The Will of God may be defined as that perfection of God’s Being whereby God, in a most simple act, goes out towards Himself as the highest good (that is, delights in Himself as such) and towards His creatures for His own name's sake, and the will of God is thus the ground of His creatures’ being and continued existence. With respect to the created universe and all the creatures which the universe contains God’s will naturally includes the idea of causation.
To better understand the context one must first understand the distinctions between God’s decretive and preceptive will. They are sometimes called the secret and the revealed will of God. The distinction is based upon Deuteronomy 29:29. The secret (decretive) will is mentioned in Psalms 115:3; Daniel 4:17; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32; Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:18-19; Romans 11:33-34; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 1:11. God’s revealed will (preceptive) is mentioned in Matthew 7:21; Matthew 12:50; John 4:34; John 7:17; Romans 12:2. God’s revealed (preceptive) will is accessible to all and not far us, see Deuteronomy 30:14; Romans 10:8.
God’s decretive will is that will of God by which He purposes or decrees whatever must come to pass, whether He wills to accomplish this effectively (causatively), or to permit it to occur through the unrestrained agency of His creatures. God’s preceptive will are the rules of life which God has laid down for His moral creatures, indicating the duties which He enjoins upon His creatures. God’s decretive will is always accomplished, while God’s preceptive will is often disobeyed.
A careful reading of Scriptures shows that God’s decretive will includes many things which God forbids in His preceptive will, and excludes many things which He commands in His preceptive will, see Genesis 22; Exodus 4:21-23; II Kings 20:1-7; Acts 2:23. Yet we must maintain both the decretive and preceptive will of God with the understanding that, while they appear to us as distinct, they are yet fundamentally one in God.
When speaking of the decretive and the preceptive will of God, we use the word "will" in two different contexts. By the decretive God has determined what He will do or what will come to pass; in the preceptive He reveals to us what we are duty bound to do. At the same time we should remember that the moral law, the rule of our life, is also in a sense the embodiment of the will of God. Moral law is an expression of God's holy nature and of what this naturally requires of all moral creatures.
Thus we observe that the decretive and preceptive will of God do not conflict with one another in the sense that in the decretive God does, and in the preceptive He does not, take pleasure in sin. Nor in the sense that in the decretive God does not, and in the preceptive God does, will the salvation of every individual with a positive volition. Even according to the decretive will God takes no pleasure in sin; and even according to the preceptive will God does not will the salvation of every person with a positive volition.
It is good to keep in mind that there is really only one will of God, but man conceives of it in terms of the different spheres in which that will is operative.
In terms of classification, the desiderative is another way of expressing the preceptive, as when the Bible says God desires mercy and not sacrifice. The permissive will is the decretive will as it is executed in relation to sin. The Westminster Confession states that it pleased God to permit the fall. As long as permission is not considered as simply foreseen, but as positively determined, then it is a proper use of the term. To speak of God's decretive will is to use the term "will" in its natural sense as an act of volition.
As long as "effectually" is restricted to being an adverb of "determined," then yes, the determination of God is always effectual. But if it is loosely taken as an infinitive verb, "to effect," then no, God did not determine to effect the fall. God decreed that secondary causes should act according to their nature and freedom, so that they, and not God, was the efficient cause of introducing sin into the world.
For more, see:
Are There Two Wills in God?
AMR
To better understand the context one must first understand the distinctions between God’s decretive and preceptive will. They are sometimes called the secret and the revealed will of God. The distinction is based upon Deuteronomy 29:29. The secret (decretive) will is mentioned in Psalms 115:3; Daniel 4:17; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 4:32; Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:18-19; Romans 11:33-34; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 1:11. God’s revealed will (preceptive) is mentioned in Matthew 7:21; Matthew 12:50; John 4:34; John 7:17; Romans 12:2. God’s revealed (preceptive) will is accessible to all and not far us, see Deuteronomy 30:14; Romans 10:8.
God’s decretive will is that will of God by which He purposes or decrees whatever must come to pass, whether He wills to accomplish this effectively (causatively), or to permit it to occur through the unrestrained agency of His creatures. God’s preceptive will are the rules of life which God has laid down for His moral creatures, indicating the duties which He enjoins upon His creatures. God’s decretive will is always accomplished, while God’s preceptive will is often disobeyed.
A careful reading of Scriptures shows that God’s decretive will includes many things which God forbids in His preceptive will, and excludes many things which He commands in His preceptive will, see Genesis 22; Exodus 4:21-23; II Kings 20:1-7; Acts 2:23. Yet we must maintain both the decretive and preceptive will of God with the understanding that, while they appear to us as distinct, they are yet fundamentally one in God.
When speaking of the decretive and the preceptive will of God, we use the word "will" in two different contexts. By the decretive God has determined what He will do or what will come to pass; in the preceptive He reveals to us what we are duty bound to do. At the same time we should remember that the moral law, the rule of our life, is also in a sense the embodiment of the will of God. Moral law is an expression of God's holy nature and of what this naturally requires of all moral creatures.
Thus we observe that the decretive and preceptive will of God do not conflict with one another in the sense that in the decretive God does, and in the preceptive He does not, take pleasure in sin. Nor in the sense that in the decretive God does not, and in the preceptive God does, will the salvation of every individual with a positive volition. Even according to the decretive will God takes no pleasure in sin; and even according to the preceptive will God does not will the salvation of every person with a positive volition.
It is good to keep in mind that there is really only one will of God, but man conceives of it in terms of the different spheres in which that will is operative.
In terms of classification, the desiderative is another way of expressing the preceptive, as when the Bible says God desires mercy and not sacrifice. The permissive will is the decretive will as it is executed in relation to sin. The Westminster Confession states that it pleased God to permit the fall. As long as permission is not considered as simply foreseen, but as positively determined, then it is a proper use of the term. To speak of God's decretive will is to use the term "will" in its natural sense as an act of volition.
As long as "effectually" is restricted to being an adverb of "determined," then yes, the determination of God is always effectual. But if it is loosely taken as an infinitive verb, "to effect," then no, God did not determine to effect the fall. God decreed that secondary causes should act according to their nature and freedom, so that they, and not God, was the efficient cause of introducing sin into the world.
For more, see:
Are There Two Wills in God?
AMR