Decision Making and the Will of God – Part 9

I am in the process of reviewing Friesen’s book, “Decision Making and the Will of God.” In the previous instalment I finished Part 3 of the book in which the Way of Wisdom, the method promoted by Friesen, is explained.

This post, the last, starts Part 4, Deciding the Big Ones: The Wisdom View Applied. Part 4 is also the last part of the book moving from chapter 19 to the last chapter, 26. Friesen uses this part of the book to look practically at how to implement the Wisdom View.

A thought that Friesen repeats a lot in this part in order to make the mind remember it, and also to make sure that the Wisdom View is not misunderstood is that any decision that is to be made “is regulated by the moral will of God, but not determined by it.” (p293-294) In other words, if you are looking for a new job, the moral will of God regulates how you make your decision, but it does not determine where you work.

This part of the book deals with singleness and marriage (ch19), marriage as a subject (ch20), the ministry (ch21), missions (ch22), vocation and education (ch23), giving (ch24), when Christians differ (ch25) and finally weaker brothers and pharisees (ch26).

As Friesen tackles each of these subjects, he looks at some of the important Biblical passages related to each of them and shows how they relate to the wisdom view. In each of these chapters, Friesen shows that guidance through some inner impressions or some “word” from God is not necessary, but an application of the wisdom view will guide you well. In order to prove his point he looks at several passages from the Bible that at first glance seem to back up the traditional view rather than the wisdom view.

Through proper exegesis, Friesen shows that many of these passages simply cannot carry the weight of demanded evidence needed by the traditional view.

Friesen also points to the fact that the wisdom view is very much based on wisdom gleaned from the Bible, and that it is imperative that Christians actually get to know their Bibles through Bible study.

For instance, in the chapter on giving (ch24)(p372) he shows the following:

BIBLICAL GIVING Old testament tithing has been superceded by New Testament grace giving. The “faith promise” method of giving is unbiblical though it correctly encourages prayer and generous giving. Grace giving is purposeful, proportionate giving as God has prospered you. Giving priorities are immediate family first, then relatives, local church, gospel outreach. relief of believers, relief of unbelievers.

I know that this will probably ruffle many feathers, but the exegesis is done properly and this part of Friesen’s book simply must be read. It blows a whole lot of holy cows out the water!

This part of the book, dealing with practical issues that Christians around the world battle with on a daily basis, is very important, since it really puts the mind at ease. It shows how we do not need special words from God to accomplish our life’s work.

In concluding the book, Friesen once again, in summary form gives us the four principles of decision making in the wisdom view (p421):

PRINCIPLES OF DECISION MAKING THE WAY OF WISDOM Where God commands, we must obey (chapter 8). Where there is no command, God gives us freedom (and responsibility) to choose (chapter 9). Where there is no command, God gives us wisdom to choose (chapters 10 and 11). When we have chosen what is moral and wise, we must trust the sovereign God to work all the details together for good (chapters 12 and 13).

Finally, the book closes off with three appendices. Appendix one is a review of books on finding God’s will. These reviews include books from both the traditional and the wisdom views. Appendix 2 gives pointers on painless Scripture memory and Appendix 3 gives guidelines on Bible marathons. A Bible marathon is where up to about 15 people get together to read through large portions of the Bible together.

Having read the book and now reviewed it, I am convinced that this book is a book of liberty. For too long we have been conned into thinking that if we did not have clear personal guidance from the Lord that we could not move forward, and was probably living in sin and that was why we did not hear God. Further, that idea put pressure on people to perform spiritually somehow to get these “words.”

The wisdom view frees us from all that, and the kicker is this, it is the Biblical view. I am sure many can give testimonies of how God led them in the past, but that is at best anecdotal. The Bible is our only rule of life and faith, and the wisdom view encapsulates that.

It is my opinion, that if you have never considered this view of guidance, that you should buy Garry Friesen’s “Decision Making and the Will of God” today, and see whether it changes your life or not!

If you discovered this review for the first time in this post, go to the first post to start reading this review.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 8

When last I wrote in this series on the review of Friesen’s book, Decision Making and the Will of God, I truly thought that I was going to finish this series soon! How I was mistaken! Somehow I got distracted from this series and now it is more than one and a half years later! And, I have realised that a lot of the book must still be reviewed. I had finished reading it back then, but now I will have to do a bit of a refresher to continue this review.

Please accept my sincerest apologies for this delay!

Just a quick heads up on this book, I think that it is the best book on the issue of finding the will of God. It does not include pop-theology on the subject and is thoroughly exegeted to find what the Bible itself has to say on the subject.


