Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn. And whether you're listening to this on your favorite podcast platform or watching on our YouTube channel, I'm really thankful that you joined me today for this episode. We've been talking about God's will and making decisions over the last few weeks, and it's time for your questions to get answered. And so my team has sent me a bunch of the questions that you DM'd into them on Instagram when we posted recently. And so I'm going to get through as many as I can here, and I hope that these encourage you and offer some clarity. Maybe somebody asked a question that you thought about asking or didn't think about, and the answer strengthens you. And of course, if you are thinking through how you would dialogue with other people, some of these answers might provide you with some triggers. You go study more, and then you're even further equipped to counsel others. If you haven't already picked up a copy of the book, it's called Walking in God's Will. I have a copy right here, and so you can see this if you're watching it. It's called Walking in God's Will. It's available on Amazon, Christianbook.com, Barnes and Noble, wherever books are sold, or you can go to forthegospel.org. If you click on the link at the top of our website page, there's a couple things. Number one, you'll be taken to a page where all the information of the book is on. But on that page, there's a free downloadable PDF. It comes in phone screensaver version or large kind of eight and a half by 11 PDF. And it's got the seven P's that I developed for making no regret decisions. They're all rooted in scripture. So our no regret is rooted in the fact that we've been prudent about the way we make those decisions. And so I want you to get that for free at the very least. And if the book's been a blessing to you already, we'd appreciate if you dropped a review on Amazon and let others know that they should order it or maybe order one for a friend. Our goal is that the book equips an army of Christians to make great decisions because they know about God's will and you're walking in confidence. All right. QA time, here we go. Can you explain how God's will works with voting? Yeah, sure, I can do that. I believe that when you look at what scripture teaches and you let that inform your voting choices, then you should come to find that voting for blatant wickedness, anti-God government rhetoric, anti-church government is not an option. Now, personally, I find that scripture actually helps us make sense not just of who to vote for, but when a candidate is in office. For example, I was of the mind that when someone like a Joe Biden was in office, that was part of God judging our nation. Leaders who are wicked and anti-God, anti-church, anti-Christ are judgment. That is what God did. If you read the book of Habakkuk, you see that. If you read a lot of the Old Testament prophets, you see God will judge nations by giving them the leaders they deserve. We did a video not long ago. If you uh scroll through our Instagram page or search this on YouTube, you'll find uh it's I talk about God's judgment on nations being through wicked leaders. And so when you are angry about the kind of country you're in and you're a Christian or you're frustrated with anti-God government and an antichrist agenda in office, well, then you begin praying that the nation or that the church rise up and that there be repentance and that God would relent and steer the nation in a different direction. He is the one who appoints all world rulers. Now, the Bible also helps us make sense of somebody like President Trump being in office. And I'm not one of those people that's like a Trump worshiper and he's the savior, and you know, God put him in there because America's Christian now. No, I'm under no illusion that Trump is some pastor or some superstar Christian or even a Christian at all. I've actually said before he needs to be evangelized with the true gospel. People like Paula White, his spiritual advisor, are false teachers. She is a literal heretic, and I mean that in every sense of how the word is defined. And I have concerns about who's around him. At the same time, President Trump uh has a track record of very supportive Christian actions, Christian policies, and he has a track record of favoring born-again believers. And so, in the sense that we hold that intention, some people get very nervous when I even say negative things. I think we just need to live in the truth and in the light. The fact that uh President Trump is in office, though, makes sense biblically as well. I would see him as what the Bible describes when it describes King Darius or King Cyrus, both kings in the Old Testament. Cyrus, in particular, is described as God's shepherd. It does not mean Cyrus the king was a Christian. He was not. He was not in covenant with Yahweh. King Darius was not either. But both leaders were used by God to accomplish his agenda for his people. And so we want to understand that that can inform our voting decisions. I