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Christians throughout the world may be grouped into two. Those who are noble and those who may be ignoble.
This differentiation comes about as a result of outstanding qualities that are seen in the life of some Christians, but are missing in the life of others.
These qualities that are habitual separate one Christian from another even though they are all children of God sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
Luke who accompanied Paul and Silas, in their missionary work, described some believers as noble. They were Jewish people who lived in a community called Berea. In Acts 17:11, Luke writes that:
“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.”
Now Paul and Silas had gone to Berea to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ; obviously people heard them. However, the people did not foolishly accept the message Paul and Silas preached.
Luke reports that they did something that the Thessalonian believers never did. Those things the Bereans did compelled Luke to describe them as noble.
What did they do differently” First, they received the word that the Apostles preached to them with all eagerness. Their body, soul and spirit sat down to listen to the word proclaimed by the preachers.
Importantly, they listened with all eagerness, that is, they listened with readiness, attentiveness, excitement, enthusiasm and willingness.
Moreover, after listening, they examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. In other words, after hearing the Apostles preach to them, they also took the Scriptures to read, study, excavate and research them daily to see if the things Paul preached were true.
Their intention was to validate or confirm the facts Paul and Silas presented to them. This attitude or habit they exhibited motivated Luke to label them as noble people.
A noble Christian, therefore, is the one who eagerly hears God’s word preached and afterwards picks their Bible to personally read it to confirm or disconfirm what their pastor preached or taught.
People must believe in Christ with knowledge. The apostle Peter implores Christians to add to their faith knowledge (2 Peter 1:5).
Knowledge distinguishes and separates people from another. People of knowledge walk in light and cannot be easily led astray or deceived.
God is a God of knowledge, and He entreats His children to be people of knowledge as people perish by ignorance.
Therefore, every Christian whether lettered or unlettered, must aim to be a noble Christian for their own freedom and the glory of God.
Those who cannot read or write should ask their spouses, children or friends to help them.
By James Quansah
