In today’s text (Acts 17:1-15) Paul will encounter a people who the author of the book of Acts labels, “fair-minded” (V:11). (“more noble” KJV “open minded” NLT) What distinguished these people as “more noble” or “fair-minded” than others? Luke gives two distinct characteristics.
- “They received the word of God with all readiness” – This means that their hearts and minds were open to the Gospel message to the point that they eagerly (NLT) received it. Rather than being argumentative or hard hearted the people of Berea were hungry for truth. No doubt God had prepared their hearts to receive this message of Jesus’ death burial and resurrection for their sins. They must have felt their need for God’s forgiveness and therefore eagerly received the Gospel message.
2.) “They searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” – This statement reveals much about the character of the residents of Berea. For one, the Bereans obviously trusted the holy scriptures to the point of accepting the Bible as the very word of God. They took the scriptures as their final authority and therefore tested all other claims of truth against that which they already knew to be true, “God’s Holy Word.”
Upon careful examination of Paul’s Gospel message and comparing it to the Old Testament scriptures “many of them believed.” My prayer is that you also would have an open, fair-minded approach to the Gospel and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that you too may be saved and made new.
“These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.” Acts 17:11, 12, NKJV.
Search the scriptures daily like the Bereans that you might walk in truth!
Jesus said, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,” John 5:39, NIV.
It’s all about Jesus!
Pastor Mike