The Will of God (Part 5): Critique of the Traditional View

*Warning: If you have not yet read my last four posts, go read them now. Do not read this post until you have done so.*

Now that I have laid out the ideas of the traditional view of God's will, I will take some time to critique it. The primary question I will be asking is, "Does this agree with Scripture?"
I will give my thoughts on each of the three wills proposed in the traditional view and examine if they are really in harmony with what the Bible says.
(Each section heading is a link to my previous post on the subject.)

The Sovereign Will

The sovereign will of God is one which Scripture makes very clear. It is without question that God does have a sovereign will. We see this all throughout Scripture and history.

God's sovereign will is:

1. Certain - it will be fulfilled (Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22; Isaiah 53:3-12; Daniel 9:26; Matt. 26:24; Luke 22:21; Acts 1:16; 1 Peter 1:20)

[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?”
(Daniel 4:35 ESV)

2. Detailed - it includes all things (Psalm 139:16; Prov. 21:1; Romans 8:29-30; Eph. 1:11; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; James 4:13-15; Rev. 4:11)

[13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— [14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
(James 4:13-15 ESV)

3. Hidden - except when revealed by prophecy (Psalm 115:3; Romans 11:33-34; James 4:15)

[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.
(Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV)

4. Supreme - without violating human responsibility or making God the author of sin (Psalm 145:17; Isa. 6:3; Acts 2:23, 14:16)

[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
(James 1:13 ESV)

5. Perfect - working all things together for God's glory and our good (Gen. 3:15; Rom. 5:20, 11:15, 30-33; Eph. 1:4; James 1:2-4; Rev. 5)

[28] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
(Romans 8:28-29 ESV)

The Moral Will

The moral will of God is a clearly presented truth of Scripture. No Bible-believing evangelical in his right mind will/can argue against the idea of God's moral will. The sticky situation, though, begins at this point concerning the degree to which God's moral will provides guidance in our decision making. The traditional view says that the moral will only provides most of the guidance required for our decision making, and that a knowledge of God's individual will is required for complete guidance where the moral will (Scripture) is "lacking" or "insufficient."

My premise is that God's moral will revealed in Scripture provides the Believer with all he needs to know in order to make decisions that are pleasing to God (i.e., within God's will). This is why I spent a week talking about "The Sufficiency of Scripture" before I jumped into "The Will of God."
(*If you did not read those posts, go do so now! here, here, and here*)
This truth is one which I believe is taught throughout the Bible and is exemplified best in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

[16] All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

(see also: Matt. 4:4-10, 5:18, 22:29; Romans 2:18; Eph. 5:1; 1 Thess. 4:3, 5:12-18; Heb. 1:1-2; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Peter 1:19-21 1 john 5:3)

The nature of God's Moral Will:

1. Origin: It is the expression of God's character.
2. Communication: Is is fully revealed in the Bible.
3. Scope: It touches every aspect and moment of life - goals, attitudes, means, and perspectives (why, how, and what).
4. Impact: It is able to equip believers for every good work.

The logical and biblical outcome of the moral will will be dealt with more fully in another post.

The Individual Will

The idea of the individual will of God is the focus of my disagreement with the traditional view. In the traditional view, the individual will is essential to making correct decisions in daily life and, ultimately, living our lives fully pleasing to God. This is where I disagree (and I believe I am supported by Scripture). Since this is my where my critique will be primarily focused, I will devote the next post entirely to examining the individual will. But, just to get you thinking, here are some of the main problems of the individual will with which I will deal:

1. "Ordinary" decisions
2. Equal options
3. Immaturity
4. Subjectivity