The Will of God (Part 2): Sovereign Will

*Just a reminder: In the first few parts of this series I will be explaining the traditionally accepted view of the will of God. I do not necessarily believe all that I will write in these three posts to be true and accurate with Scripture. The posts are simply to lay out for you the ideas so that I can better critique them and set forth my view and what Scripture really says*

According to the traditional view of God's will, there are three distinct wills of God:

1. The Sovereign will of God
2. The Moral will of God
3. The Individual will of God

In today's post I will define and explain God's sovereign will (according to the traditional view). The sovereign will is God's secret plan that determines everything that happens in the universe. It is that which God purposes/has purposed to come to pass in eternity past. Since God's sovereign will is secret (until it comes to pass or is prophetically revealed to us by God through Scripture), it does not directly affect or decision making. Included in God's sovereign will are things such as creation, God's plan to redeem mankind, the death of Jesus, God's choice of Jacob over Esau, natural disasters, etc.

The following are key points about the sovereign will:

1. It is unaffected by man

34 "...For his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'"
- Dan. 4:34-35

2. It is unknown by man in advance

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
- Rev. 4:11

3. It does not directly affect our decision making

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
- Deut. 29:29

Here is a helpful contrast of the individual will vs. the sovereign will:

Individual Will
1. A detailed plan for all decisions in a believer's life.
2. The Believer is able to find and know it.
3. Believers are expected to find it as part of the Christian life.
4. Believers can miss it by failure to discover or obey it.
5. Includes only that which is good and ideal.
6. Must be discovered before a decision can be made.
7. Directly Ideal Plan: It is in harmony with the Bible and is always the most ideal decision and so brings glory to God

Sovereign Will
1. A detailed plan for all events in the universe.
2. It is hidden — the believer cannot find and know it.
3. Believers are not expected to find it as part of the Christian life.
4. Believers cannot miss it because it always comes to pass.
5. Includes both good and evil.
6. Can only be discovered after it happens.
7. Indirectly Ideal Plan: Though it includes evil acts and foolish decisions, it will ultimately lead to God's glory.

Scriptural Proof

Most of the passages which speak of the sovereign will of God can be found in the Old Testament, although a main category of the uses of the phrases "the will of God" and "God's will" in the New Testament are attributed to the sovereign will - specifically those in connection with Paul's calling and apostleship (i.e., "called by the will of God"). In addition to the ones listed above, here are some more passages which indicate the sovereign will of God:
Num. 23:19; Job 14:5; Psalm 33:11; Prov. 16:33, 21:1; Isaiah 14:24, 37:26, 45:7 46:9-11; Dan. 2:28; Amos 3:6; Matt. 25:34; John 6:64; Acts 1:24, 26, 2:23, 4:27-28, 15:18; Romans 9:19, 11:33-36; 1Cor. 1:1; 2Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 2Tim. 1:1; James 1:17; 1Peter 1:20
Also, since prophecy can be attributed to God's sovereign will, a whole host of prophetic passages also fall under this category.