Acts 20:27

"For. shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God"For": The reason why he was not responsible for those who ended up lost. "I shrank not": To withhold, to cower, to conceal, shun or draw back. "The whole counsel of God": "All the will of God" (Lam). "The complete will of God" (Phi). Paul knew that the church needs to preach on biblical topics including those that are controversial.. preacher who desires. clear conscience will preach on every topic that Christians and non-Christians need to hear. Stott notes, "We are frequently told always to be positive in our teaching and never negative. But those who say this have either not read the New Testament, or, having read it, they disagree with it. For the Lord Jesus and his apostles refuted error themselves and urged us to do the same" (pp. 328-329). See Ephesians 5:11; Titus 1:9. This verse infers that the whole counsel of God (and especially everything written in the N.T.) can be understood by Christians. Believing part of what the Bible teaches is not enough. The idea is false that we only have to agree on about five essential doctrines to have unity. Everything written by the apostles is essential for the Christian to believe. We cannot divide the New Testament up into categories of things we must believe for salvation and doctrines not essential to believe for salvation.