Chapter 14, Guidance: A Biblical Model, starts with the following paragraph:

“So far we have seen that Scripture uses ‘God’s will’ in two ways: God’s sovereign will is His secret plan that works all things together for good. His moral will refers to all the commands in the Bible. On the other hand, we have set aside as scripturally invalid a third, commonly accepted concept—the individual will of God. As a result, we have discarded the idea that where the Bible does not command we must find another ‘will of God.’ Instead, we have shown that where there is no command, God provides freedom and wisdom to decide.” (p220)

This whole idea, the way of wisdom, that came before this chapter is very liberating in the sense that we no longer have to feel guilty when we haven’t heard the latest and greatest guidance from God. The pressure is off!

Biblical guidance is defined early in this chapter. Apart from describing Biblical guidance, Friesen demonstrates it in the life of the apostle Paul. Friesen sees four ways through which God guides His people. In Moral Guidance, God guides us through scriptural commands. Wisdom Guidance gives us freedom and wisdom where there are no scriptural commands. Sovereign Guidance are the secret works of God whereby He works all things together for the good of those that love Him. Finally, Special Guidance is rare, wherein God supernaturally reveals His ways to a specific person via His voice, angels, dreams and more.

Friesen uses Rom 1:8-13 to show how Paul planned his life. 1. Plans are appropriate (13), 2. Paul prayed about his plans for their accomplishment (8-10), 3. Paul submitted himself and his plans to God’s will (10), 4. Paul’s plans were based on spiritual goals, 5. Paul prioritised his spiritual goals.

Chapter 15 leads us into Special Guidance and Decision Making. Once again Friesen stresses the point that Special Guidance is rare. From here Friesen gives examples of Special Guidance through the Bible, such as the pillar of cloud, prophets, angelic voices and visions.

It is important to note that Friesen does not deny that God does speak to us in special ways at times. However, these times are very rare, and it comes sovereignly from God.

Friesen also answers the question surrounding so-called prophets today and so-called sensing the Lord speaking. He writes:

“Let me boldly state the obvious. If you are not sure whether you heard directly from God, you didn’t.” (p239)

I am also of the opinion that if God spoke you would know that He spoke. Friesen makes it clear that if we are left uncertain as to whether we really heard from God or not, it will simply be a guessing game.

Next, in Chapter 16, Making a Good Thing Better, Friesen deals with interpretive and application difficulties. He shows how the traditional view, that of seeking for a third will of God leads to great inconsistencies. Either you follow God’s leading through this method in all decisions of life, little ones included, or you are walking inconsistently with “God’s will.” Bad decisions can always be blamed on God and delays can be costly due to a person’s “waiting” on God.

The way of wisdom does not let someone hide his motives behind “God’s leading!” Further, the wisdom view teaches a person to grow up and to become decisive. While in the traditional view there can hardly ever be any certainty, within the wisdom view there is no such problem.

Chapter 17, A New Way of Seeing, shows how the same sources of information are before us whether we use the traditional view for guidance or whether we use the way of wisdom. Friesen explains that while the information for guidance remains the same, the two views approach the data quite differently. The traditional view looks for road signs pointing to God’s individual will, while the way of wisdom pursues a wise decision within God’s moral will.

Finally, we reach the last chapter, chapter 18, Practicing the Presence, of Part 3 of the book. Friesen writes:

“My contention is that equating our inner impressions with the voice of God is a misinterpretation of our experience. And the idea that the way of wisdom excludes God from our decision making is a caricature of what the Scriptures plainly teach.” (p270)

Friesen makes some suggestions about how a person that has become convinced of the way of wisdom can move from the traditional view to the way of wisdom.

Next Friesen suggests that because God is invisible, and He is God, our relationship with Him will be different from that of humans. However, we need to build a personal relationship with God.

Friesen explains how we build relationship with God as Trinity.

While the traditional method is always based on the premise that we need “to know what God wants us to do; God wants us to know Him.” (p285) God’s concern in our relationship with Him is less about what we do than with who we are.

So, we have come to the end of Part 3 with chapter 18. Next we will move into Part 4, Deciding the Big Ones: The Wisdom View Applied.

So, until next time, you could perhaps go back to the beginning of this series of the review of Friesen’s book.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 7

With this edition of the series on Decision Making and the Will of God, we continue where we stopped last time. Our series ended with chapter 11 last time, and so we will pick up the thread with chapter 12 of Friesen's book, Decision Making and the Will of God.

This is part 7 of this series and we are only at chapter 12. The book has a total of 27 chapters and 3 appendices. So, as can be seen, this book has a great wealth of information on the subject at hand. Obviously, with all the exposure the subject gets, it is necessary to treat the subject fully. That is Friesen's with this book.

