Two Wills

Theology can be a tedious subject, full of complex ideas that leave the head spinning and wondering what it all means. More dizzying are the differences between denominations, who believes what and how and why. It can feel like walking blindfolded through a maze trying to sort through it all.
While reading a book on Eastern Orthodox theology, I stumbled upon an idea that suddenly made things more clear than they have ever been before. A gem of truth about Jesus that brought me to a deeper and more beautiful understanding of the Incarnation.
If I'm understading it right. Here goes.
It begins with the idea of will. Jesus famously prayed, before he was betrayed, “Not my will but yours, God.” Theologians have attempted to define Jesus will. What? You ask. Why does it matter?
Did he have a human will, that simply obeyed God. Did he have the divine will, wrapped in human flesh. Or did he have two wills, one human and one divine, which worked in perfect harmony.
It didn’t make sense to me the first time I heard the idea. If they worked in harmony, why did it matter if there were two wills or one? Seriously, who cares? It doesn’t change what Jesus did. It doesn’t change the life we’re called to live. But now I think this bit of theology can really help bring us closer to Him.
Jesus had two wills. He always had his divine will, but when he took on a human body he also took on human will. So says the Eastern Orthodox church.
Think about it. To become human, the Son of God didn’t just jump into a body. He took on the desires, wants and needs of an ordinary human. The need for food, drink and rest, the ability to get tired and cranky, to make stupid decisions and bad mistakes, fear of death, these are all part of the human will. Jesus added this will to his being in the Incarnation. And he learned to take that human will and line it up with his divine will.
When his human side was tired, he had to turn the will to give up around and press on as God required. When he was sad he wept, as he did when Lazarus died, but he kept at his work, because his god side needed to.
This is where I take a flying leap, going beyond what I read.
When the Son of God became a man, he changed. He learned through experience what it was to be human. And he showed us the best and only good way to live a human life. He did it because in addition of being human, he was also God. The divine will in him kept him from sin.
Now we also have two wills. We are just like Jesus. When we receive the Holy Spirit we receive the divine will within us. Like him we live with two wills. We still retain our humanity, but we also know what God wants. Our job is the same as Jesus’, to bring our human will in line with God’s will. Every day, in every choice we make, we must chose to turn our human will to follow the Holy Spirit’s will.
Amazing.
Jesus became like us, and sent the Holy Spirit to make us like him. He fought the battle of wills, and won. He demands of us only that we do exactly as he did. Bring the two wills within you to perfect harmony so that your will is God’s will.
Paul said, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Salvation begins with the first step of faith, when we allow the Holy Spirit to enter us. Salvation is complete when the two wills work as one. So we are saved, yet at the same time we continue to work toward salvation.
That is heaven. To be one with God.