The Knowledge of God's Will Pt 1

Colossians 1:9-14 ESV

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Note: This writing will be in two parts for this would be too long to cover all this in one writing. So, I will quote this whole passage in both writings in order to keep this in the context in which it is written.

The knowledge of God’s will is a rather broad subject which entails so many different topics, but we can learn to know his will through the study of the Scriptures (in their context), if we are willing to hear the Lord and what his word teaches us, and if we are willing to obey his will and to walk in his ways in obedience to him, by the grace of God, and in the power of the Spirit.

But as we continue to read here, we see that the knowledge of God’s will is directly related to us being able to walk (in conduct, in practice) in a manner (way, conduct) worthy of the Lord. And what does it mean to be worthy? It means “appropriate, fitting, proper, and suitable” of the Lord, and of his gospel, and of his calling on our lives, pleasing to him, bearing good fruit.

[Matt 10:37-38; Lu 9:62; Eph 4:1; Php 1:27; Col 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12]

So, if we conduct our lives in a manner worthy of the Lord, and of his gospel, and of his calling on our lives, in a manner (conduct) pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, what should that look like? 

It means, as obedient children, we are not being conformed to the passions of the flesh, but we are being conformed in character and in practice to the image of Christ, by God. It means we are living holy lives, separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus. And it means suffering persecution for the sake of the gospel of our salvation, and because we are living holy lives, and because we are not walking in sin.

And it means that good works are definitely required of us, but they are the works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them. For we are required of God that we must repent of our sins (forsake our sins), die to sins daily, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in walks of righteousness or we will not inherit eternal life.

[Ps 139:13-16; Rom 1:6-7; Rom 8:8,28-29; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 5:9; Gal 5:13; Gal 6:8; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 5:10; Col 1:9-11; 1 Thess 4:1,7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 1 Thess 2:4; 2 Tim 2:4; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3; 1 John 3:22; Eph 2:10; Tit 2:11-14; Php 2:12-13; Ac 26:18; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Lu 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23; Gal 5:16-21] 

For those who are qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light are those who are walking in a manner worthy of God, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing (growing) in the knowledge of God in all practical understanding and application to our every day lives. This doesn’t mean we are perfect people, but sin is no longer our practice. Now righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God are what we practice.

But we don’t do this in our own flesh. In fact, it is impossible to do the works of God in our own flesh because they are of God and so they are only operated in the power of God’s Spirit. Now some people may try to fake them, but they can’t do them, in reality, for these are only empowered by God and are not operable according to the flesh. And so God gets all the glory for what is accomplished in our lives via our walks of faith in him.

The Spirit Calling

An Original Work / November 12, 2019

Hear the Spirit calling.

He’ll keep you from falling.

Tenderly He’s calling,

“Come and follow Him.”

Walk with Jesus daily.

Don’t give in to lazy.

Folks may call you crazy.

Fellowship with Him.

Follow where He leads you.

Eat what Jesus feeds you.

His love will renew you

If you follow Him.

Do what Jesus tells you.

Don’t let your faith fail you.

His love will avail you

If you walk with Him.

Jesus, Lord and Savior,

Reigneth now forever.

He gave us His favor

So we’d live with Him.

Turning now from our sin,

Holy Spirit live-in.

Holiness we walk in,

Purified by Him.

https://vimeo.com/373006449