Chapter 12 takes us into pretty foreign territory for the Western mind. That is, the sovereignty of God in His dealings with man. Friesen goes into the subject of God's sovereign will. Man is not the ultimate determiner of his own destiny. Neither is chance, or fate! God is the Ultimate Sovereign! And He has a will!

Friesen shows his readers what Scripture has revealed about God's will.
1. God's will is certain of being fulfilled;
2. God's will is detailed and includes all things;
3. God's will is hidden, except where expressly revealed;
4. God's will is supreme, yet, neither does it violate human responsibility, nor does it make God the author of sin;
5. God's will is perfect, leading to God being glorified and is for our good.

Friesen goes into detail with each of these points and really makes his case solid by use of Scripture. Even though we are not to be looking for that individual divine dot that shows us God's intended will for our individual lives, God is still in control and is guiding us divinely.

"[Ruth's] faith in God was rewarded when she entered Boaz's field, though she was unaware of God's sovereign guidance. There was no voice behind her saying, 'This is the field. Walk ye in it.' In fact the text says she 'happened to come' upon the field (Ruth 2:3)! Humanly speaking she had no specific reason for choosing the field, but God perfectly, secretly, in detail, guided her within His sovereign will."[1]

In essence, chapter 12 gives us the Biblical data on God's sovereign will. Chapter 13, on the other hand, is more specific and deals with planning, circumstances, fleeces and open doors.

If God is sovereignly in control, and His will is always fulfilled, then why should we bother planning? That is a question that many have asked. Friesen shows how the Bible expects us to plan. However, all our plans should be made in humility, understanding that our plans should be hedged by the little sentence, "if the Lord wills." We should plan in complete humility and with complete reliance on God.

The Traditional View normally uses circumstances as guiding markers in discerning God's individual will for our lives. However, Friesen makes it clear that Scripture never commands us to treat circumstances as any type of authority in discerning God's will about the future. Imagine a fire burning down a brothel. Many Christians will immediately say that it was God's judgement. Now, imagine a fire burning down an orphanage for HIV/AIDS orphans. Will Christians still call this God's judgement, or will it be the devil this time? You see, unless God reveals the reason for something, it will be pure presumption on our part to claim that we know what was behind it! That is why circumstances cannot be used for discerning our next steps.

If a door of opportunity is closed, would it be because God closed the door, or because the devil is trying to prevent the opportunity from being fruitful? Opportunity sometimes comes with an easy open door. At other times the door is wide open, but there is great resistance (1 Cor 16:8-9). At other times an open door may present itself, but need not be taken (2 Cor 2:12-13). Every open door cannot be seen as a command from God, but should rather be evaluated in wisdom.

The fact is, guidance throughout the Bible has always been a matter of miraculous revelation by God Himself, or by God's people using the wisdom God had already supplied. Inner impressions just do not tip the scale at all, and in fact do not feature in the Bible. It is either God initiating the guidance, or people using their God given wisdom supplied in God's revealed moral will.

Next time we will tackle chapter 14 and on.

1. Friesen, p197.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 6

Due to the length of time that it has been taking to do this series on Decision Making and the Will of God, I have decided to combine more chapters at a time per post. My last post was on chapter 8 of the book.

Even though it is taking much longer to read this book than I had initially anticipated, I am enjoying what Friesen is saying in this volume very much. He is very balanced in his approach to the subject of "finding" the will of God. And, what I mean by being balanced, is that he only uses the Bible as the counterbalance on the other side of the scale. He constantly does exegesis of the relevant passages making sure that what he is proposing remains true to the Scriptures.

Many writers on this subject use page upon page of ditty little anecdotes to "prove" their point while hardly ever attempting to let the Bible speak for itself. Anecdotes prove nothing more than gullibility on the subject, since people have stories about just about anything in which they have "experienced" something to disprove our own "experiences."

Friesen continues to let the Bible speak on this issue, and I know that some out there will simply not like what Friesen has to say because of their own presuppositional biases.

Chapter 9 handles the subject of our God-given freedom and responsibility to choose. Friesen refers to Augustine who set forth a principle that says, "Where there is no command, God gives us freedom (and responsibility) to choose."[1] These are not Augustine's words, but this is what the principle comes down to.

Inside God's moral will, there is an area of freedom and responsibility. As a result, anything in which God did not pronounce a direct command or law, we have freedom and responsibility to choose the wise option. This freedom and responsibility as a unit is exemplified in God's command to Adam that he could eat from any tree of the garden except one. God gave a specific command concerning only one tree, from which Adam could not eat. Therefore, Adam could choose freely from any of the other trees without the need to be told which one to eat from next. This principle shows that within the given boundaries there is freedom.

