When we consider the will of God, there are often two main concepts theologians like to address: the permissive and the efficacious will of God. Simply put, there are a variety of ways to think about the will of God and these two offer us a framework as we move forward in our discussion.
The Permissive Will of God
This aspect of God's will (as is implied by the language) has to do with what God will permit. To some degree, we see this most clearly in the world when people make bad or evil choices. God does not desire people to sin nor does He cause them to do so (James 1:13), but He does permit them to do so (more on this in the future when we address the necessity of freedom in order that true love exists). God's permissive will can be sub-divided into two categories - the things He permits with which He is pleased (positive), and the things He permits with which He is displeased (negative). Dallas Willard in his book Hearing God talks about the positive permissive will of God with an example of a father and son. A son comes home from school and asks, "Dad, what should I do during play time this afternoon?" The father's desire is that the son would play, enjoy himself, and get some exercise, but since he doesn't have a specific activity in mind, he tells his son to play whatever sport he wants - all the father wants is for the son to do something that fulfills his aforementioned requirements. This can be seen as the Positive Permissive Will. Sometimes, God desires something broadly from us, but allow us the freedom to choose. Augustine lived this out with his axiom "Love God and do as you please." If we are in walk-step with God's heart, He sometimes gives us the freedom to choose what we do. As long as it falls within His moral bounds and what we already know of His well, we have freedom to choose through which doorway we walk.
Negative Permissive Will is just the opposite. God will allow bad decisions to be made, bad things to happen and though He doesn't desire it, He allows it. This is an entirely separate topic, so we will leave this for now and return to it at a future time.
The Efficacious Will of God
This will of God is best described as the will of God that will happen. When we read in Scripture that Jesus will return, we can be sure this will happen - God will engage the needed variables so this happens. Some offer the question - if Moses refused to go, what would God have done? The question brings in many variables, but at the core we can stand on this truth: if God desires something to happen, it will come to pass.
The Resurrection of Christ - this was going to undoubtedly happen.
What can we glean from these wills of God? At least a few things. First, sometimes when we are feeling the tension over wanting God's perfect will, we have to realize He might be offering us freedom within His framework (giving us choice within His bounds). Secondly, we can be sure that the plans God has for us will come to pass. If God efficaciously desires for us to become something, travel somewhere, or to live out a certain calling - it will happen. In both of these, we can take comfort and find peace. These are rooted in His character (our topic for the next post).
-tC
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