would view voting for President Trump as voting for a kind of King Darius or a Cyrus and somebody who is favorable towards the church, even if I have opinions and don't like who's around him. Justin Peters said it best recently, and he is stalwart on these subjects. Justin said this I will vote with a false teacher, but I will not partner with a false teacher. And in that regard, he said it in his own way. I'm probably butchering the quote. Sorry, JP, but to whatever degree you can go search that and see what he said. He basically said, look, he'll vote for the same president that a false teacher does, but he's not going to hold hands with a false teacher and sit in the White House and act like it's all kumbaya. This can inform our voting decisions. There are leaders who favor the church and our convictions. Though not all of them, I'm under no illusion that while Trump did a great deal for the pro-life agenda in releasing a ton of those people who were imprisoned, it doesn't mean that he's overturning all abortion, pro-abortion laws. There are leaders, though, who denigrate Christian principles and they are anti-the baseline things that a Christian would hold to. They're not just worldly, they're anti-church and anti-Christ. So when you read the Bible, yes, it should inform your voting decisions. You may not agree with me, I would say, you know, drop a comment or share your thoughts, be reasonable about it and biblical. It doesn't mean you have to agree. There's people who would say, Costi, I agree with you on a lot, but look, I choose not to vote. That's not the route I would take, but it's the route you choose to take. And there can be some reasonable debate there, but I believe strongly that we can use scripture to inform voter decisions without being Trump worshipers and then disengaged with the political sphere. Uh, number two, what do I do when I can't find a biblical reason for a lack of peace about a decision? Okay, so in love, here's the deal. I don't know who asked this or who you are, but this question I don't agree with from the premise. And the reason is what to do when I can't find a biblical reason for a lack of peace about I believe you can find a biblical reason for your lack of peace. And I believe that if you're making decisions in line with scripture, in some way, shape, or form, that you will have peace and there won't be a lack of it. Where am I getting that? Philippians 4, 6, where Paul says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving in your heart, make your requests known to God, and the peace that surpasses all comprehension will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So the Bible actually promises peace. If you'll come to the Lord and give him your anxiety and have a thankful heart and make your supplications known to him, he then provides divine peace and it'll guard your heart and guard your mind. So if you can't find a biblical reason, I would say you're not seeing this with a biblical perspective. There is always a biblical reason that someone doesn't have peace. Maybe you need to seek the Lord more in prayer. Maybe you haven't sought wise counsel, and the Lord is allowing that consternation and that tension and that lack of peace to awaken you to the fact that, well, Proverbs says, with an abundance of counselors, plans are established. So go seek wise counsel. Perhaps there is some area where you're being disobedient, and that's leading to a lack of peace. And I believe this: if you seek the Lord in prayer, you're gonna be flooded with peace. Number three, how should I think through if it's God's will for me to move close to family? But it seems like God is blessing me where I'm at. That's a great question. Um, if you are by chance a person with in-laws or family members that want you to move closer, and my answer goes against that. I'm sorry, in-laws, we love you, God bless you, but I got to answer it biblically. So, how should you think through it? By staying where you are, blooming where you're planted. And like Jim Elliott famously said, I love his quote: wherever you are, be all there. It may be tough to be away from extended family. It may be that you have to make some sacrifices to see them, whether that be time off work, maybe money. But look, life isn't all about being close to comfort, even with amazing family members. And I'll be really honest with you, as a father that's not there yet, there will come a day where my kids who I want to live close to me. Okay, I got I got dreams here, people. Like, let's live on the same street and let's serve the Lord together. Okay, even with some amazing goal like that, I want my kids to be close. But you know what I want more than that? I want for them to fulfill their purpose for the glory of God. And if that means we can't have close proximity, your will be done. I can celebrate the kingdom advancing through my kids or friends or extended family rather than my own personal desires. And so if God is blessing you where you are, remain. If he's given you no indication that doors are closing