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               PERFECT OR PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD?

That was a question a friend asked me yesterday. Below was my response. Your comments are welcome.

“As far as God is concerned, there is actually no such thing as “The permissive will of God” and “The perfect will of God”. It is either the will of God or the will of man. What people ignorantly refer to as “The permissive will of God” is “Disobedience to the will of God for man” which is a beautiful way of describing the will of man against the will of God.

What this means is that when man opposes the will of God in his life, he refers to it as the permissive will of God, which is not true. God cannot permit what he has not purposed for anyone. When men decide to disobey God by carrying out what is in their own hearts as opposed to the will of God for their lives, they deceive themselves into believing that God has approved such, which is not true.

For instance, the will of God is that man should be one with him by obeying his commandments and leading a life of holiness and righteousness, but men have chosen to disobey God and follow Satan. It is their choice and not God’s. God does not permit us to disobey him. But if we choose to do so, he cannot force us. That of course must not take
as God’s approval for our actions.

Let me give you a practical example from the Bible. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world to die for the sins of the world. That was the will of God for him. That was the only reason he came to this world. All the miracles, signs and wonders he performed were by the way side. Dying on the cross was not an easy assignment. As flesh, Jesus was afraid to die. As Spirit, he was not ready to go against the will of the Father. That is what makes the difference. Those who seek the so-called permissive will of God are carnally minded individuals- children of disobedience who are not willing to submit to the will of the father for their lives.

Though Jesus came to this world as human like us, he was always in the spirit so he knew the will of the Father for him at any given time. He knew what it meant to do otherwise. So he did not go against the will of the Father which is what you refer to as “The permissive will of God”. He submitted and did as the Father had purposed for him. Let us consider the following scripture:

Mathew 26 vs. 36 -44

“Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.”

It is clear from the above scripture that the human side of Jesus had his own will which was to stop the death sentence that faced him. But at the same time, he knew that the will of the Father superseded his. Though he asked the Father to take away the cup from him, he did not insist that the Father must listen to him and do as he said.

Listen to his prayer again:

“And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

This obviously means that Jesus did not seek the so-called permissive will of the Father. He knew that anything outside the will of God was his own will and such would be against what the Father had planned for him which is what you described as the perfect will of the God.

In conclusion, God allows people to do what they want if they refuse to obey his will. That however does not mean that God approves of it. The truth of the matter is that man always wants to have his own way as opposed to the plan of God for him. Those who refuse to submit to God always do what they want. God has no hand in that because the end is always disastrous.

After thought:

I am not a man of God today because I chose to. I am because it is the will of God for my life. I neglected the call of God for many years and I suffered dearly for it. Life was miserable. Nothing I did gave me peace. That was because I was following my own will instead of the will of God for my life. God’s will brings peace of mind; the will of man can only bring us pain. This has become very common especially in marriages where many have chosen a spouse that was not approved of God. That is another matter altogether.

I wanted to be famous in the movie industry. I have the talent and the knowledge, but it was not God’s will for my life to focus on that as my main career. I have been called to win souls. That is the will of God for my life and my primary assignment in this world. Anything else is secondary.

On the other hand, I could have as well stayed in the movie industry and claim that it was the permissive will of God for me to be there when in reality it was my own my own selfish desire as opposed to being a man of God which is the will of God for me. I would claim that God approved of it, but it would be a lie.

Simply put, God’s will is God’s will. He doesn’t change his will for any man. We are the ones who oppose God’s will and do as we please, then we turn round and call it God’s “permissive will” which in reality is disobedience to the will of God. It is dangerous for any man to oppose God. Thank you.