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Posted here 30th June 2008

The Pleasure & The Plan

David Weber
21st June 2008

For whatever it might be worth to you, I share here some things from an exchange between Bro. Herrin and myself ...

Dear David,

It seems that our e-mails crossed one another in cyberspace, for as I was writing to you, you were sending this e-mail to me. God is good!

I thank you for sharing with me this study in the contrast between the words thelema and boulema. I think you have captured the distinction well, and I agree with Stephen Jones' insights into it as well.

Considering what you have shared here, and what the Lord revealed to me in the recent writing Heart of a Son, I think we could easily see that the word thelema could be rendered "pleasure" and boulema "plan." During this age man very often chooses to do things contrary to the pleasure of God, but the plan of God will be accomplished. I think it is fitting that the title I was led to choose for the book I have written on the doctrine of the ultimate reconciliation of the creation back to God is "God's PLAN of the Ages." Yahweh's PLAN will certainly come to the conclusion He has envisioned, "for who has resisted His plan." We might as well try to hold back the fury of a category five hurricane with a paper cup as hinder the plan of God. It will be accomplished.

Isaiah 37:26
Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass...

Isaiah 46:9-10
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying,'My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'

The first quote from Isaiah speaks of Yahweh's plan, and the second one speaks of His pleasure. Ultimately, in the time frame He has determined, both His plan and His pleasure will be accomplished, for His plan is an expression of His pleasure.

Thank you for sharing these things with me. May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days,

Joseph Herrin

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20th June 2008
Hi Joseph,

You wrote recently ...

"The word for pleasure in the Greek is ‘thelema.’ The King James Version of the Bible has translated this Greek word three different ways, as ‘desire,’ ‘pleasure,’ and ‘will.’ ‘Pleasure’ is the most appropriate rendering in the majority of occurrences..."

This really blessed me, J, as it has brought just a bit more light to me on this subject. The following is something that I shared with my readers a couple of years ago on "thelema" and "boulema." Perhaps there might be something in here that'll bless you too.

David

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God’s Will or His Plan?

This is my attempt to share something that I am hearing in the spirit this morning. Surely I long for a greater expression of these things, but may you be blessed by this nonetheless...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Beloved, the last time that you were tempted to sin and gave into that temptation, was it God's will for you to give in? Of course not, it is not His will for you to sin but for you to be holy as He is, but God allowed for you to sin - because even that can be worked to the good by being brought into conformity with His plan and purpose for all things.

Man has been given a free will for a period of time, but he is not a free moral agent who can act upon whatever he wills. God is sovereign, but by His sovereign choosing He even allows man to act in opposition to His perfect will for man (thelema) but not His ultimate plan for him (boulema). Herein lies the divine tension between man's capacity to will, and his ability to act on what he wills.

In most all of our English New Testament translations, "thelema" and "boulema" are translated as "will," but to translate them both as "will" is not accurate enough for most applications. "Thelema" expresses an active choice (God's or man's), and in most cases can be translated properly as "will." "Boulema" though, is more of a predisposition from which an active choice proceeds; a "plan," and from God's perspective; a plan that is even inclusive of man's disobedience to His will.

Man, because of the authority granted to him over the earth, is allowed for a period of time to violate the will of God (His thelema) ... but he cannot violate His predestined plan; His counsel and predestined good purpose which ALL THINGS must conform (His boulema). If man's active choice cannot be worked to the good; conformed to God's good will and purpose -- then it is not allowed ... period.

In a recent conversation with a brother, I mentioned something about "God's perfect will" - a phrase which this brother took issue with because he thought that to think that anything can be outside of God’s will brings into question God's sovereignty. But God's "perfect will" is His "thelema," and (for now) He sovereignly allows us to act in opposition to that "will" through our own free will and volition until we (by His grace) can overcome all self. Then we will not violate or oppose in even the slightest way God's perfect will ... but we will be fully ONE in will and purpose with our Father ... even as the Son is one in will and purpose with Him.

Through all of this we should be able to see that man's ability to violate the will of God is only temporal (as part of God's eonian plan) but in the eternal realm there is no will or plan other than God's. Because man's salvation experience begins for him in the eonian but then ultimately crosses over into the eternal, God's "will" regarding the outworking of a man's salvation might even be violated for an allotted period of time, but when all is said and done even that will not be eternally violated. If it could, God would not be sovereign.

Stephen Jones once shared this with me ...

"God's 'will' (thelema) is going to be fulfilled in the end. But for now, His will is able to be resisted, even as Pharaoh resisted God's thelema-will. But this is temporary, because Will Plus Time Equals the Plan (Will + Time = Plan). This is the relationship between the two words. In other words, the difference between His will and His plan is time. The plan factors in time. So when the N.T. uses the term 'thelema,' in 1 Tim. 2:4 and other places, it does not mean to indicate that God is indulging in wishful thinking. It will certainly happen, but is leaving open the possibility of current opposition to His will. I hope this is helpful."

D

(See Stephen's Articles on this topic here: The Will & Plan of God , The Tension in Creation --T)

Related: Heart of a Son , Maze of Life - part 2