After learning in chapter 9 about the freedom and responsibility to choose, we come to chapter 10 which answers the question, "On what basis does the believer make decisions?"

Whereas in chapter 9 we read that where there is no command, God gives us the freedom and responsibility to choose, we now find a further principle, "Where there is no command, God gives us wisdom to choose."[2] Friesen shows how men of God, in both the Old and New Testaments, had wisdom to make decisions in situations where God did not give direct revelation. Examples of verses in this regard are Eccl 10:10, Mt 10:16, Ac 15:28-29, 1 Cor 16:3-4 and 1 Thes 3:1.

Having built a case for the way of wisdom in chapter 10, drawing from the OT, Jesus and from the apostles, Friesen moves into chapter 11 looking more deeply at the lives of the apostles.

At the end of chapter 10, Friesen tells us that the real "clincher--the biblical data that provoked the radical reshaping of my understanding of decision making and the will of God--was the instruction of the apostles."[3]

Something that I have been battling with for some time now, way before I started reading Decision Making, is the idea that we should be seeking God's individual will for our lives on a daily basis, yet there are no examples, nor instruction to do so anywhere in the NT. Friesen picks up on this teaching and categorically states that it is not recorded even once, that the apostles ever tried to discover God's individual will for their lives. The apostles use phrases concerning their decision making that point to freedom in decision making.

I agree in this regard. We will be hard-pressed to prove from the NT that we are supposed to search for God's individual will for our daily lives.

As usual, Friesen builds principles in this regard: "In the area of freedom, the believer's goal is to make wise decisions on the basis of spiritual usefulness, Or, when there is no command, God gives freedom and wisdom to make spiritually advantageous decisions."[4 - Italics supplied by Friesen]

Naturally, Christians will ask how this wisdom is acquired. This involves the believer's attitude and approach.

A Christian's attitude must reflect the following:
1. Each Christian must become aware of the fact that no man is naturally wise,
2. He must have the conviction that God is the ultimate source of wisdom,
3. God will grant wisdom to those with certain characteristics, such as reverence for God, humility, teachableness, etc.,
4. The believer must have faith.

In the proper approach, the believer must understand the following:
1. He must ask God for wisdom,
2. Wisdom is found in the Scriptures,
3. Outside research must be done where appropriate.
4. Wise counsellors are needed,
5. Life itself can provide wisdom, and
6. Direct revelation may sometimes be used by God himself to direct us. [This is dealt with in chapter 15 of Friesen's book.]

What Friesen is telling us here is that wisdom ultimately comes from God himself. The principle that where God has given us no commands, He gives us wisdom to choose is aimed at here. That wisdom can then be acquired through the right attitude and approach.

Continue with part 7...

1. Friesen, p137.
2. Ibid., p160.
3. Ibid., p173.
4. Ibid., pp174-175.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 5

Having finished Part Two of the book last time, we now enter Part Three of Friesen's book with chapter 8, Your Word is Truth.

Chapter 8 is really setting up the need for the Christian to know the moral will of God. This chapter, really, tells us that where God commands, we must obey. That is what the moral will of God is all about!

Even though Friesen uses the concept of the moral law to describe the revealed will of God, he goes further than the mere duty of obeying God's commands. He brings in the idea that we should love the Lord our God with everything and then also to love our neighbour as ourselves (Mt 22:37-40). It is in love that the law is fulfilled. Or as Friesen quotes one of his professors, "The law is what love would do."[1]

The nature of the moral will of God is that it is the expression of the character of God, it has been fully revealed to us in the Bible and it touches every facet and moment of life.

In its specifics, the moral will of God guides us in attaining our goals, our attitudes in attaining those goals and the means we use to achieve those goals. Friesen explains that the means must first be lawful and next must be wise.

"Since no decision is made in a vacuum, the degree to which we pursue godly goals with righteous attitudes and wise actions will be largely determined by our perspective on life. In particular, the Christian whose worldview is shaped by Scripture will have a sense of self-identity different from the world's."[2]

The final attribute of the nature of the moral will of God, is that it is able to equip believers everywhere for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).

Friesen makes a self-evident point that somehow escapes the understanding of so many Christians, that to gain a good understanding of the moral will of God, one has to go to the source of that knowledge, the Bible! It amazes me how many Christians do not get this point!

Once we come to an understanding of God's moral will, obedience must follow. We need to do God's will, not just know it. Friesen notes that John expected those born of God to give evidence that they were new creations by their obedience to the moral will of God. This obedience is not the basis for salvation, but rather is the evidence for it.

