Bending our wills

One of the major things which I learnt last year at college was the importance of the fact that Christ has not one will (monothelitism), but two (dyothelitism).  When Christ cried out in Gethsemene, ‘not my will, but your will be done’ I’m reminded that Christ was very human as indeed I am; that his will needed to bent towards obedient living, just as my will does.  Jaroslav Pelikan explains this Christological insight starting at the Trinity (it’s a bit technical – sorry!):

‘In the Trinity there were three hypostases, but only one divine nature; otherwise there would be three gods.  There was also a single will and a single action.  Thus will was an attribute of a nature and not of a hypostasis, natural and not hypostatic.  Hence, the person of Christ, with a single hypostasis and two natures, had to have two wills, one for each nature.’ (The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine.  Vol 2.  The Spirit of Eastern Christendom, p72).

Wow – my human will – just like Christ’s – needs to be obedient.  Having recently been reading through Galatians, and being reminded of the need to live according to the ‘spirit’ rather than the ‘flesh’, my prayer has been to have my will bent as per ‘living in the spirit’.  I can’t think of any better way to begin the year than to ask God to incline our wills towards Him, and bend our wills by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.  ”Not my will, but yours be done.”