What the Bible Says about How to Know God's Will E-Book

Wayne Grudem

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: What the Bible Says about . . .
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

At some point, every Christian wonders, What is God's will for me in this situation? There are many situations for which Scripture doesn't provide a black-and-white answer. In this book, adapted from his larger work Christian Ethics, Wayne Grudem helps readers stop overcomplicating God's will and instead embrace the different ways they acquire wisdom for daily life. He lays out guidelines for making decisions both big and small. After looking at the 4 dimensions of every action (the action itself, attitudes, motives, and results), Grudem works through 9 sources of information and guidance, both objective (information from the Bible, information from studying the situation, information about ourselves, advice from others, changed circumstances) and subjective (the conscience, the heart, the human spirit, and the Holy Spirit). Readers will gain insight into how to make the right decisions about situations that arise in their lives.

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“Besides its straightforwardness, clarity, and grounding in Scripture, what I like most about this book is its practicality. By following its counsel and being led by the Holy Spirit, Christians will be well equipped to discern and commit to God’s will for their lives!”

Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Pastor, Sojourn Community Church; author, Sojourners and Strangers; Roman Catholic Theology and Practice; and Historical Theology

“In my forty-five years of pastoral ministry, there is one question that I’ve been asked more than any other: How might I know God’s will? That is why I’m so happy to recommend Grudem’s short treatment of this topic. His analysis is not only thoroughly biblical, but also incredibly practical and easy to grasp. So whether you are a seasoned believer or a young Christian, were you to ask me that all-too-familiar question, I would send you to this book. I highly recommend it!”

Sam Storms, Senior Pastor, Bridgeway Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

“I wholeheartedly recommend Wayne Grudem’s book. These principles have guided my own decisions, and I’m thrilled to know they are in a book I can give to others.”

Jason Fritz, Lead and Founding Pastor, Illuminate Community Church, Scottsdale, Arizona

What the Bible Says about How to Know God’s Will

Books in This Series

What the Bible Says about Abortion, Euthanasia, and End-of-Life Medical Issues

What the Bible Says about How to Know God’s Will

What the Bible Says about How to Know God’s Will

Wayne Grudem

What the Bible Says about How to Know God’s Will

Copyright © 2020 by Wayne Grudem

Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

The content of this book has been adapted from “How to Know God’s Will: Factors to Consider in Making Ethical Decisions” in Wayne Grudem, Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 148–86 (chap. 6).

Cover design: Jeff Miller, Faceout StudiosCover image: Shutterstock

First printing, 2020

Printed in the United States of America

All Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-6990-6 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-6993-7 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-6991-3 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-6992-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Grudem, Wayne A., author. 

Title: What the Bible says about how to know God's will / Wayne Grudem. 

Description: Wheaton: Crossway, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. 

Identifiers: LCCN 2019034901 (print) | LCCN 2019034902 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433569906 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433569913 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433569920 (mobi) | ISBN 9781433569937 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: God (Christianity)—Will—Biblical teaching. | Christian Ethics—Biblical teaching. | Decision making—Religious Aspects—Christianity—Biblical teaching. 

Classification: LCC BT135 .G78 2018 (print) | LCC BT135 (ebook) | DDC 241—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019034901

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019034902

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2020-03-25 10:57:51 AM

Contents

Introduction

Decisions Can Be Quick or Drawn-Out, and Can Involve Major Events or Small Daily Activities

Four Dimensions of Every Action

Nine Sources of Information and Guidance

The Danger of Making This Process Too Complicated

Acquiring Wisdom: The Personal Skill Necessary for Ethical Living

Appendix: A Response to Garry Friesen’s Book Decision Making and the Will of God

Questions for Personal Application

Special Terms

Bibliography

Scripture Memory Passage

Hymn

General Index

Scripture Index

Introduction

What factors should we consider in making decisions?

What does it mean to be “led by the Holy Spirit”?

Christians instinctively want to live in a way that pleases God. In fact, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). But sometimes it is unclear what “keeping God’s commandments” implies when facing a specific decision. There are many times when it does not seem as if any specific teaching of Scripture can decide an issue for us.

