ACTS 20:27

 

A friend of mine recently asked: “If Paul preached the whole counsel (purpose) of God, why did he not teach the 'trinity' or the 'godhead,' as it is known today?”

There are several ways to answer this question. One would be to simply state that Paul did teach it to the Ephesians during the long time he was with them, but we don't happen to have a record of that particular teaching. However, that would be to really evade the issue.

Another approach is to consider some Old Testament texts that deal with similar issues:

    In Deuteronomy 29:29, Moses states: “The secret things belong to God, but the ones He revealed to us belong to us and our children in order that we will know how to obey His will for us.” In other words, there are some spiritual truths that we simply do not need to know in order to be able to obey His wishes for our lives.

    Or consider the book of Job, especially God's words in chapters 38-41. The whole gist of the divine speech is to relay the fact that human beings can't even understand all the secrets of the physical universe. So how in the world can they be expected to comprehend deep spiritual truths such as the nature of God Himself?

    In a similar vein, God says in Isaiah 55:9, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than yours and my thoughts are higher than yours.”

But one could come back with the fact that these are all Old Testament statements. Surely the mysteries were all revealed with the coming of Christ and there is no reason for God to keep back any more truths from us now. But to say that would be to totally deny the fact that we are still as completely incapable of understanding the thoughts of God as we ever were back then.

Also, one must take into consideration Paul's own statement in II Corinthians 12:3-4 that he “was taken up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be heard and that no one is allowed to repeat.” This is about as clear a statement as one could desire demonstrating that there are still further spiritual revelations to come one of these days. And that may well include a better understanding of the concept of the Godhead.

Another reasonable answer to the original question is that the concept of the Trinity has already been revealed in Scripture by Paul and other NT authors. See my posts entitled “The Trinity,” “II Corinthians 3:17-18,” and “The Deity of Christ in the New Testament.” Our problem is that we often demand that God lay out all of His truths in simple declaratory sentences such are found in the historic creeds of Christianity. But that is seldom how God conveys His Word in Scripture. Instead it is often done indirectly through narratives, parables, apocalyptic literature, and other figurative and symbolic language.

As a final answer to this question, and no doubt the most satisfactory one of all, I should point out, as do most commentators, that to interpret the Greek word boule (“purpose”) in Acts 20:27 as spiritual truths is to totally misconstrue its meaning. It simply means God's preordained plan as in Acts 2:23, 4:28, and 5:38-39 where it refers to His method of bringing salvation to mankind through the death of His Son. The same basic meaning applies in Acts 13:36 where it refers to what God had in mind for David to accomplish in his lifetime.

    Muller: “...the apostle, taking leave of his congregation, emphatically points out yet again with regard to threatening heresies that he in his preaching testified to the whole purpose of God, namely, God's gracious approach to sinners in the sacrifice of his Son.”

    Neil: “Paul claims that, having done his best to proclaim the Gospel in all its fulness, his conscience is clear before God.”

    Bruce: “...he had planted the gospel seed, and it was their business to water it. They could bear witness to his faithfulness in the proclamation of the divine message: he had made the whole of God's will plain to them” “A comparison of v. 27 with v. 20 shows that to Paul 'the whole counsel of God' was the measure of what was truly 'profitable.'”

    Stott: “He has not shrunk from proclaiming to them God's whole purpose of salvation. Consequently, he cannot be held responsible if any of them might perish.”

    Fitzmyer: “Paul conceives the task of the Christian messenger and witness: the proclamation of God's will...By it Paul must mean what God has planned not only on his behalf but also for all those among whom he has worked and for those whom he is now taking leave...Paul insists that he has never hesitated in this proclamatory task.”

In conclusion, the “whole counsel of God” is nothing more nor less than the plan of salvation.