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What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". - Religion - Nairaland

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What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by dTouch: 8:47pm On Sep 09, 2010
I have had difficulty trying to explain what this means because I don't believe God's will has degrees. It's either His will or it's not. Help me out here.
Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by aletheia(m): 10:40pm On Sep 09, 2010
. . .an excuse for people to do what they want to do. You are right in not believing that God's will has degrees.

KJV: Rom 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by seyibrown(f): 1:46am On Sep 10, 2010
It is usually used to 'garnish' disobedience or deviation from the perfect will and instruction of God!
Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by eyzhvntsn: 3:16am On Sep 10, 2010
I believe that there is the path that a man takes that is according to God's general will and is in accordance with the scriptures however it becomes permissive when it is not the path that God has ordained for that particular individual for instance in ministry. Permissive in the sense that what God has willed will come to pass as long as whatever they do is in accordance with His word.

An instance that comes to mind is that of the Late Rev Kenneth Hagin who according to his account pastored for 12 years and based on the fact that he was not in line with the word at some point he was not really seeing lives changed, however it got to the point where as a pastor who had a desire to see change in his congregants lives he asked the Lord why and God told him what he needed to do in order to see results and as soon as he followed what the Lord said, he saw the peoples lives changed totally.

Later on he described that he started having a feeling of dissatisfaction after some time (I think close to the 12 yr mark) and when he again enquired of the Lord, the answer was that pastoring was never God's perfect plan for his life however he had been permitted 12 years to do that. God then proceeded to reveal to him what He had always wanted for him to do which he then entered into and well if you know him, u would know how effective a ministry God established through him. Had he ignored the feeling and continued to pastor, he would have continued to do so successfully (according to God's standards) however he would never have entered into the fullness of what God had in store for him which is where being in God's 'perfect' will takes any person and may I just add that I believe God's perfect will ALWAYS cause change in the lives of those who encounter the individuals who find it, the end-point of God's perfect will I believe is not about the individual themselves and what they get from it which is why to get there, there needs to be a transformation by the renewing of the mind.

So in essence, it is not the will of God at all if it has no bearing with the word so it cannot even be qualified as 'permissive' however that which is done with the results that God always intended in mind will yield those results except that God may have a different path in store which takes an enquiring heart to find out and ultimately enter into God's perfect will. The totality of God's will in itself does not have degrees, but the performing of it which is the fruit that being in His will yields may be in stages.

In saying the above, I would also like to say that anything that has to do with our personal conduct as christians; it is one perfect will and that is that we all be conformed to the image of His Son and show the world that there is a difference knowing the Father makes in the life of a person, anything short of that is not permitted. My 20 kobo's contribution, I hope it helps.  smiley

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Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by dTouch: 7:19am On Sep 10, 2010
eyzhvntsn:

I believe that there is the path that a man takes that is according to God's general will and is in accordance with the scriptures however it becomes permissive when it is not the path that God has ordained for that particular individual,

Thanks eyzhvntsn (how do you pronounce this?). My understanding of the word 'Permissive' is 'allowed but not obligatory; optional', the antonym for Permissive, I believe, is Mandatory. Does God actually send mixed signals?- It is mandatory to not steal and in another breadth you may steal. This business of permissive and perfect will of God seem to suggest that God prevaricates on the virtue of obedience to His will as even the scenario in the above quote paints. Is there any SCRIPTURE to support the "permissive will" principle? I will rather be guided by the scriptures not by the fancy of some theologian or preacher.
Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by eyzhvntsn: 10:25am On Sep 10, 2010
Hello again dtouch, hope your day has started well and will end well.

My explanation and the example I gave above has to do with the will of God in the context of the path that each individuals life takes on this side of eternity as you know that our paths in life are all different.

When it comes to CONDUCT however, as in the example you gave of 'stealing' I do not believe that there is a permissive will. The last thing I said above was that God wills that we be CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST and that is seen in

Romans 8:26-29

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the WILL of God.


28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

I believe that the above scriptures are stating the will of the Father concerning who He has made us in Christ and what that translates to in our daily living as we collaborate with the Holy Spirit to bring it to pass. Previous chapters of Romans (5 - 6) and going on to 8 talks a lot about our position post the cross and when you then get to Romans 12 as quoted by altheia above it then tells us:

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.


The rest of the chapter talks about conduct which I believe is directly linked to Romans 8 but starts with the step we take in verses 1 & 2 by reason of what our position in Christ is as explained in the previous chapters I have mentioned. There is no persmissive will in that sense, God is certainly concerned about us being transformed and that nothing short of the image of the Son, i.e. for us to be Christlike in all that we do and I believe that this is the premise on which we are able to enter into God's perfect will in terms of the path God has for each of us, i.e. having received this life of Christ and having been first and most importantly transformed by this life such that it is reflected in our conduct, how then do we manifest this life individually such that collectively we become a blessing to the world. Like Paul said, in 2 Timothy 4:7 - I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Now going back to what I said above about God's will being 'permissive' I gave the example of Kenneth Hagin just to show that the perfect will of God with respect to our paths in life and again NOT CONDUCT has to be sought and sometimes before an individual gets to the place of knowing that exact path they may walk a different path that is in line with scripture which yields results but because it is not the exact path God has for them, they do not realise the full potential of what God can do through them and until they seek to find that 'perfect' will they will not. That is the sense in which I say there is a 'permissive' will.

Put it this way, say for instance I choose to become a surgeon and as a christian, I have allowed the transformation that comes with renewing the mind. At my job, I am doing well infact people are being blessed not just because I am good at my job but they also get to encounter Christ in me, i.e. there is a physical blessing and also a spiritual one. You could say I am successful as a surgeon however on the other hand I am quite good at a certain sport and God's path for me is that I actually take up that sport and following that path will cause a radical change in peoples lives on a scale higher than me being a surgeon until I seek and take that path, I am not in God's perfect will however the results I am getting as a surgeon are permissive because they do not go against the word. Does that make sense?

Permissive because it yields results however not perfect because full potential is only realised though God's perfect will. This is my understanding.

I cannot think at the moment of any specific scripture to support this but if i do come across anything that might help, I'll be sure to post it. Thanks.
Re: What Is Meant By "the Permissive Will Of God". by caramba(f): 7:11am On Sep 03, 2013
This is quite interesting and relevant though the topic is been for a while.

I however want to know how relevant is the issue of permissive will to marriage. Is it possible to marry under permissive will, how do one know he or she is under permissive will of God and what can one do?

Also, if there is no clear leading or direction from God, can someone go ahead to discern God's will or has to wait until there is direction.

Thank you.

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