Positive and Negative Volition

     The purpose of this lesson is to reveal that people operate either on positive or negative volition toward God. Those who are positive to God respond favorably in two ways: 1) believe God’s gospel and trust Jesus as Savior, and 2) advance to spiritual maturity by learning and living God’s Word. Those who are negative to God are: 1) hostile to God’s gospel, and 2) orient their thinking and life to Satan’s world-system.

     Volition is the ability to act within a sphere of freedom and in accordance with one’s desires. There are three categories of volition in existence: God’s volition (Isa 46:8-11; cf. Gen 1:1-31), angelic volition (Psa 103:20), and human volition (Gen 1:26-28). God’s volition is absolute, immutable, and always operates in concert with His divine attributes. And, according to His sovereignty, He created intelligent and moral beings—angels and people—with the ability to obey or resist His directive will. In fact, Lucifer and a third of the angels exercised their volition against God and caused a bifurcation in the angelic realm (Isa 14:12-14; Rev 12:7; cf. Matt 25:41). Two thirds of the angels exercised their volition to stay with God, and these continue as holy angels to do His will (Matt 16:27; 26:53; 1 Tim 5:21; Heb 1:14). As Scripture reveals, Satan persuaded Adam and Eve to disobey God, and this brought sin and death into the creation (Gen 3:1-8; Rom 5:12; 8:20-22), with the result that every person is born with a sinful nature and proclivity to sin (Jer 17:9; Matt 7:11; Rom 7:18-21; Gal 5:16-17; Eph 2:1-3). However, God has dealt with the sin problem through the life, death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus (John 3:16; 1 Cor 15:3-4), who paid our sin debt (Col 2:13-14), and liberates us who have trusted in Jesus as Savior (Rom 8:1-4), so that we might not be controlled by sin, but will pursue righteousness (Rom 6:5-13; 1 Pet 2:24).

     The tendency of people who operate on negative volition is to “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18), and to operate by a worldly wisdom that is not “from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic” (Jam 3:15). The vast majority of humanity will not choose a relationship with God nor a walk with Him (Matt 7:13-14).

     When God’s Word is dethroned from the mind of the believer, other forces will dominate for the worse. God’s desire for the Christian is to develop his/her character so that righteousness, goodness, grace and love flow easily and with continuity of expression. If the character is good then the behavior will be good, for it follows that a person with an honest character will easily and consistently behave in an honest manner, and a person with a loving character will easily and consistently behave in a loving manner. But good character does not automatically occur in the life of the Christian, nor does it happen overnight; rather, it matures over a lifetime as we make many good choices to walk in step with God and let His good Word transform us from the inside out. But we should be aware that it is possible to abuse our liberty and make bad choices with the result that we weaken the will and forfeit our freedoms (the addict knows this to be true). Not only that, but bad choices and abuses of freedom bring harm to others within our periphery; for this reason, Scripture states, “You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13).

     Unbelievers who love their moral depravity will naturally stand against those who are children of God and who love righteousness. This is why Scripture states, “Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). Those who set their wills against God will not listen to the Christian who comes with His message; however, they will listen to their own. The apostle John tells us about those who walk in darkness, saying, “They are from the world; therefore, they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them” (1 John 4:5). That is, there are those who operate from presuppositions and values that are cosmocentric, which exclude or pervert serious consideration and discussion about God, refusing to give Him any say over their lives. When confronted with divine revelation, the person who is negative to God either denies His existence (Psa 14:1), or reduces Him to the status of a creature (Rom 1:22-25). And the person who is negative to God can be simultaneously immoral and religious (2 Tim 3:1-5).

Four categories of positive and negative volition in Scripture.

1. Those who are positive to God and His gospel and advance to spiritual maturity by learning and living Scripture and staying the course until the end of their life (David & Paul – 1 Ki 15:5; 1 2 Tim 4:7-8). These are not sinless believers; but rather, those who handle their sin in a biblical manner.
2. Those who are positive to God and His gospel, but then turn negative, preferring to follow Satan’s world-system (Solomon – 1 Ki 11:1-10; 1 Tim 1:19-20; 6:10). Some of these will fail to have a positive public influence because of external pressure from a Satanic hostile environment (John 12:42-43; 19:38).
3. Those who are negative to God and His gospel, but are favorable to the Bible as a moral system by which they seek to live their lives (i.e. following the Ten Commandments; Luke 18:18-27).
4. Those who are negative to God and His gospel and who vigorously pursue Satan’s world-system and are hostile toward believers who are advancing toward spiritual maturity (John 8:47; Acts 7:51-58; 1 John 4:6).

Examples of negative volition include:

1. The antediluvian generation (Gen 6:5-13; 2 Pet 2:5)
2. The city of Sodom (Gen 13:13)
3. The first generation of Israelites after the Exodus (Num 32:10-13; Deut 1:35)
4. Israel during the Judges (Judg 17:6; 21:25)
5. Solomon when he turned away from God and worshipped idols (1 Ki 11:1-10)
6. Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam (1 Ki 12:26-33)
7. Israel under the leadership of Ahab (1 Ki 16:29-33)
8. Judah’s pre-exilic leaders (Jer 25:3)
9. Jesus’ generation who rejected Him (John 3:19; 12:37; cf. Matt 23:37-38)
10. The last generation of the church (2 Tim 3:1-5)
11. The last generation of the millennial kingdom (Rev 20:7-9).

Examples of positive volition include:

1. Enoch, who walked with God (Gen 5:21-24)
2. Noah, who obeyed the Lord (Gen 6:22)
3. Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt (Ex 3:1—14:31)
4. Joshua, who lead Israel into the Promised Land (Josh 1:1-18)
5. The Ninevites who responded positively to Jonah’s preaching (Jon 3:1-10)
6. Elijah, who turned Israel back to the Lord (1 Ki 18:17-40)
7. King Josiah, who delayed God’s judgment against Judah (2 Ki 22:1-20)
8. The apostles (Matt 19:27-28)
9. Saul, who believed in Jesus and spread the gospel (Acts 9:1-20).

Conclusion:

     Every person we meet is either positive or negative to God and His Word. Though we are not neutral and try to persuade people to believe the gospel (John 3:16; 20:31; Acts 4:12; 1 Cor 15:3-4; Eph 2:8-9), and live righteously (Rom 6:11-14; Tit 2:11-14), each person must choose to accept or reject the offer. Those who believe in Jesus will be forgiven all their sins (Eph 1:7), given eternal life (John 10:28), and will spend forever in heaven (John 14:1-4); and believers who pursue righteousness will be rewarded in eternity (1 Cor 3:10-15). Those who reject the gospel have no other way to be saved and will forever be separated from God in the Lake of Fire (John 3:18; Rev 20:11-15).