Finally, Friesen gives some practical suggestions on how to become acquainted with the moral will of God. First, it is important to read large portions of the Bible in a sitting to gain the big picture of those portions. This may even be good in a group setting, discussing those points that really spoke to the readers. Second, it is important to memorize Scripture. Repetition is of utmost importance. Finally, memorize short titles for each chapter of the Bible. That way, it will become a quick reference to just about any main subject in the Bible.

What is important in the learning of Scripture, is not to win some trivia competition, but rather to be trained for godliness.

What really interested me at the end of this chapter, is that Friesen seems to believe that God can still give us special revelation in terms of guidance, but that such revelation must be subject to Biblical tests. These cases of special revelation may include the divine voice, angels, dreams or some other special revelatory miracle. Friesen does limit this type of guidance by saying that although "special guidance is possible, it is not promised nor do most believers have reason to expect it."[3]

I did not see this one coming from Friesen. While he was debunking the whole idea of the Traditional View and its inner impressions, I assumed that Friesen would not be open to such "special revelation" at all! We will have to wait however for chapter 15 when he deals with the subject of special revelation to see what he has to say on this matter.

Anyhow, next we will deal with the God-given freedom to choose what we want to do in our lives.

Continue with Part 6...

[1] Friesen, p119.
[2] Ibid., p123.
[3] Ibid., p136.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 4

Read Part 3 here.

On the last page of Part 2 (Chs 3-7) of Friesen's book, he states the major point for Part 2 of the book:

"God does not have an ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each believer that must be discovered in order to make correct decisions."[1]

I will be looking at the last 3 chapters of Part 2 of the book: chs 5-7. These three chapters are in effect a continuation of Friesen's critique of the Traditional View of guidance.

In essence, chapter five deals with a critique of the Traditional View's answer to how we can find God's will for our lives.

Friesen highlights the fact that almost nobody holding to the Traditional View can ever claim that they are 100% sure of finding God's individual will for their lives. The fact is that among these believers, only the so-called success stories are told of how people found God's will. Yet, this approach to finding God's will has failed many believers, yet they do not speak up about those failures. This is caused by the pressure of not wanting to come across as unspiritual!

Of course, with the Traditional View, there is the inconsistency of not holding to this view when the everyday issues are considered. Which clothes should be worn? Which road should be taken to work? The fact is that if we have to wait on the Lord everyday for all these types of decisions, life would become quite impractical. So, in the Traditional View, certain types of important decisions will be made using this type of guidance; yet, ordinary decisions will be relegated to simply good judgement. This shows inconsistency with regards to the Traditional View!

Friesen continues to point out some problems with this view, such as the problem when equally valid options are considered, its inability when dealing with immature Christians, its ability to waste time in making important decisions and the use of fleeces among some of its proponents.

Chapter 6 is reserved for one subject essentially, and that is the subject of subjectivity. According to Friesen, the "traditional view does not claim that God's individual will may be learned from either of these sources [His Word and direct revelation]."[2] He further says that when the Traditional View says, "'I have discovered God's will about which school I should attend,' he is not claiming to have received supernatural revelation, nor did he find such leading from a direct statement of Scripture."[3] In an endnote to this chapter Friesen says that this is generally true of evangelicals, whereas some charismatics claim direct revelation, which would under scrutiny reveal to be only impressions of the Spirit.

It is at this point that I disagree with Friesen. It is not simply some charismatics, and it does not end up being simply impressions of the Spirit. From my experience of over 20 years being a charismatic, I have to conclude that it is most charismatics. Further, it is not mere "impressions of the Spirit" that charismatics claim as their guidance. Charismatics frequently claim that God has spoken to them audibly, in visions, in dreams and some even claim angels have visited them! This is not just simply fringe charismatic groups, but is mainstream charismatic! Perhaps the Traditional View speaks of "impressions of the Spirit," but what goes on among charismatics is way more than this view. In many circumstances, miraculous revelation is claimed, much like Marian apparitions are claimed by Roman Catholics!

Friesen missed the boat a bit in this chapter, and indeed in Part 2 of the book with labouring the point of inner impressions. This is for obvious reasons as I have pointed out in the paragraph above.

However, there are many who do not go as far as claiming miraculous special revelation who would use something like the phrase, "impressions of the Spirit." For this type of guidance he poses the question of what the source for such impressions are. He makes a whole list of sources for these types of impressions. This leads to a subjective swamp of doubt and insecurity. Friesen makes it clear that these impressions may be real, but they are not authoritative due to the fact that Scripture gives no guidelines on how to distinguish between the voice of self and the voice of the Spirit. In my opinion, even to claim with certainty that it is the Spirit of God, would still be predisposed to subjectivity.

