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Your display name should be at least 2 characters long. Writers like Philip Cary Good News for Anxious Christians , which I have not gotten around to reviewing yet believe that the sum total of God's guidance is contained in the Scripture.
Thus, God has given us guidance on how to be obedient to Him and live well. If the Bible does not address the issue, then it is up to us to use our intelligence to make an informed choice. Under this view, it would seem that the Holy Spirit's work in Scripture ended with the original inspiration; there does not appear to be any allowance for the Holy Spirit's continuing work in applying the Word to the individual lives of believers. DeYoung and Jensen are not quite so militant in their opposition to perceived extrabiblical guidance as Cary, but they clearly view such phenomena with skepticism and disinterest.
At the other end of the spectrum, Dallas Willard Hearing God believes that God may give guidance even where sin is not implicated, and that believers should be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in such areas. Willard does not claim that God always gives such guidance--only that He may, and that Christians should, essentially, give Him a chance to weigh in on the matter. If no guidance is forthcoming, then the Christian may make a decision guided by intelligence and even our own desire. It is worth noting that Willard--and, I would hope, all orthodox writers--would oppose any perceived 'guidance' contrary to Scripture.
So, if a man claims that the Holy Spirit is 'leading' him to cheat on his wife, he is, quite simply, mistaken. The Word of God is the only certain source of guidance; the Holy Spirit may occasionally supplement it, but will never, ever contradict it. Fortunately, there are some writers who take a more moderate position. Sinclair Ferguson has written what is, thus far, my favorite book on the subject: Ferguson allows for the possibility of supernatural guidance, but points out that such guidance will be facilitated by faithful study of Scripture.
After all, we are fallen and sinful and may thus mistake our own desires for the 'leading' of the Holy Spirit. The Bible, on the other hand, is inerrant, and by knowing it well we can better test the 'leadings' we feel.
God's Will: Finding Guidance for Everyday Decisions by J.I. Packer
And anyway, we can't very well expect God to reveal His will to us supernaturally if we neglect His revealed will in Scripture. Additionally God's will is for us to obey Him, thereby bringing glory to His name, and we will 'hear' Him better as we are increasingly sanctified and walking in obedience to Scripture. Ferguson thus avoids going toe to toe with those who advocate extrabiblical guidance and instead explains why Scripture study is paramount regardless of one's position on the issue. Packer's position in this book is most closely aligned with Ferguson. He cites to both Willard and Jensen, freely acknowledging the anecdotal evidence in favor of supernatural guidance while still encouraging his readers not to actively seek the supernatural but to first and foremost saturate themselves in Scripture.
He also encourages the practice of wisdom Chapter 5 , seeking godly counsel Chapter 6 , and having good role models Chapter 7. He cautions against the dangers of overspiritualizing and underspiritualizing the search for God's will--and offers excellent advice for responding to those who claim to be 'led' by the Spirit. There is also a fairly helpful discussion of the intersection between the will of God and human vocation. The substantive points Packer makes are all excellent.
He is very measured and reasonable, acknowledging the arguments of both camps and addressing them thoughtfully and wisely. If there is a weakness in this book, it is in the writing. Packer is fond of using complex sentence structures that I, for one, found distracting; I often had to read and re-read his statements several times in order to grasp the grammatical gist of his points.
This is not a problem I remember having with his excellent work Knowing God. I don't mean that the points themselves are dense--that would be no criticism at all, but a compliment. Rather, he unnecessarily bogs his reader down by expressing his points in hard-to-read, convoluted sentences. It is difficult to explain precisely what I mean, but suffice to say that this book was harder and slower to read than its content required.
Similarly, the overall structure of the book was not terribly forthright which, given the topic, is either amusingly ironic or entirely appropos in a meta sort of way. Packer makes good use of headings and lists, but it is not clear how the lists all relate to one another, and I wished I had a better idea of where he was going and how it would all fit together. Likewise, the summaries at the close of each chapter were surprisingly unhelpful; they felt somehow simultaneously superfluous and confusing. I think another solid round of edits would do wonders for what is obviously a very sound and potentially quite helpful book.
