FULL COUNSEL OF GOD

For I have not shunned to declare to you the WHOLE COUNSEL of GOD – Acts 20:27

Receiving and walking in the FULL COUNSEL of GOD is a vital key to enjoying His Fullness. Those who desire to follow God fully will also long to receive, obey, and share His full counsel. Paul used this phrase “the whole counsel of God” in his farewell speech to the elders of the Ephesian church. Declaring God’s whole counsel is what made Paul “innocent” of whoever chose to turn away from the truth. This implies that any minister who fails to declare the full counsel of God stands in danger of being found liable before the ultimate Judge. By declaring God’s Full Counsel, Paul had fulfilled his ministry among the Ephesians. Few years prior, when Paul first arrived Ephesus, he found some disciples who had only heard of John the Baptist and did not yet know of the accomplished ministry of Jesus or the coming of the Holy Spirit. He presented Jesus to them and baptised them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:4-5). Paul then spent time teaching in the synagogue and at the lecture hall, until “all who dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 19:10). Indeed, “the Word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed” (Acts 19:20).

Several months later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul invited the Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus. It was here, he reminded them: “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house…I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (vv.20, 27). Despite the opposition he faced in Ephesus, he continued to share the complete gospel, the good news in its entirety, the whole truth about God’s salvation plan and package to Gentiles as well as Jews. Paul shared everything that God had revealed with everyone who would listen. He did not hoard revelation. He however warned these leaders that after his departure, “savage wolves will come in” among them “not sparing the flock” (v.29). Even from among them, false teachers would emerge “speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (v.30). That’s the more reason why we need to be established in the full counsel of God, so that we wouldn’t become victims of deception and error!

The prophet Amos warned of a famine that would pervade the land… of hearing the Word of God (Amos 8:11). We are living in such days of spiritual drought, when many forces are trying to suffocate biblical truth. The Whole Counsel of God includes the tough subjects of Scripture, not just the rosy blessings. Declaring His whole counsel expounds biblical truths so that the Voice of God may be heard, the glory of God seen, and the Will of God obeyed. It means teaching the burden of the whole of God’s revelation, the balance of things, leaving nothing out that is of primary significance, and never ducking the hard bits. The Full Counsel of God will present Jesus in all of His glorious manifestations: as Saviour, Healer, Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and Soon Coming King!

For us to partake of the Fullness of God in all its ramifications, we should follow Paul’s example – never shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. ALL Scripture is inspired, and all of it is profitable – for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2Tim.3:16). This is what guarantees full equipping: “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2Tim.3:17). There is a tendency in these last days for many people to “not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers” (2Tim.4:3). We must be wary of wanting to hear only messages that soothe our self, massage our ego or feed our lust. We must be willing to receive the Full Gospel and avoid sharing falsehood, half-truths or only parts of the gospel. There can be no Fullness of God without His Full Counsel.