According To The Whole Counsel Of God - Part 2
ACCORDING TO THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD (Acts 20:27) - Part 2
Yeow Chin Kiong
In Acts 20:27 Paul absolves himself from being guilty of any man's blood because the apostle insists that he has declared all that our Father wants man to know about the salvation of his soul, the final purpose of faith (1 Peter 1:9). Of course, there are matters about God's universe which are secret, being known by Him alone. However, the things which He has revealed to man are meant to be understood, obeyed and transmitted to other men with a similar charge to preserve and spread the same complete message, unadulterated (Deuteronomy 29:29; Mark 16:15; 2 Timothy 2:2).
Our Lord Jesus Himself did not teach His apostles all that He wanted them to know while He was in the flesh on earth because they could not bear to receive "all truth" from Him in such a short span of time. So He requested the Fatber to send the Holy Sppirit to guide them to that "all truth" (John 14:25-26; 16:12-15). The proof of the trustworthiness of the body of teaching (i.e. "doctrine") the earliest disciples received by Divine inspiration was the accompanying ability to work signs and miracles they also received to confirm the message they bore (Mark 16:17-20).
The whole counsel of God already providentially preserved for us today in many language-translations, Christians must remember they should be responsible custodians of the entire Divinely-inspired word if sinners are to be saved and stay saved (2 Timothy 3:14-17). It may seem tedious but we are onward-transmitters of all 1189 chapters spread across the Old (929 chapters) and New Testament (260 chapters). Not an easy task by any count, taking into account there are scriptures difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:14-16) as well as many teachings or doctrines to build our faith upon and progress from the time of our spiritual birth (Hebrews 5:12-13).
Truth be told, no Christian ought to neglect reading and studying any portion or part of the whole counsel of God contained in the Bible.
2 Peter 3:14-16 encourages us with the promise that difficult and obscure scriptures, like some of the contents of Leviticus or Song of Solomon, Romans or Revelations, will not destroy us nor our faith if we are well-taught and stable.
For those who are worried that they are not progressing in their knowledge of God's word, Hebrews 5:12-13 instructs them to study the scriptures with the specific purpose of applying them "to discern both good and evil." Paying heed to Hebrews 5:12-13, our lives are full of situations which cry for a correct, beneficial result of decision-making, problem-solving or conflict-resolution aided by scriptural principles contained in the whole counsel of God.
As our Father gives us time and opportunity to teach God's counsel, let us teach all of God's word correctly, effectively and efficiently, and leave it to the word,- any and every portion of it,- bear fruit! Only then can we be free from guilt or blame for neglecting to properly handle God's whole counsel entrusted to us and spreading it to those lost in sin.