"God’s power of acting is not really distinct from his will; it is sufficient to the existence of a thing that God wills it to exist; he can act what he will only by his will, without any instruments…In us there are three orders—of understanding, will, power; and, accordingly, three acts, counsel, resolution, execution; which though they are distinct in us, are not really distinct in God. In our conceptions, the apprehension of a thing belongs to the understanding of God; determination, to the will of God; direction, to the wisdom of God; execution, to the power of God… His will as the spring, and his power as the worker, are expressed (Psalm 115:3): "he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." He "commanded, and they were created" (Psalm 148:5); and all three expressed (Ephesians 1:11): "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will;" so that the power of God is a perfection, as it were, subordinate to his understanding and will, to execute the results of his wisdom, and the orders of his will."
