What is the “whole counsel of GOD” Acts 20:27? That should be a no brainer, but it seems as if it is not declared in churches today. Today, we hear about salvation, and the completed work on the cross and shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sins. We hear about “personal” salvation, but not ever about collective (or national) salvation. God created nations. He began at the time of the Tower of Babel when he created different tongues to confuse man and prevent him from such hubris as would make him think he’s equal to GOD as one collective body. Later, he created a “chosen” nation in Israel (don’t confuse Israel with geography today – Israel is the church of GOD universally)!

The whole counsel of GOD by implication, at the very least, would be the whole of Scripture! Scripture is comrpised of four parts. The Jews divide the Old Testament into three parts – the Torah (law or first 5 books of the Bible), and the Prophets, and the Writings which include Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiates and Song of Solomon, Job, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles which are the rest of Jewish Scripture known as the Tanakh collectively. The Jews use the terms Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim. Then there is the New Testament which reveals that which was concealed in the Old Testament and which promises are fulfilled now in the advent, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Today’s preaching deals with “sin”, but doesn’t get too specific or detailed. According to the Westminster Larger Catechism #24, it applies to “any law of GOD”! Let’s parse “any“. Jesus Christ gave us the “Great Commandment, and the Second is like unto it!” Keep red highlight in mind for later. It is clearly understood by any honest Christian, that the “Great Commandment” is a summary of the Ten Commandments. Most Christians will agree that the Ten Commandments are a summary of the Old Testament Law which is revealed and articulated with specific examples in the first five books of the Bible, and interspersed throughout the rest of Scripture through explication, implication and exhortation. So, “any” is very broad indeed!

We will not be addressing any ceremonial or sacrificial laws here, as most Christians again will agree that they were abrogated in the coming and sacrifice of Christ. We will be dealing with the moral and civil laws only. It seems worth keeping in mind, that we are living 2000 years later with the subsequent appearance of plentiful paper, ink, computers, televisions, prolific printing of books, rapid transportation over long distances, broad and rapid communications accross wide distances, crossing language and physical barriers as well as ideological barriers. None of this changes human nature, nor does it change the fact that sin exists. What it does change is the rapidity with which sin can be transmitted and accepted without much consideration or analysis. Sin has become very sophisticated and nuanced today, and the Scriptural teaching, if not brought up to today’s world, may be insufficient for many people to grasp what is sin today!

This writer has delved into what is sin today, as this writer, before becoming a Christian, did look long and seriously into what is going on today from a rational, secular and historic perspective. Then, this writer was hit with Christian teaching! Like a bolt of lightning, this writer could see the devastating effects of sin on today’s Christian society, and the fact that todays’ Christians, in large part, are neither knowledgable about what many sins are, nor are they prepared to deal with them or the Biblical alternatives which would address them.

For instance, this wirter in 35 years of sermons does not recollect one sermon that has dealt with Biblical economics. The Bible does teach economics. The borrower is slave to the lender. Don’t covet, don’t steal, don’t lie. Abraham, Job, David and Solomon were all “wealthy” men, and it was God’s Doing and blessing (and even curse) both! These things manifest themselves economically, but none of them are taught from the pulpit in that light. Therefore, people are not being taught the rammifications of unjust weights and measures and the devastating effect they have on people singularly and collectively as groups and nations. People are not being taught the evils of inflation. People are not being taught the debillitating effects of debt and credit. The whole world today is awash in unpayable debt. That means the whole world is enslaved! What? You’ve got to be making a mistake here Pensiamento! Well, if Scripture is true, “No!”, but if Scripture is not true, or if you don’t know Scripture’s economic teaching, then it definitely appears as if Pensiamento is wrong!

Amos 8:4 – 6 exposes the evil of wicked, powerful, greedy people! Because human nature has not changed since the creation, Amos applies as much today as it did back then over 2000 years ago. Amos is telling us about inflation. Let me give a contemporary example. When there is high inflation, you will go to the store to buy a box of cereal. You notice, the price is the same, but the volume of cereal in the box has been reduced from 16 oz. to 14 oz. Think of the box as an ephah, and the dollar as the shekel, and nothing has changed. What has changed is that Biblical economics and the specifis of specific sins such as stealing are no longer taught from the pulpit. The people are ignorant, or as it says in Hosea 4:6, they are “destroyed for lack of knowledge”. Of what knowledge are they lacking? In this writer’s estimate, it is the “whole counsel of GOD” which they are “lacking”!

In conclusion, refer to the previous red highlight in paragraph 3. Can we, in good conscience say that we have properly loved our neighbor (or even GOD or ourselves) if we are ignorant of Biblical economics, and as such have allowed, and or contributed through apathy, ignorant voting, or not voting at all, to our neighbor being enslaved and oppressed?

Pensiamento Peligroso