📖 Biblical Definition
The decretive will of God (also called His secret, sovereign, or efficient will) is His eternal purpose by which He has determined whatsoever shall come to pass—the will that is always and infallibly accomplished. It is one side of a classic and necessary distinction in the will of God, the other being His preceptive will (His revealed will of command). The decretive will concerns what God has ordained to happen; the preceptive will concerns what God has commanded men to do. The two are distinguished by their objects and their certainty. The decretive will is hidden and secret until disclosed by the event, embraces all things including the sinful acts He permits, and cannot be resisted or frustrated—He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand; who hath resisted His will? The preceptive will, by contrast, is openly revealed in His law and gospel, expresses what is pleasing to Him, and is constantly disobeyed by sinners. The distinction resolves what would otherwise be a contradiction: God may decree (decretively will) to permit an event that He forbids (preceptively wills) in His law—as He decreed the crucifixion of Christ, which the wicked accomplished in violation of His command against murder. Both are truly God’s will, but in different senses, so that there is no division in God. The decretive will assures the believer that God’s purpose cannot fail; the preceptive will directs his duty. He is to obey the revealed will and rest in the secret one, never excusing his disobedience by appeal to the decree, nor prying presumptuously into the hidden counsel that belongs to God alone.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 treats the WILL of God; theologians distinguish His decretive will—the secret purpose that always comes to pass—from His preceptive will, the revealed command.
expand to see more
WILL, n. — ...The divine will is distinguished by theologians into the secret and revealed will; the will of decree and the will of command; the decretive will, which is always fulfilled, and the preceptive will, which men may disobey.
DECRETIVE, a. — Having the force of a decree; pertaining to a decree.
📖 Key Scripture
Romans 9:19 — "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?"
Daniel 4:35 — "...he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
Ephesians 1:11 — "...who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
Acts 4:28 — "For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition; the danger is misuse—collapsing the distinction so that either God’s commands are emptied of seriousness, or men excuse disobedience by pleading the decree.
expand to see more
The distinction between God’s decretive and preceptive will is abused chiefly by collapsing it, in one of two directions. The first abuse uses the decretive will to excuse disobedience: “If God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass, then my sin too was decreed, and I cannot be blamed for fulfilling His will.” This confounds the two wills, treating the secret decree as if it were the rule of duty. But the decree is not given to men as their rule; the revealed, preceptive will is. The sinner who appeals to the decree to justify his sin is judged not by the secret will he could not know but by the revealed will he plainly disobeyed—as Judas, fulfilling the decree, was yet guilty of betraying innocent blood.
The opposite abuse so stresses the preceptive will, or so denies the decretive, that God’s sovereign purpose is emptied—making His will a wish that men may finally thwart, so that what God truly wills may simply fail to come to pass. This contradicts the Scriptures that declare His counsel shall stand, that none can resist His will or stay His hand. The sound doctrine keeps both, in their proper senses and places: the decretive will is hidden, all-comprehensive, and infallibly accomplished, the ground of providence and assurance; the preceptive will is revealed, the rule of human duty, and often disobeyed. The believer obeys the revealed will and trusts the secret one, refusing both to excuse his sin by the decree and to doubt the decree because of his sin. The secret things belong unto the LORD; the revealed things belong to us and to our children, that we may do them.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The distinction sets God’s secret boulē / thelēma of decree—which none can resist (anthistēmi)—against His revealed will of command.
Usage
"The decretive will of God is His secret purpose—what He has ordained shall surely come to pass, and none can resist it."
"God may decretively will to permit what He preceptively forbids, as in the decreed crucifixion of Christ."
"No man may excuse his sin by pleading the decree; he is judged by the revealed will he disobeyed."