there and they're opening elsewhere, and that you need to move closer to extended family. Enjoy your time with family, love them well, but understand life is not all about being a little brady bunch, a little happy family on the same street, and we all, you know, buy the same uh zip code and look at us just together. Life is beyond family. Life is about your purpose for the glory of God, and that's gonna mean some tough sacrifices at times. Next, how do you answer when someone asks about God's will to let people suffer? Oh, it's a great question. How do I answer? I usually start with a quote or involve a quote from Johnny Erickson Tata, which I love. She says, God will allow what he hates to accomplish what he loves. And that means that God will use suffering and pain, which is caused by sin, being in the world, to bring divine purpose to it. He never wastes anything. He will bring purpose to your pain, even if that means he doesn't bring you out of your pain. And I would also say that scripture is clear. In Philippians 1, there at the end, verses 28, right around that section, Paul is opening up the letter and he gets to this point in that chapter and says, it's been granted to you the privilege of suffering. He tells the Philippian Christians, you've been given the privilege of it. So if something is called a privilege, I don't want to look at it and say, oh, this is negative. You must lack faith, you must be not giving enough money to the church, something's wrong with you because you're suffering. No, a good theology, a biblical theology of suffering is going to put this into perspective. You look at the letter of 1 Peter, and it's all about how to live as a sojourner, an alien. Like this world is not your home. You're passing through this world, but you're not of this world. And so we aim, as Peter commands those Christians, to suffer well with eternal perspective, making it our goal to glorify God no matter what we're going through. So that's where I would go. In the book, you'll find in the later chapters a chapter about God's will and suffering. I wrote that chapter for two reasons. One, to minister to those of you who are suffering, and two, to give you answers so that you can walk with people who are suffering and provide them the biblical perspective they may not have. God will use you as his minister. Next, would it be God's will to cut ties with grown children who mock the Lord and are cruel to me? Oof. First, my heart goes out to you. Uh second, cut ties could be a bit strong, but let's say limit interactions and focus on evangelism. That could be wise. Maybe some distance is healthy for the relationship because of their anti-God, anti-y you attitude. And I'm of the mind that it's only a very select set of behaviors that would cause a parent to cut ties with a grown child. Again, uh, those of you who know us, you're part of our ministry, you know that me and my extended family are pretty different theologically. I would say that they hold to a false gospel, the prosperity gospel, and they would say that I defected from the family and turned my back on everyone. And I would say that I'm just following Jesus in Matthew 10, 34 to 39 says that'll happen. In that still, I would say I've I'm probably fitting into a very niche category, a small exception, where false teaching as family members, what Jude says, have mercy on others with fear, hating even the garments stained by the flesh, kind of I'm gonna keep healthy distance from you because you're actually dangerous theologically. Those are very select situations, but most of the time, unless it's blatant false teaching, like heretic, violent abuse, uh, maybe you're somebody who's been through molestation and sexual assault or a relationship with a child or a family member is putting your life in danger because of their sin. Those would be some of the more, I would call them common reasons where automatic, we're putting very strong distance. But a mocker of God needs the gospel. And I want to say this, I don't know you, whoever you were who asked that. They don't tell me the names of the people. You could be part of our church, part of our ministry, part of someone else's church. Here's what I would say, and I hope that this would jive with what your pastor would counsel. A mocker of God, if not a threat to your life or your purity, and their sin is not influencing you, a mocker of God needs the gospel and they need your witness because hell is where they are heading. So, to whatever degree is possible, this could be limited interaction, this could be seasonal interaction, this could be written letters, this could be uh maybe there's a hobby or something you hold in common interest, uh a sport or arts or or music or something, as long as it's not godless and pagan. Use whatever bridge you can to be a light, but maintain healthy distance if they are cruel and mock your God. You don't need to live closely to that level of grotesque anti-God rhetoric. So I hope that helps. I'm not a fan of burning bridges unless you absolutely have to