Knowing that he is going to Jerusalem to face imprisonment and affliction Paul then says:
“But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.
And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all. For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God.”
(Acts 20.24-27, NET)
Whilst he knows that trials await (v.23) Paul also knows that his life is not worth anything to [himself]. Paradoxically, fulfilment and contentment in our own lives come only from knowing that we will never find it ourselves. Paul’s singular focus in life and ministry is to finish [the] task and the ministry that [he] received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace. Counting his own life as nothing (Philippians 3.8-10) Paul finds his purpose in his God-given task.
His entire purpose is to announce the whole purpose of God.
By not holding anything back Paul is declaring himself innocent of the blood of you. Perhaps this is why persecution and problems followed him around: he was never one to shy away from the tough stuff. Telling people how it was, as straight and as honest as possible often left Paul with problems, but this was all part and parcel of announcing the whole purpose of God.
For you and for me the principle is still very true. Whilst we might not all have a call on our lives to become an itinerant teacher and church planter who announces the full counsel to different congregations, we are all called to live in the light of this whole purpose of God.
As Paul proclaimed, we are all called to produce (cf. Galatians 5.19-26).
James Travis 