Friesen raises the question of the interpretation of Scripture via "impressions of the Spirit." This is a good question, and here I agree with Friesen. Why would these impressions be deemed invalid for Biblical interpretation according to the Traditional View while holding on to it for guidance? If it does not work for Biblical interpretation, why does it suddenly work for guidance? I have heard many people who supposedly spoke prophetically on Biblical passages, but in doing so said the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever heard! These people believe that they could by-pass accepted norms of Biblical interpretation, but when they speak "prophetically" on passages of Scripture, they speak error at best and heresy at worst!

Friesen asks the question why believers in the Traditional View need additional signs to help in their guidance if their inner impressions are so accurate. It simply proves the point that Friesen has been making. If God speaks in any form, would He not speak clearly and understandably? It amazes me so much that those who believe God still speaks today, would also believe that God is unable to speak right through any so-called barrier that these people could think up! What kind of God do they believe in? Definitely not the Sovereign God of all creation! Of course, as is pointed out in the book, all of these additional signs apart from the Bible are uncertain, and "[i]f the elements that make up the whole are uncertain, the whole will also be uncertain."[4]

A point that Friesen raises is that the Traditional View does not work when many people are involved in decision making, such as on church boards. Almost always, some will differ from others when decisions are to be made. This causes real tension since by definition some would have missed God's leading. Or, as I would think, was God unable to speak His own word clearly in the situation?

The last chapter of Part 2 of the book is chapter 7, on the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this chapter Friesen handles several passages that are in general use among believers of the Traditional View to prove that the Holy Spirit still leads us directly. These are:
1. Romans 8:14
2. Romans 8:15-16
3. Galatians 5:18
4. John 16:12-14
5. Nehemiah 2:12

Friesen handles these passages with clarity and conviction, and I concur with him on these passages, that not one deals with the subject of individual guidance by the Holy Spirit. After looking at these passages from within their own contexts, it is very clear that the Traditional View stretches these passages to cover more subject ground than what the original authors meant to say!

Friesen also deals with the concept of the "peace" of Christ or God to be used as guidance. However, as before, Friesen looks at what these passages (Col 3:15; Phil 4:7) mean within their contexts, and again show that although the peace of God in the believer is important, "its presence or absence is not to be construed as a sign of God's leading in biblically permitted decisions. Peace cannot function as such, nor was it so designed."[5]

Even though Friesen gave a critique of the Traditional View in Part 2 of the book, he does not deny inner impressions altogether. He simply shows that the Traditional View requires too much of these impressions.

Next, we will start looking at what Friesen calls the Way of Wisdom. This would be how Friesen believes we should find guidance for our lives.

[1] Friesen, p110.
[2] Ibid., p91.
[3] Ibid., p91-92.
[4] Ibid., p96.
[5] Ibid., p109.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 3

We are now in chapter 4 of Garry Friesen's book, Decision Making and the Will of God. See the previous installment here.

Friesen takes the time in this chapter to look at many of the passages used by the Traditional View proponents to prove their Traditional View.

Friesen deals with the following passages:
Ps 32:8; Prov 3:5-6; 16:9; Is 30:20-21;
Jn 5:19; Jn 10:3-4, 16, 27; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:10; 5:15-17; Col 1:9; 4:12.

Friesen deals with each of these passages very well. It doesn't take too long to see how the proponents of the Traditional View employed very weak hermeneutics to get to their interpretation of these passages.

He looks at each passage, asking whether that passage could be speaking of the individual will of God or the moral will of God.

All of these passages can be shown to be speaking of the moral will of God and not the individual will of God, except for one that could go either way without any solid proof.

That one is Eph 2:10. According to Friesen this verse can have 3 possible interpretations:

The Traditional View proponents would say that God has prepared good works for each of us and that we should seek to find out what these are so that we could walk in them. Further, the first non-individual-will interpretation says that these good works are only described in general terms. "Since good works are one of the purposes for which Christians are created, the idea could be that God prepared those works 'beforehand' by providing what was needed for their accomplishment."[1] God created new creatures through the new creation capable of performing these good works. Lastly, the second non-individual-will interpretation looks at these works that were prepared beforehand "from the perspective of God's sovereignty."[2] Friesen prefers the last interpretation, but does feel that all three interpretations "come closer to being equal" than any of the other verses he has discussed up until this point. Friesen concludes the study of this verse by saying that "either side could use this verse in support of their position, but neither side could use Ephesians 2:10 to prove their position."[3]

What Friesen essentially shows in this chapter is that under careful scrutiny, proper exegesis demonstrates that the relevant passages do not "support the basic premise of the traditional view."[4]

Having looked at the way Friesen handles the relevant passages, I must say that I agree with his interpretation and that it is actually quite easy to see why he interprets them the way he does. In fact, with every passage that he introduced, I came to the same conclusions that he did, before I read his material.

