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The Will of God and the Gospel Offer | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome, everyone, to Reformed Thinking.
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Today, you're joining us for the deep dive.
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This is where we sort of cut through the noise.
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You know, we grab a stack of material, find the really
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interesting bits, the key insights, and lay it all out so
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you can get clear on things that might seem, well, pretty dense
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at first. We're aiming to make it
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accessible, engaging, really tailored for you.
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So today we're jumping into something really significant.
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It comes from one of America's, well, most influential Reformed
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theologians, Jonathan Edwards. We're going to unpack his
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thinking on on a concept that it might sound a bit contradictory
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initially, but it's actually super central to understanding
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God's character. We're talking about the
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distinction between God's two wills, his revealed will and his
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secret will. Now, this isn't just our mission
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today really, is to understand how God can genuinely desire
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something, let's say the salvation of everyone who hears
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the gospel, but at the same time have this sovereign overarching
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plan that includes specific outcomes, outcomes that might
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even include some people not accepting that gospel.
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It's a core issue in understanding God's character,
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especially from a Reformed viewpoint, and it addresses that
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tension, you know, the one many Christians feel, between God's
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call to all people and his sovereign choice.
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We're mainly pulling from Edwards's big work remarks on
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Important Theological controversies and some other
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related writings that help clarify his thought.
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Why should this matter to you? Well, because wrestling with
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these ideas help solidify foundational Christian beliefs,
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beliefs about who God is, his sovereignty over everything, and
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maybe most practically, how evangelism, sharing the good
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news, fits into his plan. It's not at odds with it.
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It can bring clarity, which Scripture might seem, well,
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tense. And ultimately, it just deepens
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your appreciation for how immense and frankly amazing God
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is. This isn't just head stuff.
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It can genuinely change how you see God working in the world.
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OK, let's dig into this. Edwards starts by laying down a
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foundation right about God's nature itself.
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What is it about God's inherent disposition, his basic leaning,
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that sets the stage for talking about these two wills?
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Yeah, that's exactly where he starts.
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And what's really illuminating is how Edwards grounds
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everything in God's inherent nature, his disposition.
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The sources are clear on this. God truly loves virtue, holiness
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and the happiness of his creatures.
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But Edwards adds this qualifier when considered absolutely and
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simply OK. Absolutely and simply.
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What does that mean exactly? It means looking at these
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things, holiness, creaturely, happiness in themselves without
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any conditions attached, without considering their relation to
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other things in the grand scheme.
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It's about the pure essence of His affection.
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It signifies that holiness, pure goodness, and the genuine
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happiness of His creatures aren't just things God likes.
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They're inherently agreeable to the inclination of His divine
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nature. It's baked into who He is.
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So not just a preference, but part of his being.
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Exactly. It's not a choice he makes based
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on circumstances, it's an intrinsic, non negotiable part
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of him. Think about it.
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There's this pure, unconditioned love for holiness, considered
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absolutely, Edward says. This is basically synonymous
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with God's natural inclination. And these things, holiness,
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creaturally happiness, they're infinitely more agreeable to
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God's nature than they could ever be to ours.
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You know, we might find certain things agreeable, but it's
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finite, conditional for God. This love is boundless, perfect.
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It's an originating force. It's a core attribute to finding
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him and shaping how he interacts with creation.
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It's not like a fleeting feeling.
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It's stable, eternal. That's a really strong starting
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point. If God loves these things so
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absolutely so purely, well, gives us a solid basis for his
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disposition, doesn't it? It's not just that he puts up
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with goodness or allows happiness.
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He's fundamentally leaning towards them.
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It sounds like a core attribute that just flows out.
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It absolutely does. This inherent love for holiness
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and creaturely happiness is, you could say, a huge part of God's
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disposition. And this is what he then
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expresses quite genuinely through his sincere calls and
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invitations to sinners. It's his very nature coming
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through this. Love isn't just an idea, it's an
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active force behind his interactions with us, especially
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in the gospel call. So when God invites us, it's not
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cold or detached. Not at all.