As a result, though Packer's analysis is more in-depth than Ferguson's, I think Discovering God's Will retains its position as my favorite book on the subject--it is clear and concise, meaty yet accessible, and addresses the dangers of extrabiblical guidance without abandoning it or disavowing it altogether.
Still, if you're looking to go a bit deeper and don't mind a bit of a slog, Packer's book is well worth reading. A biblical guide to learning God's will. It explains how God guides to know His will through the Bible, our use of wisdom, the counsel of fellow believers, the insights and ideals from examples of believers past and present, and especially by Jesus' example. The scope is far wider scope than Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung, with a lot about how to gain wisdom from believers in the Bible and our churches. The extra content is good, but I would have preferred more a more concise focus on the top A biblical guide to learning God's will.
The extra content is good, but I would have preferred more a more concise focus on the topic of learning God's will. Notes The Shepherd and His Sheep "Favored four" vocations missionaries, ministers and ministers' wives, medical personnel, school teachers offer more opportunities for doing good and bringing immediate benefit to other people than many other professions, so they should be seriously considered.
But they aren't at a higher spiritual plane. You don't need a special sign from God beyond interest, aptitude, and estimate of your fitness by others before committing to service in one of "favored four" vocations or any other field. Belief that God supernaturally guides through voice-like thoughts, strongly inclined imagining, and inner urgings emerged in midth century America.
Notion was reinforced by Pentecostalism in 20th century. Trouble isn't necessarily God telling us to avoid an action; it may be a test of sincerity and obedience. Some Tangled Tales God instructs us through Bible 10 Commandments, case law, prophets, wisdom books, Jesus' teachings, epistles. God guides through giving us discernment Rom We shouldn't expect OT signs given that we live after Jesus, have completed revelation, have complete canonical Scripture, and post-Pentecost ministry of Spirit.
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Apostles never told Christians to seek signs of God's will for their decisions, as though Gospel and ethical corollaries were insufficient. Jesus warned Pharisees of irresponsibility of seeking signs when they should have followed His words Mk 8: Seeking signs can set one up to Satanic deception 2 Thess 2: View signs as a bonus; don't seek them. Your Good Health We must use discernment to weigh alternatives to determine the most God-glorifying response to each set of needs and possibilities Romans This requires brain work research, consultation in God's presence.
We must determine what's best for God, others, and self in that order in terms of God's Law and values. Guided by the Word of God God's Law is basic form of divine guidance. Make the best use of the time. Never let the merely good or merely possible become the enemy of the best Ephesians 5: Set ourselves apart to serve God, and don't be conformed to world Rom We can't know God's will through Pharisaic, mechanical calculations on applying God's Law.
We need Holy Spirit working through regenerated mind and heart. This is a Christ-centered quest for Christ-likeness in all attitudes and actions.
God's Will: Finding Guidance for Everyday Decisions
Psalms teaches how to pray; Proverbs teaches how to act; Job teaches how to suffer; Song of Songs teaches how to love; Ecclesiastes teaches how to enjoy. Ecclesiastes teaches 2 lessons: Wisdom operates with God first, others next, self last mentality. Wise assessment calculates consequences of options, and seeks to determine which courses of action will produce best results for all concerned, and for God's Kingdom and praise. We must love God and neighbor. Jesus modeled perfect wisdom in His decisions.
Holy Spirit leads us to best decision, but under normal circumstances He uses normal, human, often laborious endeavors. Advice leads to wisdom, which leads to prudence.
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With A Little Help From Our Friends Our local congregation is our primary field of fellowship, where our ideas of God's will for us are tested, and where we receive indications of God's will. Modeling One way God guides is through influence of others He puts in our lives Ps We should read gospels, letters of Paul and John, Psalms frequently because they contain models of godly inner life. Guided Life Commitments In late 19th and early 20th centuries, evangelicals started expecting supernatural indications of God's will for major decisions.
This led to a mistrust of Christian reasoning and an undue reliance on emotion. But in Bible, such events occurred only when God was radically changing the course of someone's life. From midth to midth century, Protestant teachers asked these questions about career: What options do your circumstances allow?