Continue with Part 4 here.

[1] Friesen, p68.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Friesen, p69.
[4] Friesen, p75.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 2

Chapter 3 in Friesen's book marks the beginning of Part 2 of the book. Part 2, which contains chapters 3-7, is a critique of the Traditional View. Read my first installment of blogging through this book here.

I can remember, about 10-11 years ago when I started debating Calvinists online through email discussion groups.

As a Bible college trained Arminian I thought I had all the answers. I was willing to tackle the Calvinists. Little did I know that what I was taught about Calvinists at my Arminian Bible college were mere caricatures of Calvinism and not the real thing itself. I was willing to be open to their arguments. However, after what was probably more than a year of argumentation and debate I asked one of the Calvinists which book he'd recommend for me to read. He suggested The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination by Loraine Boettner. This book is also available as a PDF document. This book was the turning point for me. After spending months reading it, I finally emerged the other side as a Calvinist. However, it was a difficult period in my life, since I had to unlearn everything I was taught and replace it with proper Biblical exegesis. I realized that what I thought was true in reality was not true at all.

It is really tough on a person in a situation like that. At the beginning of chapter 3, Friesen warns that a critique of the Traditional View "can be unsettling for someone used to applying the traditional view to decision making."[1]

What Friesen is doing is to let out a warning that the reader could get upset about what he reads, especially if he is used the Traditional View.

One of the problems that Friesen highlights with the Traditional View is that if it is indeed the correct view, it has to be assumed that God cannot give defective guidance, and the person seeking guidance must therefore be defective! Of course, this can be hard to accept by the seeker. We are creatures of pride, after all.

In the Traditional View there are 3 facets of God's will. There is God's sovereign will, God's moral will and finally God's individual will. God's individual will can be defined as "God's ideal, detailed life-plan uniquely designed for each person."[2]

In the Traditional View it is assumed that since God is our Father, Shepherd and King that He should also have a specially designed individual plan for each individual; however, does a father plan every detail of his children's lives, or does a shepherd do the same for his sheep? The same question may be asked of the relationship between king and people.

In this chapter Friesen deals with some arguments from the Traditional View camp in favour of the Traditional View. Friesen handles their arguments from reason, experience and Biblical example. He dismisses the first two arguments with hardly a sweat.

Concerning the Biblical examples, Friesen points out some weaknesses.

The number of recorded cases are simply not sufficient to build a normative case for Christians to follow. Further, the examples that are found, especially in the New Testament, are just not comprehensive enough in the Biblical narrative. These examples do not show how God gives guidance for the decisions of every day life. Next, those that did receive specific guidance in the Biblical account were not the ordinary, run off the mill type Christians! These men occupied unique offices within the church. Even those who did not occupy unique offices in the church, but still received direct guidance, were strategic partners in the spread of the gospel in the early church. Finally, the means of communication for these instances of guidance were all supernatural events, and not the quiet type, still small voice for guidance, as promulgated by those who hold to the Traditional View.

The fact is that the type of language used to explain the Traditional View simply cannot be found in the Scriptures.

In closing, from Friesen himself:

"To sum up, a survey of the Biblical examples of specific guidance shows that they do not prove an individual will of God for every believer. They show only that God has broken into history at infrequent times to give specific guidance through supernatural revelation to selected people, usually for the purpose of evangelism. The exceptional proves only the exceptional. Such guidance is not normative according to any viewpoint. Nor is it necessary for normal decision making in the Christian life."[3]

This chapter seems to be a summary of what is to come. It gives an idea of where Friesen stands on this issue, and I appreciate that.

I think that at this point of the book, if a person is completely sold on the Traditional View, and is not open to being convinced otherwise, that person would probably be fuming by now.

Read Part 3.

[1] Friesen, p39.
[2] Ibid., p41.
[3] Ibid., p51.

Decision Making and the Will of God - Part 1

In the first chapter of Decision Making and the Will of God, Friesen presents us with a fictitious account of a student just months away from graduation. In this account the student met a girl that he loves dearly and is not sure whether she is the one for him or not, since she feels called to minister in Africa, and that was the last place he was thinking of.

The student, Ted, just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had one perfect will for him and the young lady, Annette. Was it God's will for them to spend the rest of their lives together? What if they missed it and she was supposed to be in Africa, and instead she was married to him?

I must say, this is a very common scenario within Christianity. How many of us haven't approached marriage like this or even finding a job?

