Discover the will of God for you – Part 6
Emeritus Prof. Mercy Olumide
“by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor 15:2)
“IF you hold fast that word which I preached.” Believers are not those who merely have faith in Jesus Christ. Rather believers are those who have faith in Christ as He is revealed in the full message of the gospel (vv.1-4). Their faith in Christ is always bound to the Word of God and the doctrine of the apostles (vv.1,3; 11:2,23; Rom 6:17; Gal 1:12). For this reason, believers can be described as people who submit to the Christ of the Bible as Lord and Saviour and who live under the Word of God. They submit without reservation to its authority, hold firmly to its teaching, trust its promises, heed its warnings and follow its commands. They are a people captive to God’s Word, using Scripture to test all human ideas and accepting nothing that is contrary to the Bible.
If you believe there is God then the starting point is to want to know God. You cannot do the will of someone you do not know.
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Mat 11:27)
The will of God means believing Christ
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (Jn 6:29)
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn 6:38-40)
“the will of Him who sent me.” It is important to understand the relationship of the Father’s will to human responsibility. (1) It is not the will of God that any believer should fall from grace (cf. Gal 5:4) and subsequently be separated from God; neither is it His will that any individual should perish (2 Pet 3:9) or fail to come to the truth and be saved (1 Tim 2:4). (2) However, there is a great difference between God’s desires for us and wrong human choices. He does not abrogate the human responsibility to repent and believe, even if it means His perfect will is not done (see Luke 19:41 on Jesus weeping over Jerusalem). God does not force His will on us (Rev 3:20).
• Email:mercyolumide2004@yahoo.co.uk. www.thebiblicalwomanhood.com Mobile: +234 803 344 6614; +234 808 123 7987
