Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Westminster Confession (3.1) states, “God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”

I. God’s Decretive Will

The Decretive Will of God is sometimes referred to as God’s Sovereign, efficacious will, by which what he decrees must necessarily come to pass.

If God sovereignly degrees that something will happen, it will certainly take place.

The decretive will of God is irresistible.

This will is eternal and for his eternal purposes, but which is foreordains everything that comes to pass.

The Decretive will focuses on God’s lordship attitude of control.

And as said before, the decretive will cannot be successfully opposed.

Some have referred to God’s Decretive Will as God’s hidden or secret will, but that is misleading because God reveals some of His decrees through His Word.

The facts of God’s decretive will excludes libertarianism.

God’s decision as to what will actually happen is not based on his foreknowledge of the libertarisn free choices of men.

It is based, instead, on His choice to His historical drama in a certain way.

The decretive Will of God characterizes all of God’s essence, so it is eternal, immutable, independent, and omnipotent.

The Scriptures are clear concerning the Decretive Will of God.

This does not mean that he is the immediate or efficient cause of all things but that all things exist or occur by his eternal sovereign decree.

Although God decrees whatsoever things comes to pass, yet He does not coerce his creature to do anything.

He ordains the free choices of men.

And although man does have free choices, man’s choices are not libertarian free choices, they are always based on teh strongest desire of the man’s heart at the time.

Thus, sin is in God’s overall plan.

He does not condone his creatures’ disobedience, nor is he the immediate or efficient cause of sin (James 1:13).

He does not delight in the existence of sin in itself, but he ordains it by his decree in order to accomplish the most wise and holy end of bringing ultimate glory to himself

One should bear in mind two cautions about God’s decretive will.

First, whenever God’s decretive will includes sin, that sin is certain to occur, but it will be initiated by the volition of the sinner.

And second, God’s meticulous providence includes him upholding the various natural processes and even crafting (without compromising his holiness) the circumstances of an individual’s decision to sin

Amos

That is God’s Decretive Will

II.

God’s Preceptive Will

The Preceptive Will refers to God’s precepts or commands, the law He enjoins to His creatures.

We are able to violate his preceptive will.

That is, we are capable of sinning, of disobeying His law.

This is a classic case of the difference between may and can.

Can refers to ability, while may refers to positive permission.

John 7:17

It is often called God’s “revealed” or “signified” will.

At times the decretive will and the preceptive will coincide, but often as part of his decretive will, God ordains that the creature disobey his preceptive will.

God has included sin in His plan, forbidding man to sine yet using sin as a means of bringing the greatest amount of glory to Himself.

In both his decretive will and his preceptive will, God does not take pleasure in sin, not does he absolutely determine to save all people.

God’s decretive will is executed by means of his preceptive will.

God’s decretive will and preceptive will must be held in tension.

To deny his preceptive will is to commit injustice against God’s holiness and to ignore the gravity of sin, but to deny God’s decretive will is to deny his omniscience, wisdom, omnipotence, and sovereignty

III.

God’s Will of Disposition

This refers to the will of God that is pleasing or delightful to Him.

Now, let’s apply all three of these “wills” to one of the Semi-Pelgians favorit verses.

2 Peter 3:9

Let me quote from R.C. Sproul:

1. God is not willing (in the sovereign, decretive sense) that any should perish.

This means every person will be redeemed.

No person will ever perish.

This interpretation proves more than the Arminian or semi-Pelagian wants.

It establishes universalism, which puts this text on a collision course with everything the Bible teaches about particularism.

2. God is not willing (in the preceptive sense) that any should perish.

This means God forbids, in a moral sense, anyone to perish.

To perish is an act of disobedience or a sin.

Now surely anyone who in fact does perish does so as a law-breaker and is guilty of manifold acts of disobedience.

It is possible to interpret the text in this manner, but it is a highly unlikely choice.

It jars the mind to say that the text means merely that God does not “allow” people to perish.

3. God is not willing (in the dispositional sense) that any should perish.

This means virtually the same thing as other texts, for example, those that say God does not delight in the death of the wicked.

This speaks of God’s common grace and general love or benevolence for mankind.

A human judge who sentences a guilty person to prison does not enjoy this task.

He takes no gleeful delight in meting out punishment, yet he performs the task in order to uphold justice.

We know that God is not full of glee when a wicked person dies, yet he still wills that death in some sense.

Nor does this mean that God does something he really does not want to do.

God wanted his Son to die on the cross.

He ordained, willed, and commanded it.

In one sense it pleased God to bruise his Son.

His divine pleasure came, not from inflicting his wrath on his beloved Son, but from bringing about redemption.

Of these three options, this one fits the whole context of Scripture the best.

Now, I hate to depart from my Reformed friends; let alone, R.C. Sproul.

Nor would I be so arrogant to even insinuate that I am smarter the many of my reformed brethren, but we ant to line of Scripture, not a particular theologian.

I believe that is, in fact, the decretive will of God; not do I believe that it teaches universalism.

Here is the main reason for my understanding of this passage as the decretive will of God.

Let’s see what the passage says:

Notice: “patient towards you....”

Who is the “you”.

2 Peter

Who is the book addressed?

Believers..

Who is Peter referring in ?

Believers...

To when Peter speaks about the fact that God is “patient to you”, who is He referring to?

Believers....

So if should be clear to us, by way of context, that if Peter is referring to believers as the addressee and that Peter is referring to Peter concerning the promises of verse 9, then there is no reason to conclude that it is a different group of people that “God is not willing to Perish”, right?

So if God is not willing that “any should perish” and that is speaking to believers, would it not hold that this is a decretive will?

Conclusion:

When we see the will of God mentioned in the Scripture, always interpret it by way of context.