God’s Influence of Man’s Will

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 the 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.

John 8:3-9 “Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, (4) they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  (5)  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"  (6)  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.  (7)  So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first."  (8)  And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  (9)  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

Another method that God uses to influence the wills of unbelievers is by allowing their conscience to convict them to do that which is right. In the above quoted passage of scripture we see the Lord Jesus using that method. In this account the men who accused the woman of adultery had two motives, both of which were evil. Their main motive was to set a trap for the Lord to publically override the law given to Moses, for they were convinced that Jesus would not allow them to stone the woman. And so they intended to use that anticipated response from the Lord as a pretext to condemn Him for rejecting the Law of Moses. Their second motive was to stone the woman, even though they had set her up and were thus complicit in her sin. Nevertheless our Lord knew their intentions, and so His reply to their accusations confounded them, for they never expected Him to say what He said and they were at a loss as to how to deal with the Lord’s statement. Our Lord knew all along that the consciences of these men would convict them of their wrongdoing, and so He just bided His time and let their consciences influence their wills, which ultimately resulted in them deciding to give up their chosen course of action. This account reveals another of the very many ways that the Lord uses to influence man’s will.

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

We have seen thus far that God uses the minds and consciences of unbelievers to influence them to act in accordance with His will. There are two parts of man however that God does not use to influence the wills of unbelievers, which are their spirits and their bodies. So why is that? The answer lies in the condition of the spirits and bodies of unbelievers, for both of those parts of unbelievers are only motivated by evil. The spirits of the unbelievers are motivated by evil because they have the nature of their father, the devil (John 8:44). The bodies of the unbelievers are motivated by evil because as we have already established, their bodies are contaminated with the sin virus. Therefore because these two parts of the unbeliever can only be motivated by evil, God does not use them for His purposes. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit teaches us that God cannot be tempted by evil and neither does He tempt anyone Himself. The implication is that because God cannot be tempted by evil neither does He tempt anyone with evil. To tempt someone with evil is to influence them to commit sin as an act of their free will. And so because the spirit and the body of unbelievers will only respond to influences to commit sin, God does not use those parts of unbelievers to influence their wills, for God does not become complicit in sin.

Romans 8:14-16 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. …  (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

 Unlike unbelievers, God uses the spirits of believers to influence the decisions of their wills. In fact the spirit of the believer is the primary method that God uses to influence the decisions of His saints. So why is that? The reason is because believers are born-again, which means that their spirits have the nature of God and can only be motivated by righteousness. Under the Old Covenant God could not use this method to guide His saints, because their spirits were not yet born-again. And so because the spirit of the born-again believer is created in righteousness the Holy Spirit now resides in our spirits. And one of the reasons God has given us His Spirit is to guide us in the decisions that we make in life. This truth is revealed to us in passage of scripture quoted above, for God says that we are to be led by the Spirit of God. In other words we should never make any major decision in life without seeking the counsel of the Holy Spirit first. So how does God do that? This passage declares that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits as to what God’s will is for our lives. This is one of the reasons why the apostle Paul keeps encouraging the saints to walk in the spirit, because God always leads us in the affairs of life through our spirits (Galatians 5:25).

Acts 9:10-12 “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord."  (11)  So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.  (12) And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

 God also speaks directly into the minds of the believers to influence their decision making. However God seldom uses this method as far as the believer is concerned, because as we have already discussed, His primary method is through the spirit of the believer. In the passage of scripture quoted above we see the account of our Lord appearing to Ananias instructing him what He wanted him to do. Although this was a spiritual vision, nevertheless the Lord spoke directly to Ananias so that he clearly understood what the Lord’s will was. There are very few accounts similar to this one in the New Testament, which just reinforces the truth to us that very seldom does God, use this method to influence our wills. God does use our minds to influence our wills through the teaching of His word however. Nevertheless that form of influence impacts more on the lifestyle of the believer, rather than specific guidance to walk in God’s plan for their lives.

Acts 24:16 “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

Our consciences are given to us by God to always guide us to do good and reject evil. Because of this truth God always uses the conscience of believers to influence their wills to act in accordance with His will for their lives. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms this truth for us, for in this passage he teaches us that he had learnt to always be obedient to his conscience. Paul stated that the reason he obeyed his conscience was so that he would not offend the Lord. When we walk outside of God’s perfect will for our lives then we offend Him, and so believers who walk according to the counsel of their conscience can be assured that they will  always walk according to God’s will for their lives.

James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”

We have already looked at the above quoted passage of scripture to demonstrate why God does not use the bodies of unbelievers to influence their wills. That same truth is applicable for believers however, because as we have already discussed earlier, the bodies of believers are also contaminated with the sin virus, which means that the only thing that motivates them is sin. Therefore for obvious reasons God does not use the body of believers in influencing their wills.

Michael E.B. Maher

The Will of Man

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