The second chapter presents us with an outline of what is called the Traditional View. This is the view that God has a Perfect Will for each of us, and when we do not hear Him correctly, we may miss that will and land up either in His Permissive Will or completely out of His will. Friesen felt that the Traditional View is so well known that it wasn't necessary to reproduce the lengthy "seminar" account that was initially in the first edition of his book.

In this outline Friesen shows how the Traditional View believes in an individual will for each of us, and if we do not discern and follow that will in our lives we will not have the peace of God, but rather experience anxiety and end up being frustrated in our lives. So, it is incumbent upon us to discover that will for our lives or end up being discouraged.

Friesen mentions 7 road signs in the Traditional View through which the believer can know the individual will of God:[1]
1. The Word of God.
2. Circumstances
3. Inner witness of the Spirit.
4. Mature counsel.
5. Personal desires.
6. Common sense.
7. Supernatural guidance.

Finally, Friesen gives a summary of the Traditional View's principles of decision making:

"A. Premise: or each of our decisions God has a perfect plan or will.

"B. Purpose: Our goal is to discover God's individual will and make decisions in accordance with it.

"C. Process: We interpret the inner impressions and outward signs through which the Holy Spirit communicates His leading.

"D. Proof: the confirmation that we have correctly discerned the individual will of God comes from an inner sense of peace and outward (successful) results of the decision."[2]

I have to admit, this is exactly what I have been taught at church over the years. This is what I was taught at Bible school.

However, I have started drifting away from this stance, since several of the Biblical passages used by the Traditional View to bolster their case, have started looking weak. Just recently I tackled a sermon that was preached at our church based on John 10. It was a typical Traditional View of this passage. Yet, the passage has nothing to do with finding God's perfect will for our lives!

Well, this is the end of part one of the book which is basically a presentation of the Traditional View of knowing God's will for our lives.

See you next time! Read my introduction if you like.

[1] Friesen, Garry, Decision Making and the Will of God, Revised and updated edition, Multnomah Publishers, Sisters, Oregon, 2004, pp32-33.
[2] Ibid., p35.

Decision Making and the Will of God

I love reading. However, in the last year I have been so incredibly busy with my involvement with the political party that I am involved with and also when I get home at night I help with my kids' homework. As a result. my reading has suffered!

First, due to the place in which South Africa finds itself right now, just more than a year ago I decided to join the ACDP (African Christian Democratic Party) and got actively involved. I was elected onto the local BEC (Branch Executive Committee), the REC (Regional Executive Committee) of Pretoria, the PEC (Provincial Executive Committee) in the province of Gauteng and also the PC (Provincial Council) for Gauteng. (see this clickable map of Gauteng) I also started a more politically oriented blog called Βιβλιόπολιτ.

Second, both of my kids are now in the senior primary phase at school (grades 4 & 6), so now the time that we need to spend helping them with homework has escalated dramatically. They both write tests every Tuesday and Thursday, which means that apart from normal homework, they also need help studying. So, several nights a week the kids go to bed between 9-10pm (21:00-22:00).

Third, in South Africa the law states that every city/town must be further subdivided into wards. Pretoria, for instance, has 76 wards. Johannesburg has 104. When local government elections are held, like in March 2006, councillors are elected to serve on the city/town council. Each ward is won by a councillor who will then need a team of 10 people from the local community to help run the ward. These people from the community are elected onto these ward committees (WC) by the people of that specific ward. I made myself available for election onto the WC, and was elected to serve.

So, as you can see, I am a tad busy. Where does that leave my reading? Well, it is going very slowly, as you can imagine!

It is for this very reason that I have decided to blog on the contents of a book. This will force me to read more regularly.

The book I have chosen to blog on is Decision Making and the Will of God by Garry Friesen. You can read a review of the book at 9 Marks Ministries.

Note that I am not promising to have a piece out on this everyday. I do not want to bore readers of this blog that are not interested in this subject. So, I will write about other topics in between.

I have not yet decided how I will tackle it; whether I will go chapter by chapter or part by part. What I do not want to do is to rehash what Friesen has written. That would just be plagiarism! Rather, I want to look at it from the vantage point of how it impacts my thoughts on the subject and perhaps offer a difference of opinion where possible.

So, if you are interested, come back soon to see if this series has started fully.

The whole idea of "finding" the will of God is a hot topic in evangelicalism, and I fear it has become more of a gazing into the crystal ball thing than actually following the will of the Lord. Of course, many Biblical passages are aborted from their natural contexts in the Bible and given meanings that are not there, especially when speaking of THIS subject.

Some will even go so far as waiting for the writing on the wall!

Read Part 1 of my blog posting on Friesen's book here.