The Whole Counsel of God

 There are some Christian preachers and teachers who only communicate one part of God's message. Some emphasize the Old Testament, while others stay in the New Testament. Some teach on grace, but not on sin. Others get stuck on the second coming of Christ and the end times. We must not let ourselves get caught up in one area or another. We need to understand the full message of God from His Word and share it with everyone, so they can see the big picture and the details. 

When Paul taught in Ephesus, he stayed there three and a half years. He made disciples of Christ who went all over Asia Minor preaching and teaching until everyone had heard the gospel. As he spoke to the elders of the church in Ephesus for the last time, he made a clear declaration. (Ephesians 20:27) He told them that he had not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God. We need to make sure we do the same thing today.

Some people want to teach the Bible, but they want to take it out of context. That way they can make it mean what they want it to mean, instead of what God meant when He inspired it. They do this to mislead people and to get them to do their will, not God's will. We should always take what the entire Bible says about a subject before we teach it. That way, we know we are giving the whole message of God, without adding to it or taking away from it.

The same is true with the doctrines and teachings of the Bible. We can't just teach a portion of a doctrine and leave out the parts people may not like. We must declare the whole counsel of God on everything, or we are leading people into error. Yes, we will make some people upset. People will disagree with us, at times. However, if we have the whole Word of God to back us up, we can stand firm on our beliefs and know we are teaching the right things in the right way.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Acts 21-23.