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It flows from this deep internal spring of affection for what's
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good and a desire for his creatures to flourish.
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And this is critical because it pushes back against any idea
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that God's invitations might be, I don't know, insincere or just
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a formality. They are an overflow of his
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perfect character. OK, so that's his natural
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internal disposition. How does he actually express
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that to us? What do we mean when we talk
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about God's revealed will? Sometimes it's called his will
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of command, right? Exactly.
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God primarily expresses these desires through what Edwards
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calls His revealed will. This is basically what you find
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in His commands, His laws, His public statements and scripture.
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It's His inherent disposition and goodness laid bare for us so
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we can understand it and respond.
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When God commands holiness, for instance, it's not random.
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It flows from His nature that loves holiness.
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It tells us what pleases him. Yes, what's pleasing to him?
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What lines up with his character?
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This is the will we're meant to obey.
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It directs our lives, informs our sense of right and wrong.
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And this is precisely why we see these sincere calls and
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invitations to sinners throughout the Bible.
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God expresses His goodness and kindness to those who hear the
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gospel through these invitations, and they are
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sincere. It's not just a tactic.
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Edward sees it as a natural and proper way for God to express
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his disposition. Even when he accommodates
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himself, sort of speaks our language, uses terms, we get to
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convey his genuine inclination. Like a parent inviting a child
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to something good. Yeah, that's a good analogy.
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Even if the parent kind of knows, the child won't say no.
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The invitation itself is real. It reflects the parents heart.
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These invitations in Scripture aren't hypothetical.
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They're earnest calls demanding a real response.
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So it's about what's agreeable to his nature.
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Does that same disposition work in reverse for things he finds
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disagreeable? Does his nature recoil from
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stuff? Oh, absolutely.
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His disposition also includes an intense disagreeableness towards
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wickedness in the misery of the creature.
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Again, considered absolutely and simply, this means sin and
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suffering just in themselves are utterly repugnant to God's holy
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being. And this inherent aversion to
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evil is actually the basis for the goodness we see in pious
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people who lament sin and suffering, you know, when they
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grieve over past wickedness or earnestly wish for future
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holiness and happiness for themselves and others.
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So our righteous grief reflects something in God.
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A faint echo? Yes, Our revulsion to sin when
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it's righteous mirrors a disposition that is infinitely
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present to God. When we grieve evil, we're
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reflecting something true about Him.
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Edwards really emphasizes this when he talks about God's
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lamentings in Scripture. Like when Jesus walked over
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Jerusalem. He says it shows that for God to
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have these desires, these lamentations, nothing is lacking
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in Him except imperfection, and conversely, nothing prevents Him
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from having them except His infinite perfection.
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That's a key point. His desires and grief aren't
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because he's missing something. Right, they don't imply a
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frustrated will like ours sometimes is they flow from His
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complete, self-sufficient, infinitely perfect nature.
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His perfect holiness means he must recoil from sin and
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genuinely desire its absence and the happiness of His creatures.
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That's vital. It completely reorients how we
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think about God desiring something.
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It's not from lack, but from fullness.
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His desires aren't like ours in their source at all.
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Precisely. And this is where Edwards helps
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us hold these seemingly opposite ideas together.
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God accommodates himself to our nature, our way of speaking,
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when he expresses these desires, not because he's deficient, but
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because we are finite. And the most powerful example of
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this is Jesus Christ. When God came down from his
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infinite perfection, it was made man and the person of Jesus
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Christ. He genuinely desire the
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conversion and salvation of people who would ultimately
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reject him. Edwards uses the term reprobates
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those who in God's sovereign plan, wouldn't ultimately accept
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the gospel. And Jesus lamented their
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stubbornness, their misery. We see it when he wept over
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Jerusalem. So in Christ we see a human
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expression of God's perfect disposition.
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Exactly. His sorrow wasn't because his
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plan was failing, but because of his perfect diversion to sin and
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suffering. Jesus's tears were real.
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They signify God's heart towards human suffering and rebellion.
