God's Decrees and God's Will

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD'S DECREES AND GOD'S WILL

James Hilston
June 6, 2004

The question has been asked about the difference between God's decree and God's will. It would be better to describe both as God's will, one decretive (will as decree) and one prescriptive (will as command or injunction; 'prescriptive' refers to positive commands, whereas 'proscriptive' refers to negative commands, or prohibitions).

God's decretive will involves that which God planned or designed in the past -- in some cases, from the foundation of the world, in other cases, from before the foundation of the world -- according to His own deliberation and counsel within the Trinal Godhead. Much of God's decretive will is kept secret until it is revealed in the due course of time.

God's prescriptive will regards what He has revealed as commands. Whenever a person is urged to 'do the will of God,' it is referring to His prescriptive will. God's prescriptive will declares to man his duty. Whereas the decretive will refers to what the Counsel of God has determined in advance.

Mr 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Prescriptive will All commands from God comprise His prescriptive (or proscriptive) will, i.e. His will as command:

i. Prescriptive (God's commands as injunctions):

Ge 45:19 Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

Ex 13:10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Eph 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

ii. Proscriptive (God's commands as restriction/prohibition):

Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Ex 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Decretive will

i. The unfolding of circumstances and events reveal God's decretive will. Whenever scripture describes circumstances or events in terms of 'the will of God,' (i.e., not as commands) it is referring to God's decretive will:

1Co 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, ...

Ro 1:10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

ii. Whenever the scriptures refer to secrets or hidden things of God's counsel and deliberative process, this is figurative language that describes the nature of God's decrees (decretive will):

Deu 29:29 The secret things [decretive will] belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed [prescriptive will] belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Ro 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord' or who hath been his counsellor'

iii. Whenever God's will is described in terms of proorizo /pro'oridzo/ (determining in advance) or proginosko (fore-knowing), or proetoimazo (preparing in advance) it is a reference to His decretive will:

Ro 8:29 For whom he did foreknow (proginosko), he also did predestinate (proorizo) to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate (proorizo) , them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained (proorizo) before the world unto our glory:

Eph 1:5,11 Having predestinated (proorizo) us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ... 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated (proorizo) according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

Ac 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Ro 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew (proginosko).

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained (proginosko) before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, ...

Ro 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared (proetoimazo) unto glory, ...

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (proetoimazo) that we should walk in them.

1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge (prognosis) of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Clearing up the confusion about 'thwarting God's will.' Recognizing the above distinctions enable the student of scritpure to understand how the Bible can say that God's will is thwarted in one place, but say that His will is not thwarted in another. The distinction is thus: God's prescriptive will is resisted and thwarted. God's decretive will is not.

i. God's will as command, thwarted:

Mr 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Lu 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

Act 7: 51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

ii. God's will as decree, not thwarted:

Da 4: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou'

Ro 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Pr 21:30 There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.

Examples of God's prescriptive will being different than His decretive will

i. It was God's prescriptive will that Abraham should sacrifice his son, Isaac. It was God's decretive will that Isaac should live (Ge. 22)

ii. It is God's prescriptive will that people should not murder (Ex 20:13), yet God it is God's decretive will that wicked men would murder His Son.

Acts 2: 23 Him [Jesus Christ], being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Acts 4: 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before* to be done. [Emphasis added; see Re 13:8 below]

Ga 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: [Emphasis added]

*Re 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

God's Plans versus God's Commands (rules)

God's decretive will is to God's prescriptive will as a plan is to a command or rule. They're two different categories. The decretive will encompasses the existence and expression of the prescriptive will, but they are not the same. The prescriptive regards God's commands. The decretive regards God's plans. Imperatives (i.e. commands) are viewed in the Greek (and English as well) as being the grammatical mood of what "ought to be" versus what "is," i.e., the imperative represents that which is furthest removed from what "is" (see Greek Grammars by Dana & Mantey or A.T. Roberston or others). The imperative mood (which corresponds to God's prescriptive will) is not viewed as representing actuality (i.e. what "is") as is the indicative mood (which corresponds to God's decretive will, i.e. what "ought to be"). Again, they are different categories. There's nothing inconsistent or contradictory about God prohibiting something and decreeing that it happen. Throughout scripture we are shown examples in which God has decreed that which is contrary to His prescriptions for His own good reasons and purposes. For example ...

God Planned the Evil of Joseph's Brothers

1. God decreed that Joseph's brothers would hate him without justification (Ge 37:4), even though His prescriptive will forbids hatred without cause.

2. God decreed that they conspire to betray him and to sell him to the Ishmeelites (Ge 37:27), which is tantamount to kidnapping, even though God forbids kidnapping.

3. God decreed that Joseph would be sold by the Ishmeelites as a chattel slave to Egypt, even though God's prescriptive will forbids chattel slavery.

