The Completeness And Adequacy Of The "Will Of God" (III.)
The "will of God" in this study, is considered in the sense of the expressed will of God. The New Testament is the expressed will of God for men of this age; we are simply studying the old theme of the completeness and 'adequacy of the New Testament. Does the New Testament contain all? Is it enough? If the New Testament is the will of God and if it claims to be the complete (full and final) revelation of the will of God to man; then to doubt its sufficiency is to reflect on God. We shall see that not only is the claim of completeness made, which claim requires the admission of adequacy, but adequacy is expressly claimed, thus relieving us of any necessity to rely on conclusions which involve human reasoning.
If the "will of God" is complete and adequate for all time it follows that: all claims of the need of additional revelation whether by a direct operation or through our experiences are false — nothing in addition to the New Testament is needed. In our times the need of deep assurance of the complete and adequate revelation of the divine will is sorely needed.
We will notice some of the claims which the "will of God" makes with reference to its own completeness and adequacy. Christ promised a complete expression of the will of God to the apostles. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you unto all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine and declare it unto you." (John 16:12-15.) A partial revelation of truth will not fulfill the requirements of this promise. All the truth is embraced in the promise. This complete truth into which the Holy Spirit was to guide the apostles was from Christ — "He shall take of mine and declare it unto you." But this is the will of God — "And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me." (John 14:24.) Thus Christ himself traces the course of the revelation of the will of the Father through himself and the Holy Spirit to the apostles. Abundant testimony from the apostles to the same effect is found in their writings. "As it is written, things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man. Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God." (1 Cor. 2:9,10.) The mind of man is utterly incapable of reasoning out the things of God from the facts gained by his sight and hearing. This passage claims that the promise of Christ to the apostles was fulfilled and denies that man can know the will of God through his experiences. Paul says that "unto us God revealed them through the Spirit." After showing in the 11th verse the impossibility of man's knowing without revelation what was in the mind of God, the apostle states "But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God." (Verse 12.) Christ promised the Holy 'Spirit to the apostles to guide them into all the truth and Paul writes that they received the Spirit, and that the Spirit accomplished his mission. They received the Spirit that they "might know the things that were freely given to us of God." (Verse 12.) These things were in turn spoken by the apostles. "All the truth" is contained in the New Testament.
That the New Testament comprises the will of God revealed to and spoken by the apostles is stated by the apostle in Ephesians 3:3, 4 "how that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ ...." By reading the things written in the New Testament one perceives the understanding which was given to the apostles by revelation.
That the things written by the apostles comprise the "will of God" into which the Holy Spirit guided the apostles is positively affirmed in 1 Corinthians 14:37, "If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the 'Lord." Here the apostle claims for his writing that they are the commandments of the Lord.
The New Testament is the written will of God, and completeness and adequacy is affirmed of it in 2 Timothy 3:16,17, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." Any claim for the need of revelation in addition to the scriptures constitutes a denial of this passage — any work undertaken in the name of Christ must be authorized in the scriptures for the scriptures "completely" furnish us unto "every" good work.
That the will of God full and final has been revealed is claimed by Jude — "Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints." The faith — the salvation which was at first spoken by the Lord is the thing about which Jude is writing. Jude emphasizes the need of contending for the faith in his statement that it was the final revelation of God's will. It was once for all delivered hence the importance of contending earnestly for it. Had there been any prospects of additional revelation, then the need for contending for that one would not have 'been so great.
The whole counsel of God was preached by the apostles — "For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27.) The purpose or will of God was fully declared by the apostles. The apostle here bases his claim of blamelessness on the fact that no part of God's will had been withheld. Notice that "to "testify the gospel of the grace of God" and "preaching the kingdom" are used interchangeably — and that Paul speaks of these actions as "declaring — the whole counsel of God." To testify the gospel is to preach the kingdom — to declare the counsel (will) of God. The will of God has been completely expressed in the testimony or preaching of the apostles. This gospel is adequate, for the apostle in this same passage says "and now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified." (Acts 20:37.) Here is the Lord's guarantee of adequacy — expressed by one of heavens own ambassadors. The will of God expressed by the apostles is able to build you up and give you the inheritance.
When the adequacy of the gospel is doubted there will be unwillingness to preach it, without bolstering it up with human wisdom. Paul felt no such necessity for he was convinced of the adequacy of the gospel. He was "ready" (eager) to preach the gospel for it is the "power of God unto salvation." From this we see that to question the adequacy of the gospel is to doubt the "power of God unto salvation."
The "will" of the Lord is more enduring than the established order of Nature — Christ said that "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matt. 24:36.) This claim of permanency gives great comfort to these who believe it. The will of God needs no remodeling, streamlining or any other alterations. Any who do alter it come under the curse of God for so doing — "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8.) God will tolerate no tampering with His will. Not even an angel or an apostle would dare to attempt improvements or modernizations.
The "will of God" is complete, adequate and final — it is the expression of the wishes which God entertains with reference to the soul of man — "I commend you to God and the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among them that are sanctified."