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And similarly, Edward says, when God comes down from his infinite
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perfection, not by becoming human, but just in the way he
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reveals himself in Scripture, it's equally natural and fitting
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for him to express himself as though he desired the conversion
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of those who would remain hard hearted and lamented their
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state. So it's not an act or a white
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lie. No, it's a suitable way for the
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perfect God to communicate His inherent nature to us in ways we
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can receive. His commands and invitations in
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scripture genuinely reflect who He is, even if they're put in
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terms we can grasp. The sources stated clearly all
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in God that is good and perfect and excellent in our desires and
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wishes for the conversion and salvation of wicked men, is
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present in Him. That's central to Edwards.
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It is his perfect knowledge, his wisdom, his power.
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None of that stops him from expressing this disposition of
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his nature through calls and invitations.
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So God's expressions of desire for the holiness and happiness
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of even those who reject him contain everything good about
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such desires, except anything that would imply an
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imperfection, A weakness, A lacking God.
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It's a perfect divine desire, not a needy human one.
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OK, so we've got God's inherent disposition, loving holiness and
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happiness, and his revealed will commands invitations expressing
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that. But then there's this other
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aspect, His secret will, or as Edwards puts it, his will of
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decree. How does that fit in?
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How is it different? Right, the secret will.
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This refers to God's inclination towards something not absolutely
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and simply, not just looking at the thing itself, but looking at
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it with the respect to the universality of things, had it
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been our or shall be. So the bigger picture, the whole
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cosmic plan. Exactly.
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Think of it as his grand overarching plan for Everything,
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Everywhere, all time, a cosmic blueprint.
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This secret will covers his absolute decrees about the
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future actions of everyone, including, yes, the unbelief of
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sinners and the rejection of the gospel.
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It's tied up with his absolute foreknowledge, His perfect
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knowledge of the future, and his wise determination and ordering
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of everything that happens. This is God's comprehensive,
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eternal plan for the whole cosmos, perfectly orchestrated
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according to His wisdom. OK, and this immediately brings
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up that huge question, doesn't it?
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The tension theologians have wrestled with forever, and
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Edwards hits it head on. How can God hate sin, genuinely
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desire its absence, desire people's happiness?
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That's his revealed will, but then permits sin or even decree
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its permission with within this secret will.
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It feels like a contradiction. That's precisely the perceived
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paradox. Edwards acknowledges that he
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says while God may hate of things as it is, simply like sin
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or a creature's misery because they're contrary to His nature,
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His will of decree, His secret will, may incline to permit it
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or even ordain that it happens, but always for a greater
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ultimate purpose. A higher goal.
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Yes, often for the greater promotion of holiness in this
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universality, or for the greater promotion of happiness in this
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universality, the ultimate aim might be promoting of the
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harmony that there is in the universality and making it shine
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the brighter. So something that looks bad or
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out of place on its own might actually contribute to a
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grander, more radiant harmony and display of God's glory when
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you see the whole picture. Like a single dark thread,
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making the whole pattern richer. Something like that.
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And Edwards insists the sources say this distinction between the
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two wills must needs be He argues that no hypothesis
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whatsoever will relieve a man, but that he must own these two
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wills of God. So you can't get around it
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theologically. He thinks it's necessary.
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Without it, you can't make sense of how God's holy character and
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his absolute sovereignty fit together with the reality of the
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world he created and governs. It's not optional.
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For Edwards, it's essential. To deny it leads to even bigger
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problems, he thinks. It forces us to admit God's
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perspective is just vastly bigger than ours, covering
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Everything, Everywhere, forever. That definitely sets the stage.
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So Edwards takes this tension seriously.
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Now we get to the core challenge.
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How does he, working within this Reform framework, actually
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reconcile this this apparent clash between God's sovereign
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decrees, which includes some not being saved, and his sincere
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offers of salvation to everyone who hears?
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What's the solution? Well, his solution really hinges
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on being very precise about the word will.