get away from someone who's dangerous. All right. Are there certain things that are God's will for everyone? Yes. Uh I list 10 of them in the book and I unpack them. So uh for the low price of $16.99. No, just kidding. For free, just go back two episodes, people. The episode is called God's Will for Every Christian. But let me even save you the time if you want to just finish listening to this. Here's 10 that I lay out, and all of these are further explained in that episode and in the book if you want to dig in. God's will is for us as his people to be saved and then to be different. That's number two, which means to live holy as he is holy, live a different life, to be a servant. God's will is that we serve and use our spiritual gifts, to be loving. Look at the commands all over scripture, to be loving and to love God and love others, to be generous, the command and call to give and to use our resources to leverage what we have for kingdom advancement, to be a witness, number six. God's will is evangelism through your life, to be spirit-filled. That's obvious. Ephesians 5.18, connected to a statement about the will of God, to be faithful, that is to endure. It is God's will that all of us endure in our life through persecution, suffering, challenges. And then from 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18, it is to pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, to be joyful, rejoice always. So I say be joyful, prayerful, thankful, all in one, as a package deal. That is God's will for every Christian. And then Colossians 3, 16, let the word of Christ dwell within you richly be filled with scripture. That is undoubtedly God's will. So for a full episode on those 10, go back and listen to the first one in this series. It's called God's Will for Every Christian. If you're on YouTube, you just go playlist, click on podcast, scroll back, it's right there. Or if you're on Apple or Spotify, it's easy. Just scroll back and see it, and you can read the book too. All right, because does God use other people to tell me his will? Yes. And what's funny is these questions were right next to each other in the list my team sent me. And so I'm just gonna say, I just did that. I just told you what God's will is. And so absolutely God will do that. Somebody will give you scripture explicitly. I would say, in addition, is God will use wisdom from others, whether that be their experience, the sage in your life, the wisdom of the aged one, somebody who just comes along, and it doesn't mean their opinion is inspired or they got revelation from God, or that their opinion based on their experience is your command. But God will use the encouragement, the edification, and the counsel of others to align you with his will when they are a spirit-filled, spirit-led, scripture-saturated individual. Anyone who gives counsel should be rooting what they say in biblical truth. Okay, is it God's will for me to stay with a spouse who commits adultery? Oh, that's heavy. Okay, there's two options here forgive and work it out, or forgive and divorce. And both of those can be backed up by scripture. But notice that forgiving is part of both roads. It is never God's will for you to harbor bitterness, not forgive, and to be uh having this hate in your heart and a begrudging attitude. There's no model in scripture for that. I've got an entire series on forgiveness that walks you through what it means, the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness takes one, reconciliation takes two. Forgiveness is a release. You are releasing someone to God, and reconciliation takes repentance and forgiveness together as we acknowledge sin and two people are restored back together. There is a difference, but God's word is clear. Adultery is grounds for divorce. Now that doesn't mean we rush to it. I want to be so careful here. Don't hear what I'm not saying. But the person who's been sinned against can exercise the right to divorce and then remarry. And it is always our first goal. I make this a rule of counseling to see people reconciled in forgiveness and restored in their marriage. That's where we always begin. But there will be certain cases where divorce is the right option. When somebody is in rampant, unrepentant adultery, when someone is abusing another person, when someone is uh going on in their secrets for years and years, and trust can't be rebuilt, when there has been an absolute uh fakery or falseness to the way they've they've lived, pathological liars, uh, people who have lived in years and even decades of unrepentance. And and here's what I would say that person should be evangelized and loved on with truth, but it doesn't mean their spouse has to remain in the marriage, and that person could say, Oh, I'm sorry, I repent. Yeah, I feel bad, I'm I'm really sorry. And they feel bad, they got busted. And they use Jesus' words, because some people will gaslight everyone with their knowledge of scripture, saying, Jesus said, as long as your brother repents every time, 70 times seven, you have to