Definition
Wilfulness denotes the sin of taking one’s own initiative apart from God — the refusal to wait for God’s time and leading, and the persistent placing of one’s own will above the will of God. In the corpus wilfulness is a specific sin-form that is sharply distinguished from overt transgression: Saul was not a godless man but a wilful one, and that is what makes his fall so tragic and paradigmatic. The sin of wilfulness always disguises itself as obedience to God.
Usage in the corpus
Cees Noordzij
Noordzij works out wilfulness through the type of Saul: “But later he became a self-willed man who took the initiative from God’s hands. Because he could not wait for God’s time, he lost God’s blessing on his kingship in the very second year of his reign (1 Sam. 13:5-14).” Wilfulness for Noordzij is the definitive sin-form of one who has been used spiritually but seizes the initiative from God. The final result is the loss of anointing and ultimately oppression by an evil spirit (1 Sam. 16:14). [Noordzij, Moses and the Way to Sonship, §62]
George Warnock
Warnock develops wilfulness through the type of Saul and Agag. “The king of Amalek” is for him a type of the self-will (the WILL): “One only knows true freedom when that last great stronghold of the old life is broken down, even the king of Amalek, the WILL — and the will of God takes its place.” Saul’s sin was not that he rejected God but that he spared part of the spoil while God had demanded complete obedience: “He insisted he had fulfilled the commandment of the Lord and was quite proud of the fact.” The self-will always disguises itself as pious obedience. [Warnock, Evening and Morning, Ch. 1]