Does God Get What He Wills?

One rule before we start. I have not altered or twisted a single verse. Every passage below is quoted as it stands. Answer the same way: from the Scriptures, without twisting them.

The Argument

Premise One: God is almighty. He does whatever He pleases. No one in heaven or on earth can block His hand or reverse what He does. His purpose stands over every human plan. He guaranteed the unchangeable character of His purpose with an oath. His Word goes out from His mouth and does not return empty. It accomplishes the exact thing He sent it to do.

Premise Two: God wills that all be saved. He states His desire plainly: all people saved, none perishing. He swore by His own life that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He swore by Himself that every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance. No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit, so the Holy Spirit produces the confession every tongue makes.

The Conclusion. Put the two together and answer one question. Does God get what He wills? There are two answers: He does, or He does not.

If He does not, He is not almighty. The word almighty comes out of the creeds, the hymns, and the Psalms. His hand can be blocked. His purpose can be thwarted. His oath returned empty. The one thing He swore would never happen happened.

If He does, all are saved.

So answer it directly. Where does sin abound more than grace, when Paul says grace abounds all the more? Where is the sinner grace cannot reach, when grace always exceeds sin? How does a God who does whatever He pleases fail to accomplish the salvation He says He desires? How does the Word that cannot return empty return empty on the subject God swore an oath about?

Either His will is done or it is not. Either He is almighty or He is not. Either His Word accomplishes what He sent it to do or it does not.

Scripture states the outcome outright, in the same "all" it uses for sin and death.

Premise One: God Accomplishes Whatever He Wills

God Does Whatever He Pleases

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.

Psalm 135:6

Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Job 42:2

I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

No One Can Block His Hand

Daniel 4:35

All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can block His hand or say to Him, "What have you done?"

Isaiah 43:13

Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?

His Purpose Stands Over Every Human Plan

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in the heart of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will prevail.

Proverbs 21:1

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will.

Isaiah 46:9-10

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose."

His Will Cannot Be Resisted

Romans 9:19-20

You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

Paul puts the question in the objector's mouth. Paul's answer rebukes the man who talks back to God and leaves the premise standing: no one resists His will.

Ephesians 1:11

...who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Nothing Is Too Hard for Him

Jeremiah 32:27

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?

Luke 1:37

For nothing will be impossible with God.

Matthew 19:26

With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Almighty by Name and Title

Genesis 17:1

I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; walk before Me, and be blameless.

Revelation 19:6

Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

Revelation 1:8

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

He Guaranteed His Purpose with an Oath

Hebrews 6:17-18

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

His Word Does Not Return Empty

Isaiah 55:11

So shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Premise Two: God Wills That All Be Saved

He Desires All to Be Saved

1 Timothy 2:3-4

This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires (wills) all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Ezekiel 33:11

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

He Wills to Unite and Have Mercy on All

Ephesians 1:9-10

Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Romans 11:32

For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may have mercy on all.

John 12:32

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He Swore It by Oath

Isaiah 45:22-23

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the Word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Confession Is His Work

1 Corinthians 12:3

No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

What Scripture States Outright

Romans 5:18

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Romans 5:20

Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

1 Corinthians 15:22

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Colossians 1:19-20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Titus 2:11

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.

John 1:29

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

1 John 2:2

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

The Objection: Two Wills

The standard reply to this argument splits God's will in two. His decretive will is what He ordains, and it always happens. His preceptive will is what He desires, and it can fail. Psalm 115:3 and Ephesians 1:11 get filed under the first. 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 get filed under the second. Then comes the press: God wills that no one sin, and people sin, so God does not get everything He wills.

Scripture answers both halves.

The decretive will has a stated content. The verse cited for it is Ephesians 1:11. Read it with the two verses before it.

Ephesians 1:9-11

Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

The counsel of His will in verse 11 is the mystery of His will in verse 9. Paul names its content in verse 10: to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. The will that works all things is the will to unite all things. The verse used to prove God's sovereign decree is the verse that tells you what He decreed.

Disobedience sits inside God's purpose, and Paul names the purpose.

Romans 11:32

For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may have mercy on all.

God is the subject of the verb. He imprisoned all in disobedience. The sentence carries a purpose clause, hina in the Greek: so that He may have mercy on all. The objection points to sin as proof that God's will fails. Paul points to sin as the place God Himself set all people so that He could have mercy on all of them.

The other reply says God limits Himself to honor human choice. Jesus closed that door.

John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John 12:32

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

The Greek verb for draw is the same in both verses, helkō. No one can come unless the Father draws him. Jesus says He will draw all people. The drawing no one can come without is the drawing Jesus promised to all.

Philippians 2:13

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

God works the willing. The Holy Spirit produces the confession. Human choice cannot block the drawing, because the will to come is God's work in the one who comes.

Both replies leave the question standing.

Answer It

The first question in Have You Heard It? put this in one line. This is the full case behind it.

Is your God Almighty? Yes or no?

Does your God get what He desires, what He wills, what pleases Him? Yes or no?

The Final Question

1 Timothy 4:9-11

This saying is TRUSTWORTHY and deserves FULL ACCEPTANCE. For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, WHO IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL PEOPLE, especially of those who believe. COMMAND and TEACH these things.

Paul called it trustworthy. Paul said it deserves full acceptance. Paul said to command and teach it.

I believe what Paul wrote.

Do you?