PROPHETON - Do not be a Berean

Do not be a Berean

Updated 11-05-2013

There is a saying among some Christians, that we should be "Bereans", or as the Bereans, who searched the scriptures to check if the teaching of the apostles were according to the revelation of God. (Acts 17:10-13

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But the Bereans were not Christians. They were Jews. They were good Jews, because they used what they had, and that led them to Christ and salvation. But they didn't stop there. Now, when Christians and saved, they had the Holy Spirit available, and revelation given directly from God. So in the continuation, when they heard someone preach, they didn't just be "Bereans", they didn't just check by the scriptures if the preaching was right. They also had the witness of the Holy Spirit to consider. Or else we could have stayed in the OT. But Jesus brought something that overrules the OT method, because that method wasn't perfected. It led many into the pharisaic errors. They became hardhearted, as they only took into consideration the written word of God, and very seldom experienced or felt the need to experience the living, individually received, direct spoken word of God.

Now the Bereans were good Jews, therefore they found Jesus through the scriptures. But that only was the beginning. Baptised in the Holy Spirit and gifted with all that he gives, they went further. And that's what we have to do too. The written word isn't enough. It isn't the sole checkpoint. It has to be weighed also against the witness of the Spirit. The Word and the Spirit are one, they witness the same. But that doesn't mean that you can read the Bible with your brain and then think that the Holy Spirit will witness or confirm what you think the Bible says. That's making the Spirit subordinate to your thoughts. It's going in the wrong direction. You must let the Holy Spirit lead you into the scriptures, to understand their full meaning. And besides that, it's much more than reading the scriptures and understanding them. It is also to act on them, led by and empowered by the Spirit. That's what the OT saints mostly lacked. But Christians don't lack that possibility. We can do more than read and summarise, more than be Bereans, we can live the life Jesus and the apostles did, manifest the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues. And this is a necessity, not just an availability.

So to be Bereans is a good admonishing to Jews, but not to Christians. To Christians such an admonishing will lead them astray, away from the real life in God. It has the risk of making them pharisaic, and hardhearted. It's not apostolic teaching.
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Created 11/05 2013, 22:29. Latest edited 11-05-2013, 22:29

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