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NASB | Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 22:42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup [of divine wrath] from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done." |
Subject: Submissive or Suppressed Wills |
Bible Note: Dear Brother WOS and Brother Mark, I tend to agree with much of what Brother Mark has stated. I'd venture at least two general thoughts in regard to his post: 1. Remember that the old versus new man, dead versus living man, etc. are metaphors. They may be very apt, very instructive, and very appropriate -- but they are not the reality itself. Instead, the metaphors seek to expose the truth. However, the truth is far more profound than all the metaphors put together. Regeneration is an incredibly deep and complex work of God. (Just think about it: making trees, butterflies, and planets is utter "kid stuff" by comparison!) I think it is easy to start thinking of the metaphor as the reality, except in the more obvious cases of trees, cups, wheat, tares, etc. 2. Progressive sanctification is, indeed, a work of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, there is a "funny" sort of tension in the Scripture here: it is also a work of our own. This is why verses like Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:24 are commands with such interesting components of passivity and activity. We are commanded to diligently persevere, to stridently pursue holiness, etc. etc. The Bible makes no apology for this antinomy. After careful consideration, I believe that the experience of Christ described in Matthew 26 and Luke 22 does not really have anything to say to us regarding the human will. Remember that narrative should never form the basis for doctrine. It will often support or reflect a doctrine, but it never defines it. The conflict we see in Christ is valuable in particular because it shows us how to respond when we are conflicted. To understand the will, we need to look to those passages that didacticly discuss the process by which we choose. Consequently, this is why wrestling with this topic has been difficult: We have started with a faulty premise -- that the apparently conflicted will of Christ reveals something of the nature of man's conflicted will -- which has, in turn, distracted us from the teaching of the human heart elsewhere in the Word. I'm also a bit uncomfortable with the description "submissive versus suppressive" nature of the will. I don't mean to be critical, but that phrase has an almost psychiatric sound to it. The Bible cites the heart as being the origin of all human action. It does not speak of the will of man as a component of his nature. (I believe Jonathan Edwards renders the tacit Scriptural definition of the will more precisely as the mind in the process of choosing.) The heart has, perhaps, a broader definition... but since that is where the Bible focuses, ought we not to focus there as well? I apologize, Brother WOS, if it seems that I'm sidestepping your questions. Where you start, though, has much to do with where you end up. In Him, Doc |