forgive. Yes, I will always forgive, but if you read what scripture says, there are particulars in which divorce is allowable and that person can even remarry. When somebody has abused the marriage covenant, we need wise counsel. And again, I always begin with forgiveness. I counsel forgiveness, I counsel restoration, and that's the goal. But as facts come to light and wise counsel continues to flow, divorce does happen in some cases, and it is and can be biblical to take that step. We need that kind of teaching in our churches. We need wisdom in the counseling room, and it's important. You don't want to just make blanket statements. A lot of the past generation, perhaps, was the, you know, just stick it out and work it out type of generation. And a lot of this generation is just quick to jump onto the divorce train and say, I'm out of here. I'm gonna go get someone that makes me happy, and that's what God wants. Both are dangerous. Conrad Merle said, when you're walking on the razor's edge of truth, there's a ditch on each side. You can fall off on either side. We need to walk prudently and live circumspectly, even in our counsel. Next question Does our choices, do our choices, thwart God's will? Okay, no. No, your choices do not thwart God's will. Job 42 2 says, literally, no purpose of yours can be. Thwarted. What a good word. Isaiah 14 27 says the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can who can thwart him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back? God is gonna do what he's gonna do. He is sovereign. And your choices don't make him go, oh no, whoops, I had my fingers crossed on that one, and now I don't know what to do. I guess I'll have to react. And like the position of open theism, which is completely uh heretical and blasphemous. God doesn't look down the tunnel of time and see how things would go and then react in light of what man does, and nor is God in the moment as he kind of set it and forget it, like those old infomercials, and then he's going, Well, I guess I'll just have to kind of fix this one after. Uh-oh. No, he saw it all. Isaiah 46, 10 says, I declare, this is Yahweh, the end from the beginning and from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, my purpose will stand, I will do all that I please. That is a word from the Lord you can take to the bank. All right, how do I know if I'm pleasing God with my decisions? I I would just ask some questions here. Does it align with scripture? Does it lift up his name and exalt him? Does it point others to him in some way? Can it be used for his gospel to be advanced? Does it bring you joy? You know, God wants you to have joy as long as you're not in sin. So does it bring you joy and it's not sin? Is it a liberty that he is allowed? Like, what if you're fishing this week or right now? You're you're on your way to go drop a line while you're listening to me. God bless you. I hope you catch. If you're a one of those fly fishermen, I hope you catch and release all day. Have a great time. Um but listen, you're allowed. Is it pleasing the Lord to go skiing with your family? Is it pleasing the Lord to uh you know buy your wife a uh a new purse? Is it pleasing the Lord to and then just fill in the blank? Or is it a liberty he has allowed? Does it bless others in line with his word? There's so many questions we should ask. This is why in the seven peas, and we went through this in the last episode. You may want to listen to it if you didn't already. Has God given us permission is one of the peas. You'll know your decisions are pleasing God because they align with scripture. He's given you some liberties, and you can rejoice. God is a father who loves his children, enjoying his creation and his good gifts. Just make sure your eternal and spiritual priorities are in order. All right. Well, that's all I got for you. Uh, for more on walking in God's will, free feel free to pick up a copy of the book. You can go to forthegospel.org as well. Go to the top, click on that link, you'll see it, and then download the free decision-making tool. As far as the book goes, it's got reflection questions at the end of each chapter for you, whether that's for your own devotions or for a small group. And then it's got this section that summarizes every chapter called Learning to Live, and it'll give you three takeaways. And I love that kind of practicality. It's what we're all about for the gospel, sound doctrine for everyday people. And so summaries and cliff notes and clear action steps are kind of our thing. We're into it, and I hope that the book is a blessing to you. Uh coming up, we've got more content for you, a new series, and I'm excited to dig in with you. Thanks for listening, thanks for watching, and thanks for your support. We appreciate it. Whether you're one of our monthly gospel patrons, uh, you've given one time to the ministry, or you're supporting by prayer. We need it, we love it, and we're thankful to continue to do the Lord's work through this ministry. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.