Is It Acceptable and God's Will? - Paul Washer

I want you to look back up at v. 1.

Or no, look at v. 2, I'm sorry.
(Romans 12:2)

And he talks about the will of God.

He says, "...renewing of your mind

so that you may prove
what the will of God is."

Isn't it true especially
when you're younger:

What's the will of God?
What's the will of God?

And you're not sure

and you end up doing something like this

with your Bible and
putting your finger there.

You've done it.
That's why you're laughing.

So basically people aren't really each day

so much thinking about the will of God,

but when they get to a certain situation

where they really need an answer,

that's when they start treating this book

almost as though it was magical.

Put your finger there.

Or looking for counsel.

There's nothing wrong with that

as long as it's wise counsel.

But here's what I want you to see.

In our text, if you are constantly

renewing your mind in the Word of God;

if you're reading the Word of God

from cover to cover,

from Genesis to Revelation,

what's happening?

This renewal of the mind

is like you're cultivating
the mind of Christ.

You are cultivating the mind of God.

You are beginning to understand

more and more, generally and generally,

and then more and more specific

who God is,

what God desires,

so that if you're a person

who is constantly renewing their mind

in the Word of God,

you are going to know God's will

in so many areas that at this moment

it's kind of blurry for you.

I'll give an example.

I remember one of the first times I taught

at a Bible school,

a young man walked up to me and says,

"I have a question, Brother Paul.

I'm just confused.

I don't know what God's will is."

I said, "Okay, what is it?"

He goes, "Well, a church has
called me to be a pastor."

"Really? Well, that could be wonderful."

I said, "How long have
you been a Christian?"

"Oh, about fourteen months."

"And what did the professors
you talked to here tell you?"

"Well, they told me they think
I ought to take the church."

I said, "Go back to every
one of those professors

and tell them that I said - use my name,

give them my phone number -

that they need to leave this school

and not give anybody counsel

until they actually read the Bible."

He said, "How can you say that?

How can you say

that you know it's not God's will

for me to be the pastor of this church?"

I said, "Because in 1 Timothy 3

it says 'not a new convert.'

You are a new convert.

Let's go down through the
rest of these qualifications.

Do you have the rest
of these qualifications?

You only have one:
you aspire to be an overseer.

That's good. You lack all
the other qualifications.

So I can tell you

with the authority of God's Word,

no, you should not be
a pastor at this moment,

and I can also tell those professors

they are terribly wrong."

Do you see?

I didn't need something
coming down from heaven

because I already have a sure word

that has come down from heaven.

What should I do in the ministry?

Well, actually He gives you
a whole bunch of commands.

If you just follow those,
you won't have time

to be thinking about the other stuff.

Do you see?

The more we renew our
mind in the Word of God,

the more we will simply understand,

find ourselves doing

the will of God.

Now, I want you to look at something

about the will of God that
is very important here.

He says, "...renewing of your mind

so that you may prove

what the will of God is."

Then he goes on to
describe the will of God.

"That which is good and
acceptable and perfect."

Okay, now "good" here.

The word of course can be translated good.

It also carries with it the idea

of something that is healthy.

Something that could be fruitful.

Something that benefits,

that has integrity,

that instills health and strength

and vitality. Okay?

So, if we're wondering, is this thing

the will of God? Should I do it?

Ask yourself the first question:

Is it good?

Will it contribute to my spiritual health?

Will it contribute to spiritual vitality?

Will it make me more like Christ?

Will it give me strength?

If not, you probably don't need to do it.

Next thing.

Is it acceptable?

And you surely learned this week,

we shouldn't ask ourselves

is it acceptable to our culture?

Because it's acceptable to our culture

to kill babies.

I mean, just... if there's
one thing we know

don't worry about what's acceptable

to this twisted, dark culture.

Your question is: is it acceptable to God?

Because if it's not acceptable to God,

we don't need to be doing it.

And then, is it perfect?

You say, well, there's
not a lot of perfect

in this world, Brother Paul.

The idea here is "complete."

Let me give you an example.

One time, I actually saw almost a revival

break out in Eastern Europe

with about 70 pastors.

They were just on their face,

crying out to God,

broken over their sin

because I had shown them in the Scriptures

that it is not biblical to offer up

your wife and your children

as a sacrifice to your ministry.

That they had always been told that,

you know, that's the mark of a man of God.

He neglects his wife.

He neglects his children.

He's always out there doing

the work of an evangelist

and pastoring and everything.

And I showed them
painstakingly in Scripture.

And God really moved
and broke their hearts.

But here's one of the things
that really got them.

I said the will of God is perfect.

And I said I have already shown you now

that the will of God is
for you to minister.

We saw it in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus.

It is the will of God for you to minister.

Over here, in the book of Ephesians

and Colossians and Deuteronomy 6,

I have shown you it is the will of God

for you to care for your
wife and your children,

instruct them in Scripture

and be there for them.

Now, in Romans 12:2,

tells us the will of God is perfect.

That means if in order to do this,

I have to disobey this,

it's not the will of God.

And so if you're telling me

I don't have time to take care of my wife.

I don't have time for my children.

Why? Because I've got to do the ministry.

You are actually accusing God

of having a will that is imperfect.

Contradictory.

Do you see that?

It's the same way.

A young man sees a beautiful girl

who is not a Christian,

or a beautiful girl sees a young man

who is not a Christian

and becomes very interested
in that young man.

And what does she say?

It is God's will for me to evangelize him.

Yes, it is God's will for
him to be evangelized.

And therefore, I'm going to date him.

No, it is not God's will
for you to date him.

So you're trying to carry out God's will

by violating God's will.

If it is truly God's will,

it will be non-contradictory.

That's what systematic
theology actually is:

teaching a young man

how to think in a non-
contradictory manner

according to the Scriptures.

So that's the will of God.

Does it prosper you spiritually?

Is it acceptable to God

as He has revealed it in His Scriptures?

And is it in harmony with
all the other commands?