Written by
Dr. Paul Dean
The concept of God’s will has only two meanings in Scripture. There is the concept of God’s decretive (concealed) will which refers to that which God has ordained to come to pass. God has a plan for His universe that unfolds before us in time. His plan is secret and known only to Him (Deut. 29:29). He has revealed certain elements of that plan such as the fact that Christ is coming again. However, no one knows the future. Thus, no one can know the secret plan of God. Confusion abounds in this regard as many believers attempt to discover “God’s will for their lives” through various means including impressions, feelings, promptings, dreams, visions, voices, signs, etc. The problem is that no one can know what the future holds. In fact, such planning and prognostication is evil (Jas. 4:13-17).
There is also the concept in Scripture of God’s prescriptive (revealed) will. In other words, God has given His word to believers that they might know His will for them. His will for the Christian is revealed in His word.
Christians are to avail themselves of God’s means of grace that they might walk in the Spirit and bear fruit. God graciously works in their lives by the Spirit. At the same time, He uses means. As the children of God saturate their minds with God’s word, as they pray, as they worship, etc., they will gain a more intimate knowledge of God, His character, and His ways. They understand how He wants them to live their lives as the Spirit applies His word to their hearts. As Christians walk in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is born in their lives.
Knowledge of God’s will, that is, what He wants His children to do, is no mere obedience to a set of rules or commands. God certainly gives commands, but He also gives principles. He desires that His children seek a closer relationship with Him, and that they seek to apply His commands and principles to their lives and decision making, so that His character might shine through them for His glory. He expects Christians to grow in knowledge and wisdom that they might be wise in their decision making. In simple terms, Christians must gain wisdom to know how to apply God’s revealed will (Scripture) to their lives. As they do so, they can be confident they are fulfilling God’s will for their lives.
God’s decretive will cannot be changed. He has a plan that will come to pass. Christians cannot miss that will as God has ordained it and brings it about through His providential control of all things. The Christian need not try and figure out what that plan is. The Christian must simply glean wisdom to walk in God’s ways. That is precisely why Paul prays the way he does in this text.
The apostle Paul prays that the Colossians “may be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] (revealed) will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” “Wisdom” refers to an ability to take one’s spiritual understanding and apply it to one’s particular life or a particular situation. “Spiritual understanding” refers to insight into God’s character, commands, and ways as revealed in His word. As the unbeliever cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14), the believer can understand such things. The believer grows in such understanding as he/she is progressively sanctified. That sanctification process is increased as one avails himself of the means of grace (worship, fellowship, the word, and prayer). This individual grows in his understanding of the things of God.
Thus, a person who has spiritual understanding must then have wisdom to apply that understanding to his life. If a person has wisdom, he can walk confident that he is pleasing God because with spiritual understanding and wisdom he is now being filled with the knowledge of God’s (revealed) will. As he is filled with that knowledge, he has the ability to apply it to his life. As he does so, he is filled with joy and God is glorified