The whole counsel of God
Annual Review 2023
Welcome to our Annual Review 2023. I trust you will be greatly encouraged as we reflect on another year. We can give thanks to God for all the work He has enabled us to do.
The whole counsel of God
Nastyaofly
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Acts 20:27 ESV
Acts chapter 20 gives the heartwrenching account of Paul’s final farewell to the Ephesian elders. He talked of his time with them in Ephesus and the message he preached. Finally, he declared he had never shirked from declaring the whole counsel of God.
As he told Timothy: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) (NIV 1984)
We need the word of God to live a godly Christian life. We also need it for rebuking and correcting. It was this aspect which Paul highlighted in his final remarks to the Ephesian elders. He told them they needed to be on their guard, as false teachers would emerge even from within their own church.
No doubt reflecting the words of Jesus in John 10, Paul spoke of ‘wolves’ which distort the truth and lead people astray. Paul urged the Ephesian elders to stand up to the wolves – not to be what Jesus calls ‘hired hands’, leaders who run away when danger comes.
In Paul’s day, the Christian faith was under attack from many different directions. Some false teachers claimed that salvation was on the basis of the Gospel plus works. Others said believers are free to live in any way they please. Some said that Christ was merely a man and not divine.
In 2023 we have our own pressure points where believers are under strong attack – gender ideology, sexual ethics, marriage and the sanctity of life being some of the most prominent. It is vital that the preaching ministry of the Church helps believers in the battles they face in those areas.
In the visible Church today, false teaching is abundant. Many ‘mainline’ churches are dominated by liberalism, the belief system that requires no repentance to accompany ‘faith’ in Christ. But liberalism is not a branch of Christianity. It’s another religion entirely, as Gresham Machen wrote 100 years ago. As Paul said, we need to be on our guard.
We need to follow the courageous example of the Apostle Paul. He applied the Gospel directly to his hearers. He preached to their situation. To the pagans who believed in “the unknown god”, he proclaimed the God they should worship. To the Jews, he proclaimed in their synagogues from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
We are to speak with gentleness and respect. We are to have “good behaviour in Christ” as we defend and teach the Gospel (1 Peter 3:15, 16).
It’s true that whenever Paul spoke, in public or in churches, there was always a risk that some could get annoyed. Rejection of the Gospel is always going to be one reaction to hearing the message (2 Corinthians 2:16). So he did not hesitate. As he said, be prepared to preach in season and out of season. Paul was quite prepared to tackle the issues that needed attention. We know, for example, that he did this when writing to the Corinthians. He highlighted one particular sin and his remarks caused much sorrow. Yet it was godly sorrow that led to repentance.
The lesson for us is simple: the remedy against false teaching is the whole counsel of God. That is what churches need to thrive.