This book is intended to provide helpful guidelines whenever people wonder, “What is God’s will for me in this specific situation?”

A. Decisions Can Be Quick or Drawn-Out, and Can Involve Major Events or Small Daily Activities

Some decisions must be made instantly. When Joseph was working in Potiphar’s house in Egypt, one day Potiphar’s wife “caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house” (Gen. 39:12; notice also his earlier pattern of wise responses in vv. 7–10). Joseph had only an instant to respond, and he made a wise decision and fled.1

Other decisions take more time. In this book I will explain multiple factors that can and should be considered when we have more time to make a decision and when the decision itself is important enough to consider in greater detail.

Sometimes knowing God’s will involves major decisions, such as what career to aim for, what subject a student should choose as a college major, or whom to marry. Sometimes the question is whether to take a new job or stay in the present job, which church to join, or whether to volunteer for a charitable cause or church activity. Still other situations may involve difficult end-of-life decisions regarding a terminally ill family member. And yet other decisions relate to convictions about public-policy issues, such as abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, war, marriage laws, or the legalization of marijuana.

At other times Christians desire to have God’s wisdom regarding simpler, everyday decisions, such as which emails to respond to or delete, which phone calls to make or postpone, or how to schedule various tasks that have to be done on certain days.

For all such questions, whether large or small, the following process should be helpful (even if only parts of this process are used in some situations).

The next two sections will discuss four dimensions of every action and nine sources of information that should be considered in any moral decision.

B. Four Dimensions of Every Action

Human actions have at least four dimensions that need to be considered when decisions need to be made:

1. The action itself

2. The person’s attitudes about the action

3. The person’s motives for doing the action (the reason why the person does something)

4. The results of the action

While the action itself, as soon as it is done, will be visible to you and to others, your attitudes and motives will be mostly invisible, and the results of the action will also be mostly invisible because they have not happened yet.

We can consider these four dimensions to every action in more detail.

1. The Action Itself. The first question to ask is, Is this a morally good action? To decide that, we need to know the commands of Scripture regarding the action.

Some actions are clearly prohibited by Scripture. The Bible tells us not to murder (Ex. 20:13), not to commit adultery (v. 14), not to steal (v. 15), not to bear false witness (v. 16), and so on. Other actions are commanded. Scripture says to “honor your father and your mother” (v. 12). Elsewhere the Bible tells us that we are to “pay . . . taxes to whom taxes are owed” (Rom. 13:7).

But many actions that we have to consider are neither specifically commanded nor specifically prohibited by Scripture, such as whether to accept a particular job offer, which used car to purchase, which church to join, or whom to marry. For such decisions, we need to consider other dimensions of the action in question, and we need to consider all nine sources of information.

2. The Person’s Attitudes about the Action. Because “the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7), it is not enough for us simply to do morally right actions. God also wants the attitudes of our hearts to be right before him:

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the heart. (Prov. 21:2)

In some cases, an action can be right and the results can be morally good, but a person’s attitudes might be wrong. For instance, if Julie’s mother tells her that she has to clean her room before she can go out to play with friends, she might do the right action (clean the room in a hurry) and get the right results (a clean room) but with the wrong attitude (she slams the door and cleans the room in anger and with simmering resentment against her mother).

3. The Person’s Motives for Doing the Action. Jesus taught us to beware of doing good actions with wrong motives, such as the desire to be praised by other people:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Matt. 6:1–2; cf. 23:5–7)

For example, consider a couple who are talking together about whether they should agree to help with their church’s youth ministry one night a week. If they honestly ask themselves why they want to do this, they might find that their motives are very positive ones, such as a desire to minister effectively to young people who come to their church, to be involved in a church activity in which their children participate, to do some kind of ministry together, to meet a need because of a shortage of volunteers at the time, or because of other similar motives. They might simply want to honor God in the way they conduct their lives and to advance his kingdom, as Jesus taught: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt.