Doing God’s Will Starts with Knowing His Will
‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.’ – Matthew 7:21
In Matthew 7, Jesus makes a confronting statement: calling Him ‘Lord’ is not enough. The true mark of a disciple is obedience, not lip service. Only the one who does the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Many Christians (myself included) have struggled with not knowing what God’s will is for their lives or whether they are in fact doing ‘the will of the Father’.
The question we should all be asking ourselves is ‘Do I actually know what God’s will is in the first place?’. Because unless I know what God’s will is, how can I do it?
In Colossians 1:9 Paul’s prayer is that believers would be ‘filled with the knowledge of His (God’s) will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding’.
You see, Christian living does not begin with behaviour. It begins with truth. Specifically, the truth revealed by God about what is good, holy, and pleasing to Him. Only when we know what God’s views are about what is good, holy, and pleasing to Him, will we know how we are supposed to behave.
Truth First, Then Obedience
Scripture consistently follows this pattern: truth first, then a call to action. Paul spends 11 chapters in Romans laying out theological foundations before saying in chapter 12, ‘Therefore, I urge you... to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice’. Likewise, in Ephesians, the first three chapters focus on doctrine – on God’s work, grace, and purpose – before chapter 4 says, ‘Now walk in a manner worthy of your calling’. We see this pattern occurring time and time again throughout the New Testament.
In short, God always gives us His standard (His truth) before He asks for our response. That is grace. He does not leave us to guess.
“It is one thing to know God’s Word. It is another thing to let it govern our lives.”
The Will of God is Not Mysterious
God’s will is not some vague, mystical concept hidden from us. It is found in Scripture – His self-revelation. God’s will is expressed in the form of divine absolutes and principles. Romans 7:7 says, ‘I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law’. Without God’s truth, we have no moral compass. But with it, we have a clear standard.
We live in a time when society often rejects the idea of absolute truth. Morality is increasingly defined by personal belief or cultural consensus. But God’s people are called to a different standard – one rooted not in relativity, but in revelation.
Knowing and Living Are Not the Same
It is one thing to know God’s Word. It is another thing to let it govern our lives. Paul did not just teach the gospel – he lived it out with love and sacrifice (1 Thessalonians 2:8). He says, in essence, ‘I didn’t just give you truth. I gave you myself’.
As believers with a desire to follow Christ and be obedient to God’s Word, we must turn our knowledge into wisdom, that is, principles applied to life. That is what it means to be ‘filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom’. Not surface-level knowledge. Deep knowledge. Not just information, but transformation.
The Spirit-Filled Life is Word-Filled
When the Bible says to be ‘filled with the Spirit’, it is not describing a mystical emotional state. It is describing a life saturated and dominated by the truth of God’s Word. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to work through God’s Word to shape us into people who do the will of the Father.
Final Thought
Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21 are definitely sobering. They remind us that sincerity and even religious activity are not enough. What matters is obedience to the will of God. And obedience begins with knowledge. If we want to live lives that please God, we must first be students of His truth.
Let us be people who do not just say ‘Lord, Lord’—but who know His will and do it.
Amen?
David Gillman — CEO Christian Schools Tasmania