4. God decreed that Joseph's brothers would deceive Jacob into thinking Joseph was killed and send him into deep mourning (Ge 37:31-35), even though God's prescriptive will forbids lying without justification.

We know this was all meticulously decreed by God because, among myriad other reasons, God says so (see below). Moreover, the reason why He decreed the evil was to bring about good. The scripture reveals that the famine in the Land (Ge 45:6) was authored by God (Ps 105:16). We know that it wasn't really Joseph's brothers who sent him to Egypt, but God Himself, having decreed the evil of Joseph's brothers, contrary to His own prescriptive will:

Ge 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Thus, we see God's decretive will (unjust hatred and deceit, jealousy, selfishness, kidnapping, etc.) may be contrary to His prescriptive will (prohibitions against unjust hatred and deceit, jealousy, selfishness, kidnapping, etc.). By understanding God's meticulous control of all things and the fact that everything God decrees, good and evil (Job 2:10) are for God's own good purposes, Joseph could duly and confidently say:

But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (Gen 50:20).

God's decrees constitute the precise details of planned events, actions and outcomes. They are not merely "guides" or "boundaries." When the Scriptures say "As it is written," it refers to exhaustive and meticulous detail, perfectly coordinated, chronologically and precisely, something no mere "guideline" or "boundary" could do.

God's law, in every dispensation, comprises His prescriptive will. Paul tells the Romans to pay their taxes (Ro 13:6). This is God prescribed will. There may have been those who were resisting the government (Ro 13:2), and Paul told them that this is tantamount to resisting the ordinance (prescribed will) of God. Their resistance was according to God's decreed will. The command expressed God's prescribed will. God had good reasons for decreeing their resistance, not the least of which is giving Paul a real-life case to address in his epistle, and by which to convey to all God's saints the importance of paying taxes to the government under which one finds oneself.

God Planned Israel's Rebellion and Future Glory

In Deu 29, Moses informs Israel that God had not given them a heart to perceive, eyes to see, or ears to hear until that very day. All the great and wonderful things God had done for them were not fully perceived because of the blindness that God decreed for them. In that day, Israel stood before God as a nation for the purpose of drafting a covenant between them, as the result of now seeing all these things God had done for them. As it is in the case of human covenants, included in the oath are the attending curses that will come to pass should one of the parties fail to uphold his part of the agreement. In the case of divine covenants, such curses only apply to the human side of the agreement, not the divine side. This speaks to God's immutable essence. He cannot fail to uphold His end of a covenant. That is never in question. Always in question is man's side of the vow. And this Moses addresses in great detail.

Moses recounted for Israel all God had done for them. All Israel knew the gospel promise God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning their promised Land and future glory. But then Moses proceeded to declare that Israel would indeed turn its heart away from God, and that horrific curses would indeed befall them. God decreed it, and it would come to pass. Moses writes.

Deu 29: 22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; 23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: 26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: 27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

Moses then shifted his description of the future God has revealed to him to address the question on the mind of every thoughtful Jew within earshot: "But what about the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning our nation? What about the gospel of our kingdom? Why has God decreed that all this horrific and terrifying disease and destruction will happen to His chosen nation?

Moses writes: 29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

In other words, God's prescriptions are clear. To Israel, Moses say: Obey them. The details of God's decrees are secret and belong to the Lord, comprising the reasons why God would decree such evil and calamity for Israel. Obey God's prescriptions; don't try to figure out His decrees.

Overall, Israel can know that God decrees evil for His good purposes, but the details thereof and the specific reasons for them are secret to God.

Moses then proceeded to describe their great and glorious future that God decreed for the nation, which will inexorably come to pass:

Deu 30:1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, 2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; 3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. 4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: 5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. 6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Moses the set before all Israel their future as a nation (even to those who are not present, Deu 29:14,15) . Moses tells Israel that it is going to happen just as he describes it. God has decreed it for the nation. But now, each individual Jew must consider God's prescriptions [note the shift in pronouns from plural to singular]:

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you [plural = all Israel], that I have set before you [plural = all Israel] life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou [singular = individual Jew] and thy seed may live: 20 That thou [individual Jew] mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou [individual Jew] mayest obey his voice, and that thou [individual Jew] mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou [individual Jew] mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Thus we see another example of how God's decretive will (Israel's idolatry, captivity and eventual glory) is contrary to God's prescriptive will (His commands to Israel to turn from idolatry and to keep their covenant). The Bible is chock-full of these.

In Conclusion

The clear teaching of the Bible is that God forms pots of honor and pots of dishonor. Anyone who understands pottery knows that pots don't mar themselves, and pots don't talk back to their makers. The prophets use the metaphor because it demonstrates how ludicrous it is for finite man to talk back to the infinite God. God has every prerogative to raise up Pharaoh (a pot formed by God for dishonor) just so He can demonstrate His goodness, proclaim His Word and bless His people (Ro 9:17).

hilston@jameshilston.com