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He clarifies that when we talk about God's revealed will and
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His secret will, we're using the word will in two different
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senses. So not 2 conflicting wills, but
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two meanings of will. Exactly.
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His will of decree is not His will in the same sense as His
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will of command. They are distinct senses of will
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within the one unified God. It's not like God is torn or has
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internal conflict. It's more like looking at God's
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intentions from different angles within his single perfect being.
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1 angle is his inclination based on his own nature and what he
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commands. The other is his inclination
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regarding his ultimate universal plan.
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OK, so how does that resolve this sincerity issue?
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Well, it means the existence of God's secret decrees like
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knowing and planning. That some sinners will remain in
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unbelief doesn't contradict the sincerity of His calls and
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invitations to them. The sincerity doesn't come from
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God hoping things turn out differently than He decreed or
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from Him not knowing the outcome.
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Where does it come from them? It stems directly from His
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inherent nature, which we talked about first, His absolute love
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for holiness and the happiness of His creatures, and his
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perfect hatred of sin. God genuinely desires the good
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He calls people too, because it is good, Period.
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It's agreeable to His nature. That makes the call sincere.
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Edwards really hammers this all in.
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God that is good and perfect and excellent in our desires and
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wishes for the conversion and salvation of wicked men is truly
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present in Him. That's foundational.
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So our best desires for others reflect something perfect in
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God. A dim reflection, yes.
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His genuine, absolute love for holiness, The agreeableness of
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it to his nature. When we as believers genuinely
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desire someone's conversion and lament their hardness, that good
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desire in US mirrors an infinitely more perfect
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disposition in God Himself. And importantly, this inherent
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disposition in God is perfectly consistent with everything else
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we know about Him, His infinite knowledge, wisdom, power,
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self-sufficiency, happiness, immutability.
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So his knowing the future doesn't cancel out his desire in
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the present. Right.
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His absolute foreknowledge or His wise ordering of the future
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doesn't hinder him from expressing this disposition of
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his nature through genuine calls and invitations.
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Patience. God's knowledge of what will
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happen, doesn't diminish his actual desire for a different,
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more agreeable outcome for the individual considered just in
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themselves. His perfect knowledge means he
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doesn't get disappointed like we do.
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His desires flow from His Holiness, not from frustrated
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hopes. OK, I think I'm following, but
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Edwards has that really striking quote, doesn't he, about
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perfection? Yes, it really crystallizes it.
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He says nothing is wanting in God in order to his having such
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desires and such lamentings, but imperfection, and nothing is in
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the way of His having them, but infinite perfection.
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Wow, so his perfection is what allows these things to coexist,
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not what prevents them. Exactly.
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It's his perfection that allows him to genuinely desire good and
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lament evil without it implying any lack or incompleteness in
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him like our desires often do. His desires aren't born of need,
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they flow from his inherent perfect nature.
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It's his infinite knowledge and self-sufficiency that let him
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express his perfect disposition without any human like sorrow of
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disappointment or unfulfilled longing.
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It actually affirms his total self-sufficiency and
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blessedness, even while he genuinely expresses aversion to
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sin and desire for human flourishing.
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That's a really helpful way to put it.
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God's perfection isn't a barrier, it's the source.
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Let's explore that a bit more, this idea of God's perfection
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enabling him to communicate these perfect desires to us.
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How does his perfection allow these genuine expressions?
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Yeah, His perfection is key to how these desires and
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lamentations work and how they're expressed.
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Because he has infinite knowledge, wisdom, power,
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etcetera. He can't have desires that imply
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a lack or a potential for being unfulfilled.
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That's how our desires work, right?
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We want what we don't have. Exactly.
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We desire things often because we feel incomplete.
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We wish for something missing. God's desires are fundamentally
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different. They're expressions of His
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absolute fullness. He doesn't need anything.
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But, and this is the crucial link, all that is good, perfect,
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and excellent in our desires and wishes for the conversion and
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salvation of others is present in God, but perfectly
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infinitely. For instance, his infinite love
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for holiness absolutely considered his hatred of
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wickedness and misery. That's the ultimate source of
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the good we see in believers who lament these things.
