Gospel Discernment

On Sunday, Seth preached from 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 where Paul warns the Corinthians about those “super apostles” who are actually leading people to a different gospel. They claimed the name of Christ but were actually leading people away from him. We, too, live in a day where there’s no shortage of those claiming the name of Jesus. How can we discern between those who would lead us closer to Christ and those who would lead us farther from him? We find one answer in the people of Berea.

Paul and his gospel co-worker Silas were run out of Thessalonica by a mob (Acts 17:1-9), and so they continued on, proclaiming Christ as they went. About the next town they enter, Luke records in Acts 17:10-11:

The brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Notice how Luke describes those in Berea: “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” They compared what Paul and Silas taught against the Scriptures (which in their case was what we call the Old Testament). That’s the key to gospel discernment: examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

We have access to an incredible amount of content these days, and there is so much of it that is biblical and solid. Like the Bereans, we should make it our practice to prayerfully search the Scriptures to examine what we are taking in against the standard of God’s Word.