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THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD

Any explicit Bible statement is true. In the case of each such statement no less than what is said there can be true. More might be true, as revealed in other passages, but there cannot be less and that verse be true. Thus it is wrong to pick out one statement and base a conclusion on it, even though explicit, and consider it alone when there are other explicit statements which speak on the subject.

An example of this kind of misuse is the  “faith only” theory of salvation. They pick out Eph. 2:8-9 which says expressly that we are saved by grace, not of works, and on that basis, conclude that there is nothing we can do that will impact our salvation. This conclusion rejects all other Bible statements where it is said that the grace by which we are saved is conditional. (Example: Heb. 5:8, Acts 2:38. Mark 16:16) The bottom line is that their interpretation over rules explicit scripture statements. This is what we call “proof texting.” It is wrong and can be very misleading. Since these statements are in the same Bible, inspired by the same Holy Spirit, it would make more sense to try to understand how they harmonize, instead of deciding which one to discard. Handling aright the word means that we accept every express Bible statement as true, but we do not ignore or disallow other Bible statements which shed further light on the point. If God has said it, it is true. Instead of arraying scripture against scripture, we need to understand how it is that we are saved by grace, not of works, and also be true that God has appointed conditions to the gift of salvation. Then we have the whole counsel of God.

Over against this proper hermeneutic is the practice of imposing interpretation, theory, and rationalized argument, slanted because they are based on incomplete research. Many differing religious factions are produced by this faulty procedure. For example, when you offer the explicit Bible statements which say “There is one God,” no less than that can be true and those verses still be true. Other passages which also refer to the Holy Spirit and Jesus as God, do not contradict that. They simply offer the further light that the one God is a triune being. Thus in Genesis one the word for “God” is a plural word. Whether the human mind can understand it or not, one God consisting of three personages is a Biblical fact. It is also true that a human being has three parts. Scripture refers to them as “body, soul, and spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:23) Perhaps when we enter the next life and our spirit is separated from our body, we may come to understand this better.

In the meantime we have the very serious threat of Satan’s continuing efforts to mislead us by perverting the scriptures. Often the “proof texting” procedure is the way it is done, isolating certain passages from other passages. Even in tempting Jesus Himself Satan gave incomplete scripture quotations. But Jesus answered, “It is also written” and gave more of what God said. In Matthew 7 Jesus warned to beware of false prophets “which come to you in sheep’s clothing,” i.e. appearing to be one of the believers. Satan is able to deceive many because they think the Bible is being preached. Later in the chapter the warning Jesus gave is directly connected with the judgment. The apostles repeatedly issued the same warning. (2 Cor. 11, 2 Peter chapters 1 & 2) Paul stated that to have God’s approval we must handle correctly the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

In Acts 19:13 some Jewish exorcists “took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, “We exorcize you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” They had seen the miracles of Paul and did not get the rest of the story. At verse 15 the text says, “And the evil spirit answered and said, ‘Jesus I know and Paul  know, but who are you?’” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, beat the stuffings out of them, and drove them from the house. These exorcists “took it upon themselves.” They were not appointed. Many today presume in the same way. They read about what Jesus and Paul did and they think, as these men did, that because Jesus and Paul did it, they can. Other scriptures, which they fail to consider, clearly tell us that the apostles were especially appointed, chosen by God before the world began, to be His witnesses and that Jesus gave them special powers to do supernatural things. Yet Satan gets people to fail to recognize this fact, something even the evil spirits know, that believers in general have not been so appointed and were not given that power.

Knowing that “your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” (1 Peter 5:8) and knowing that he has a huge bag full of deceptions by which to do that, and knowing that “many false prophets have gone out into the world,” it certainly makes sense to be wary. The right thing to do is avoid the “proof texting” procedure, avoid human rationalizing, and be careful that our conclusions always have the foundation of the whole counsel of God, the scriptures fully considered and handled rightly.