Page 84 APPENDIX THE WILL OF GOD IN SCRIPTURE The following list shows the four ways in which the phrase will of God is used throughout the Bible. Scriptures are taken from the NIV and the KJV. God’s Eternal Will: His Divine Purpose – His Ultimate Intention Ac 20:27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Ro 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Eph 1:9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ. Eph 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in
Jesus indicates that the way to think about self-denial is to deny yourself only a lesser good for a greater good… In other words, Jesus wants us to think about sacrifice in a way that rules our all self-pity. This is, in fact, just what the texts on self-denial teach (Mk. 8:34-35)… Saint Augustine captured the paradox in these words, “If you love your soul, there is a danger of its being destroyed. Therefore you may not love it, since you do not want it to be destroyed. But in not wanting it to be destroyed you love it.”
John Piper