The Berean form of Bible study applies to every student of the Bible - no matter how long we have been studying.
Transcript
[Darris McNeely] God's Word, the Bible – when you open this pages and study the Bible, do you bring your bias, any of your prejudices, to your study of the Word? Something to think about. In Acts 17:11, during the travels of the apostle Paul, we find him coming into the city of Berea. He's just had to be run out of the city of Thessalonica, and he goes on down the road, and he encounters a group of believers and serious students of the scriptures in the city of Berea. And here's what it says – a well-known passage: "The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away, and they went by night to Berea. There in Berea, 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."
They searched the scriptures on a daily basis in Berea, and these believers here lent their name to a very serious student of the Bible who would daily open up the passages of the scriptures and study to see what they meant. It's interesting to look at what this word "searched" means. It comes from a Greek word anihcrino (anakrino, anakrinontes - Strongs NT 350) and it means to search in an investigative manner, in a critical manner, without bias, without prejudice. And that's really what marked – was the hallmark of these people in Berea, when they searched the scriptures daily to prove whether the things that Paul taught them were true.
As we search the scriptures, as we listen to what people say about the Bible, this is a very valuable lesson for all of us at all times, no matter how long we've been studying the Bible, and no matter how well we think we know the Bible, to take this particular point to heart. And as we daily search the scriptures, do it without bias, without prejudice. In that way, we can go deeper, we can continually learn and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all that the Bible has to offer us in the riches of spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Be a Berean. Do it without bias. Study God's Word. Search those scriptures daily, without prejudice. And be assured of spiritual growth and understanding of what God's way tells us.
