Being a Berean

by Scott Rossy
Berea was a New Testament city located in Macedonia that was visited by the Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey. Berea is first mentioned in Acts 17:10.

Before arriving in Berea, Paul first arrived in Thessalonica as is recorded in Acts 17:1-9. As was his usual custom when arriving in a city, he preached to the Jews in their synagogues, reasoning with them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. While in the Thessalonian synagogue:

“Paul… reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’ ”- Acts17:2,3.

After hearing Paul preach, some of these Thessalonians were persuaded and believed that Jesus is the Christ. After hearing this, the non believing Jews were jealous and became enraged. They formed a mob with some “wicked men” – Acts 17:5 and turned the city into an uproar, searching for Paul and Silas. Hearing that the crowd and the city authorities were being stirred up against them, “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea” – Acts 17:10. Upon arriving in Berea, they immediately entered the synagogue there and again began reasoning with the Jews from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. And again, as in Thessalonica, “Therefore many of them believed” – Acts 17:12. But scripture records something very interesting about these Jews in that Berean synagogue. It states: “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”- Acts 17:11. Luke, the human author of the book of Acts, states under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that these Bereans were “noble minded”. That is God’s evaluation of them. There are 2 reasons given for this. 1) they received the word with “great eagerness” and 2) they “examined the scriptures daily” to see if what they were being told is true. This is what made them more noble than those in Thessalonica. Noble minded is better defined as being a “noble race” or a “better bred” people. Unlike most of the Thessalonians, the Bereans being a more noble, better bred people, were open and eager to what Paul had to say. As a result of the Bereans openness, “many” of them came to believe, whereas in Thessalonica only “some” of them believed. It wasn’t just that they (the Bereans) believed what Paul was preaching to them, but it was the eagerness that they showed in receiving the word. Their eagerness was demonstrated in the fact that they were examining the scriptures (the Old Testament) daily to confirm if what Paul was preaching was true. They could have just taken Paul’s word for it and believed. After all he was an Apostle who was given direct revelation concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ and the “mystery” of the church.

“For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ”. –Galatians 1:11-12. “ by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” – Ephesians 3:3-5.

Not content to take the Apostles word, these noble minded Bereans chose to search the scriptures for themselves. The text doesn’t indicate that they doubted the validity of Paul’s preaching but that they were of such a noble character that they would naturally examine the scriptures for themselves. These Bereans were not only examining the scriptures to see whether these things were so, but they were also examining to have a better understanding of what it is they were being taught. So as Paul was “explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."- Acts 17:3, these Bereans were “examining” and comparing this new revelation that Paul was giving them concerning the Christ, with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Christ. They did this “daily”. They didn’t want to just know what they believe, they wanted to know why they believe. After better understanding for themselves what the scripture teaches, they’d also be able to teach others as well. This searching, examining of the scriptures brings more glory to God. It shows a reverence and love for His Word. Remember, He is the one who called these Bereans noble minded. We therefore should carry this same mindset in us as these Bereans did. We, as His children, must strive to test and compare everything we hear with the Word of God. We who are bible believing Christians, who hold the position that the bible is the sole source of all authoritative truth and that it is the sole source for all matters of doctrine and practice are to test the validity of all teaching and all preaching with scripture to see if what we’re being taught is scripturally true. God has warned us repeatedly throughout scripture about the danger of false teachers and their infiltration into the church and the damage their teaching can cause. Much can be said of this. We are commanded to be diligent. It is especially important for us to be diligent in this massive information age that we live in. All of us are constantly being bombarded daily with information, opinions and teachings. Whether it be in the secular or spiritual realm, it never stops. Whether it be Christian radio, television, the internet, seminars or books, we are always being exposed to something that is trying to influence our beliefs, to affect our way of thinking. The battle for the mind never ceases. Sadly, most of what we are being exposed to is contrary to what the bible truly teaches. This is especially true in Christian circles. It may be overt or it may be very subtle, but much of what is peddled in the Christian community is contrary to the “sound words” – II Timothy 1:13. of scripture. We must strive for a biblical worldview in all things and strive to make sure that everything we believe is grounded in scripture. We should examine all our beliefs in light of the scriptures. If we are not sure that what we believe is derived from the clear teaching of the bible, we should study to find out what the bible teaches. Anything that is not in conformity with sound doctrine is to be discarded. As bible believing Christians, we need to sift everything through the Word of God, to “ examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” – I Thessalonians 5:21-22. With the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit, this is what He has commanded us to do. We need to ask ourselves: Does scripture address this? What does scripture have to say about this? Is this (what we are being taught) scriptural? What is the context? These types of questions. It doesn’t mean that every teacher we hear is perfect in all that he teaches and never errs. It’s not about slamming a brother who misspoke. All human teachers are fallible and will err, but we must discern how his overall teaching compares with scripture. Was it just an honest mistake he made or is the thrust of his teaching nothing more than a twisting of scripture to suit his agenda? A true man of God, one who has truly been called by God to teach His word, will gladly be open to correction from the Word by his brothers. Pride will not be a concern for him. His only concern as one who will have to give an account of himself before the Lord will be to handle the word accurately and truthfully. There is an accurate way to handle the Word and there is an inaccurate way. The accurate way takes diligence and study on our part. As Paul told Timothy, ”Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” –II Timothy 2:15. It’s not enough for a teacher to quote scripture. Many “bible” teachers will quote scripture, but are they quoting it out of context? The question is: Are they staying true to the (biblical) authors original meaning, or are they changing the authors original intent? Words have meaning and can’t be changed to suit ones agenda. Every word is in the context of a sentence. Every sentence is in the context of a paragraph. Every paragraph is in the context of a chapter. Every chapter is in the context of a book. Every book is in the context of the entire bible and all of scripture is in complete harmony with itself. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us illumination, understanding, wisdom, conviction and discernment in all these matters. Proper hermeneutics are essential. It’s not a question of whether a teacher “uses” scripture; it’s a question of whether he is “teaching” scripture.

We who are Gods children should have the same “noble minded” eagerness in our day that the original Bereans had in their day. We need to know not just what we believe, but why we believe. To think biblically about all things. If we as “the light of the world” – Matthew 5:14. don’t know why we believe as we do, how can we possibly proclaim the truth to those who are still in darkness? How do we know that we aren’t being deceived ourselves in our beliefs? Just as the Bereans examined the scriptures daily to confirm the validity of what they were being taught, we are called to labor to do the same. Concerning the reading, exhortation and teaching of scripture, Paul commanded Timothy to “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. “ – I Timothy 4:15-16.

We are commanded to long for the pure milk of the word, to completely saturate ourselves with it, to think about it, and to meditate upon it. As we fill our minds and hearts completely with the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will speak to us in all situations. Not an audible voice, but He will bring to mind the scripture that we’ve hidden in our heart and give us discernment and the wisdom to apply the truth in all situations. He does not speak to us apart from His word but He does speak to us through His word.

Like the Bereans, let us be noble minded as well, not automatically accepting everything we hear, but examining everything carefully in light of the word, holding fast to that which is good and turning away from evil. Is there anything else more important?

“Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings” – Hebrews 13:9