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So our best longing is originate in Him.
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Yes, our longing for good, our aversion to evil, our prayers
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for the lost. They start in his perfect
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nature. He's the perfect original of
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these desires. So Edwards argues, God's
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perfection doesn't stop him from expressing these perfect
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dispositions. Instead, he expresses them by
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accommodating himself to our human nature and way of
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understanding. He meets us where we are.
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Right. It's not a sign of weakness in
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Him, but a loving condescension, a way for God to relate to us in
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terms we can grasp, even though He's ultimately beyond us.
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It's an act of grace that He speaks our language.
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That makes sense. Can you give us those
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illustrations again? How does Edwards show God doing
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this, communicating his perfect disposition in ways we get?
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Sure, Edwards points to two main ways God accommodates His
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expression to us both flowing from His perfection.
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First, in the manner of existence, the Incarnation.
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This is the big one. When God came down from His
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infinite perfection and was made man in the person of Jesus
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Christ, He genuinely desired the conversion and salvation of
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people He knew would reject Him. He truly lamented their
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stubbornness and misery. Think of Jesus weeping over
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Jerusalem. That wasn't just for show.
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Not at all. It was a physical manifestation
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of God's true disposition, expressed through real human
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emotions and faculties. Jesus's tears were real, showing
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God's heart about human suffering and rebellion even
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while His sovereign plan unfolded.
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The divine disposition made tangible.
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Second, in the manner of manifestation through scriptural
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expression. This is God communicating
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through the Bible. When God comes down from his
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infinite perfection and the manner of manifestation, he
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accommodates himself to human language and ways of thinking
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within Scripture. So it's perfectly natural and
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right that he should express himself through commands,
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invitations, even lamentations, as if he desire the conversion
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of those who stay hardened and grieve their state.
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So the language in the Bible like God calling out to Israel.
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It's not pretend. It genuinely reflects God's
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perfect nature, His love for holiness and happiness, His
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hatred of sin, all expressed in terms we humans can understand
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and respond to. His commands and invitations are
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sincere because they flow from who He is, His inherent perfect
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disposition. So.
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Putting it together, God's invitations are truly sincere.
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They reflect his perfect nature. And this happens even while his
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sovereign plan, his secret will, unfolds for the whole universe.
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It's quite a way to hold together what look like opposing
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truths. It tells us God isn't
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contradictory, just infinitely coherent in a way that stretches
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our minds. So today we've really dug into
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Jonathan Edwards key distinctions, God's revealed
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will and his secret will. We've explored how these two
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sides of God's intention aren't fighting each other, but are
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different ways of understanding His single perfect will.
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And this allows for His genuine calls to everyone, right
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alongside His sovereign decrees about how everything ultimately
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works out. Yeah, just to sum it up, God's
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sincere offers in the gospel, they genuinely reflect His
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natural leaning towards holiness and happiness.
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That's part of His perfect essence, His decrees, the secret
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will that reflects his ultimate plan for universal harmony and
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His own glory in the grand scheme of things.
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Both are expressions of his perfect nature, just viewed from
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different angles. The secret will ensues, the
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greatest possible good for the universe overall.
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The revealed Will shows us his inherent goodness, His love for
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what's right. And importantly, it's what we're
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called to obey. So.
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Thinking about all this, what does it mean for you personally
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as you reflect on God's character?
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Think about it. What does it mean that God's
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absolute perfection is the very thing that lets him genuinely
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desire good for all and lament its rejection, even while He
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masterminds a universal plan that includes allowing sin for a
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greater final harmony? How does that shape your view of
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His? Love His?
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Justice, maybe even how you approach sharing your faith or
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praying. Does it maybe free you up to
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proclaim the gospel with more confidence in God's true heart,
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knowing his sovereignty isn't some kind of barrier, but
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actually the ultimate assurance? Lots to think about there.
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Well, thank you for joining us for this deep dive on Reformed
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thinking. Until next time.