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SEPTEMBER 14
BY THE WILL OF GOD
“Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, by the will of God,
according to the promise of
life which is in Christ
Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:1)
Sovereignty of will is the
prerogative of God. Thus the
exercise of all other
“wills” is within the sphere
of limitation, subject to
HIS WILL. It is utterly
impossible to operate any
will outside of the
ultimate, over-all circle of
the will of God. If there be
any power than can operate
its own will against the
will of God, and gain an
eternal victory over God’s
will, then obviously God is
not the omnipotent God which
we know Him to be.
Therefore, because He is
totally sovereign, whatever
happens within the workings
of creation, has to
ultimately be used to work
out the furtherance of His
plan of the ages, and while
we are unable with finite
minds to comprehend all of
His purposes, we rightly
conclude that He doeth all
things well, and in due time
we shall see more clearly
that “I have not done
without cause all that I
have done in it, saith the
Lord God.” (Ezekiel 14:23).
“So then it is not of him
that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God
that sheweth mercy.” (Rom.
9:16). It is not a question
of human will and human
effort, but of God’s mercy
and grace working within us.
It was thus with Paul, while
he was still called Saul, in
direct opposition to the
truth and light in Jesus
Christ, “breathing out
threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the
Lord,” and on his way to
Damascus to persecute some
more, when suddenly tie
sovereign will of God
arrested him in the way, and
he was called to become “an
apostle of Jesus Christ, by
the will of God.” Not of
man, neither by men, this
was a commission by the will
of God.
To build for “man” you need
the approval of, and the
ordination by man. But to
become a “labourer together
with God,” (1 Cor. 3:9), you
are apprehended by the
sovereign will of God. “Ye
have not chosen Me, but I
have chosen you.” (john
15:16), for “no man can come
to Me, except the Father
which hath sent Me draw
him.” (John 6:44), and
therefore “we love Him,
because He first loved us.”
(John 4:19). It is all by
the will of God.
Ray Prinzing |
