the perfect. This is sheer nonsense. If it is God's will for us to do a certain thing, then we either do it or else do not do it. We cannot "kind of" do God's will. There is no gray area here. We either do God's will or we do not do God's will. Satan is in the gray areas.
But we have to work at it in order to know for sure what God's will is. First of all, we have to present our body a living sacrifice. We cannot possibly discover God's will if we do not get victory over the lusts and pleasures that call to us. We have to pray until we know what is right, and then do it whether or not we like it.
People who would be Christians sometimes fail because they cannot walk the straight and narrow way. When the siren call of pleasure sounds in their ears, off they go to their destruction. It takes rugged determination to make a success of one's discipleship!
Anyone who does not do God's perfect will at all times is a rebel against Christ. Notice what Isaiah says about the fate of rebels:
And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind. (Isaiah 66:24)
I expect when American Christians read the above verse they think to themselves, "This never could happen to me!"
I understand that American and European Christians may believe I am being extreme. This is because they are comfortable and complacent, many of them. They have been taught that God loves us so much He would never let us suffer in the manner Isaiah describes.
It appears to me the philosophy of Humanism has affected Christian preaching until we are not willing to believe God really will severely punish disobedient people.
We do not really believe in the full verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. Rather we believe Satan when he says, "You shall not surely die."
We may read of the atrocities in Africa, but cannot comprehend them. We may notice that a worshiper may have his arms cut off and sewn on backwards, or was just left without arms. Can you picture the difficulty of trying to live without arms?
I think the Africans who have seen their loved ones raped, maimed, tortured, or slain, would not have as much trouble believing that the dead bodies of people who do not do God's will would actually be left so people could go on field trips and see the worms eternally feeding on them or fire eternally burning them.
We need to wake up!
Put yourself in God's place. Supposing you, in joy and happiness, created people to be your sons and daughters, as brothers and sisters for your beloved Son.
But they would not obey you. They chose to conduct their own life and pay minimal or no attention to you, the great Spirit who brought them all into existence.
Would you be so much in love with the works of your hands that you would receive them anyway. Would you dare to punish them severely, knowing that they then would criticize you and call you mean and unrighteous?
Sometimes American parents withhold some desired thing or circumstance from their child. They try to tell him that he must not spend all of his time on his electronic games.
His response probably will be: "I hate you!"
Then mommy and daddy will surrender and smother their little monster with kisses and let him do whatever he wants. So it often is in America.
Actually the parents do not love their child, only themselves.
Do we truly believe the God of Heaven is like that? Do we truly believe that He is upset because we do not think He is righteous? The truth is, God laughs when we seek to escape from His rulership. We are like ants on the ground, waving our feelers at God.
God will never try to make peace with humans, hoping to gain their love. If we think He will, we have very little understanding of God!
God gave His Son. That is the greatest gift He can give. The rest is up to us, to live in obedience to His Spirit.
God's will is a delight, once we gain victory over our worldliness, fleshly lusts, and self-will. There is no greater joy than to realize we are doing exactly what God desires of us. When this is true, we look forward to physical death with the anticipation of happiness, knowing we will be ushered into the Presence of a smiling Jesus.
But such will not be the case with numerous Americans who think of themselves as Christians. They will stand with their pastors and evangelists before an angry Christ. They never were changed throughout their life as a Christian. They remain the same shrunken spirits with filthy garments. They and their leaders will be sent to live with people like themselves until the final judgment.
What I have written in this essay does not correspond with contemporary Christian teaching and thinking. I realize that. This leads me to believe that God may send one last revival to America in order that many Christians might repent of their sins and humbly seek the Lord Jesus for His help in leading a godly life.
After that period of repentance, Divine judgment surely will fall on America. Many will be slain. Our country will be diminished until it is a third of its present size. It no longer will be a leader in the world, the leadership having passed to the Eastern nations.
Such is my present understanding of the future.
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. (Proverbs 14:34)