What is God’s Will?

Answer:

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21-23).

There is a hint as to what Jesus considered to be God's will in verse 23. Those not doing God's will were practicing lawlessness. In other words, they were violating God's law. "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness" (I John 3:4). The Will of God is just another way to refer to the Bible which tells us what God wants us to do. Compare:

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13).

with

"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever" (I Peter 1:22-23).

Belief comes from listening to what God has said. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). That is why the Gospel saves us. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

To be saved, we have to do what God wants, and not what man wants. "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10).