Let Us Be Bereans

Now these [Bereans] 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)

One of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts cartoons shows the Linus lying on the floor with an open Bible. He says to his sister Lucy, “Don’t bother me I’m looking for a verse of Scripture to back up one of my pre-conceived notions.” While we may laugh at this, does this sentiment not reflect our approach to Scripture on many occasions?

If the Bereans were distinguished by this action of searching the Scriptures, in contrast to those in Thessalonica, how much more should Christians be characterized by a desire to search the Scriptures daily? Yet, sadly, we have the propensity to assume the Bible teaches something; to assume that what “Dr. So-and-so” teaches is correct; or to assume that our “system” is basically closed to further adjustment from the Word. It is easy to feel secure in a tightly knit system. But if we are secure in Christ, then we will not be afraid to constantly evaluate our beliefs in light of the Word of God.

We have the privilege as Christians of searching the Scriptures. But, as the Bible commentator R.C.H. Lenski pointed out, “....your right and my right is to see and to find the one divine truth which the Spirit placed into the Scriptures. This and this alone is in them .... The Scriptures are clear, perfectly adequate to present this one truth to every man. Those who deviate from that one truth, no matter how, can do so only by making the Word mean what it never meant, and they, they alone are to blame for such deviation.”

Thus we must in Bible study covet more than anything else the mind of the Spirit. This involves serious prayer from a sincere heart. Every deviation from the objective Word results from the intrusion of a subjective preference — a preference to accommodate the Scripture to human philosophy; a preference to try and validate from Scripture a private prejudice; a preference to defend a theological system in which one trusts; a preference to explain away texts that do not fit our “system,” etc.

What are we to “search” for in our Bible study? The Bereans were searching the Old Testament to see if the Apostle Paul’s claims about Christ were true (Acts 17:2-3). Jesus clearly stated that the Old Testament was a unified witness on His behalf (John 5:39,46). The New Testament obviously focuses on the person, work, and words of Christ. A truly edifying approach to Scripture, then, involves seeking the Lord Jesus in the Bible.

If the Scriptures are searched with reference to vain speculations, endless genealogies, sinful curiosity, etc., then there can be no profit from the Word (1 Tim.1:4). The Spirit in this age is going to take the things of Christ and disclose them to sinners (John 16:8-15). We must, like the Bereans, be diligent in finding Christ in all the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:27,44).

While there is nothing wrong with expressing what we believe the Bible teaches in an organized way, we must avoid closing our minds to the possibility that the Lord may give us more light in the future from the Word. Time after time the Lord has come along, when I thought I had it all “systematized” and dismantled my system. Thus, our organization of God’s truth must never be regarded as “finished,” nor may we regard any past era of church history as having “said all that can be said.”

To put it bluntly, there is a real danger in “systems,” for they have — as history shows — tended to gain the upper hand. Men have strained to defend the system instead of evaluating and adjusting the system to the Scripture. Henry Mahan touches on this danger by saying:

“It is not easy to preach the gospel of free grace because by nature we are prone to get bound by a system. It is very easy to get bound to a creed or a system or denominational guidelines, and then try to make God’s Word fit that system, fit that creed, or fit those guidelines. We begin to hunt what we already believe in the Bible, and that is dangerous.

"I’ve heard many Arminian preachers tremble lest they go an inch beyond John Wesley, or an inch beyond Arminius, or an inch beyond some other famous free-will preacher. Then I’ve heard some Calvinists, some sovereign grace preachers, who speak as if John Calvin were the final authority. Well, these men are not the final authority.... It is time that the Scripture becomes our final authority."
"We are to seek to preach the Word of God — not what Baptists believe; the Word of God, not what Calvinists believe..... I really don’t know any difference in what they call high doctrine and low doctrine. I read these statements, ‘That’s high doctrine — that’s low doctrine.’ Well, if God’s Word teaches it that’s enough; and if God’s Word doesn’t teach it, let’s do away with it.” (“Balance of Truth,” Sword & Trowel, Dec. 1975).



The question that we must ask ourselves is"Am I willing to adjust my thinking, as God presents me with more light?"