God knows what motivates us

Ephesians 1:11 “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”

We have seen thus far the clear biblical truth that God predestines our lives, and we have also seen the clear biblical truth that God has given mankind a free will. So how do we reconcile these two biblical truths that seemingly contradict each other, i.e. the will of God prevailing in the affairs of mankind even though men have a will of their own? The above passage of scripture gives us some insight into just how God does this. For the scripture says that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. In other words God is able to influence men to make decisions of their own free will, in accordance with His will for their lives. Nevertheless because God does not create robots, He does not just reprogram man’s will to fall in line with His will. So how does God influence men to make decisions in accordance with His will? We have already established that God knows everything, and so because He knows everything about us He knows what motivates each one of us. In other words He knows what influences we will listen to and which we will ignore in making our decisions in life, and so He uses that knowledge to shape the decisions we make.

2 Chronicles 18:18-21 “Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left. (19) And the Lord said, 'Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So, one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. (20) Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, 'I will persuade him.' The Lord said to him, 'In what way?' (21) So, he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.”

We have seen in a previous section how the various parts of man exert influence on the will of man, and so when God influences the will of man He uses the parts of man that He created to do so. However as we will see in this section, there is a difference between believers and unbelievers in the parts of man that God uses. One of the methods that God uses to influence the wills of unbelievers is by placing thoughts directly into their minds from an external source, and the above quoted passage of scripture is an example of God using that method. This passage gives us clear insight into one of the ways that the Lord works all things according to the counsel of His will. In this passage we can see that it was the will of the Lord that king Ahab should die. But not only was it the Lord’s will that he died at that time, but the Lord also had a specific purpose for him dying in battle at Ramoth Gilead. The Lord then discussed the issue with His angels. Two of the Lord’s angels made certain suggestions as to how they could persuade Ahab to go to war against the Syrians at Ramoth Gilead. But then Satan came before the Lord, and he stated that he would be able to influence Ahab to go up. We know that the spirit in this passage of scripture was Satan, for he said that he would be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets, and Satan is the father of all lies (John 8:44). The main point that I want raise from this account however, is that Ahab liked to listen to the counsel of his false prophets and God knew that. And so when Satan made his suggestion, God knew that Satan would succeed. If you read the account further you will see that this is exactly what happened, i.e. Ahab inquired of his prophets whether he should go to war against the Syrians at Ramoth Gilead and that is exactly what they advised him to do. Nevertheless in that same account God did not leave Himself without witness, for His own prophet Micaiah warned Ahab not to go up. However, Ahab chose not to listen to the Lord’s prophet but rather to his own prophets, which is what the Lord knew that he would do. And so we see just how it is that God influences man’s decisions so that His will is done in the earth. This account only reveals one of the very many ways that the Lord uses to influence man’s will. Nevertheless we can see clearly from this account, that in this life God never forces men to do His will, for Ahab made his own choice.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Will of Man

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