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Acts 20:22–27
“I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (vv. 26–27).
Paul, continuing his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, explains in today’s passage that his leaving Asia to go to Jerusalem was not his idea. Instead, he was constrained by the Holy Spirit to make the journey (Acts 20:22; see 19:1–20:21). The Apostle followed God’s direction in his ministry; all that he did in evangelizing the Mediterranean world and planting churches came from the Lord, not from his own ideas (e.g., see 16:6–10).
Importantly, Paul explained that he was traveling to Jerusalem knowing nothing specific about what would befall him there except that he would suffer for the sake of the gospel (20:22–23). God does not call us to seek out suffering, but we must not refuse to follow His lead when He calls us into situations in which trials are certain to follow. After all, Jesus did not promise any of His followers an easy life; rather, He calls us to take up our crosses and follow Him (Matt. 16:24). Such suffering comes to us according to God’s providence, so believers do not all experience the same degree of suffering, and we may even go through periods when suffering seems absent. The key is that we must be ready to suffer for the gospel and for Christ. How do we prepare ourselves? By imitating Paul in not considering our own lives and well-being as important as obedience to our Father (Acts 20:24).
In bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders, Paul said that he was innocent of the blood of all because he had proclaimed the whole counsel of God (vv. 25–27). Like Ezekiel, Paul had preached the truth and had warned his hearers of coming judgment (Ezek. 3:16–21), so they could not blame Paul for their failure to obey God’s Word. He declared it, and their disobedience would be their own. They could never blame Paul for their ignorance of Scripture. Matthew Henry comments that Paul “had preached to them nothing but the counsel of God, and had not added any inventions of his own. . . . He had not, to save his own pains, declined preaching upon the most difficult parts of the gospel, nor, to save his own credit, declined preaching upon the most plain and easy parts of it; he had not shunned preaching those doctrines which he knew would be provoking to the watchful enemies of Christianity, or displeasing to the careless professors of it, but faithfully took his work before him, whether they would hear or [not].”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Not all of us are called to be teachers in the church, but Paul’s statement about being innocent of the blood of his hearers reminds us that those who are called to teach must be diligent in their vocation. They cannot shy away from hard truths but must teach the whole counsel of God. Those who are in a position to warn and teach others will be held accountable for their failures to forthrightly proclaim the truth that God has revealed in His Word.
For further study
- Proverbs 29:25
- Ecclesiastes 5:7
- John 15:18–25
- James 3:1
The bible in a year
- Proverbs 9–10
- 1 Corinthians 15:1–34