Archive for November 6, 2013


Nov 6

Being Better Bereans

2013 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Recommended Link

Kevin DeYoung recently published a three part blog series, “How to Be Better Bereans” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Here’s how it begins:

The Jews in Berea, it is said, were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). How telling–for them and for us–that nobility is measured not by titles, land, parentage, wealth, or degrees, but by how we handle the word of God. Our approach to the Scriptures sets us apart as riff-raff or royalty.

So how do we become better Bereans?

That’s the question I recently posed to my congregation and the question I want to explore this week. How can we be more like the noble Bereans and less like the rabble from Thessalonica (Acts 17:5)?

Let me suggest ten ways . . .

Here are Kevin’s ten points:

  1. Listen to the sermon with an open Bible
  2. Don’t rush on from the Word of God to the rest of your life
  3. Get in the Word as a way of life
  4. We must approach the Bible with eager expectation
  5. Be prepared to study the Word deeply
  6. Be confident that you are able to study the Bible and discover the truth of God’s Word
  7. Recognize that some things which claim to be from the Bible are not
  8. Test difficult doctrines against the Scriptures before simply discarding them
  9. Be humble enough to take the Bible at its word no matter who you are
  10. Give the Bible the final say in every matter on which it means to speak

Read how Kevin unpacks each of these points here, here, and here.