Declaring the Whole Counsel of God

Pastor Steve finished a thought-provoking series on the Sermon on the Mount today. My life has been affected by the clear and convicting truths of this passage. After almost every sermon I have been broad-sided by the reality of God’s standards and expectations. Our Father has raised the bar incredibly high. It is daunting and humbling to be reminded of this, but thanks be to God that he has provided the means for us to reach the goal (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:12-14).

I was able to find the Baptist Catechism that John Piper adapted for Bethlehem Baptist church (You can check it out here). I’m not sure how it has actually been implemented at Bethlehem, but in theory it looks to be an effective tool for declaring the “whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) Piper encourages its use within the families of the congregation. He lists 100+ questions with an answer, scripture, and a comment. The comments are a good method of bridging an old document (16th century) to a modern family. Here is an example from the section on the attributes of God.

Question 15: What are God’s works of providence?

Answer: God’s works of providence are the holy, wise, and powerful acts which he preserves and governs all his creatures, and all their actions.

Scripture: Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 103:19; Matthew 10:29-30.

Comment: It would be helpful to discuss this with your child in relation to the common concept of “luck.” Is there such a thing as luck in a world ruled by the providence of God? “The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord” (16:33). You will also need to stress that many of God’s acts of providence may not look “holy and wise” (like storms that kill thousands of people). But then stress that God has his secret purposes (Deut. 29:29) that we are never great enough to see, and the Judge of all the earth always does right (Genesis 18:25).

I think Piper’s update on the Baptist confession is a helpful tool. If it was used consistently it would create a solid foundation of biblical doctrine. A father who worked through this with his family would sleep soundly at night knowing he was diligent in communicating the truth of Scripture to his wife and children. In theory it sounds great, but it is hard to imagine this being used on a regular basis. First, there would need to be daily devotions and even this seems like too much to ask in today’s hectic society.

Just today I asked a High School student in our church about his family devotions. I was expecting to hear of some kind of bible study or prayer time, but he said, “we don’t do family devotions.” I was surprised. They meet together for breakfast, but have no regular time in the word as a family. With that scenario it seems like reading through the Baptist confession in that household would be the wrong place to start, but I think it would be a great goal for families to shoot towards.

The public’s knowledge of God and the Bible is dropping every year. It would be a shame if this were true in our families as well.