Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Acts 17:1-3 ESV

A few weeks ago, I was reading through Acts 17 and 18, and I found myself pondering on a few passages where Paul was ministering in various places along his missionary journey. The first one I came across was in Acts 17 where Paul entered Thessalonica and began to interact with the Jews in the synagogue. The Word tells us that he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, which would have been from the Old Testament. It never occurred to me until a year or so ago that the gospel was ministered in the first century church from the Old Testament. That probably sounds silly, but I had never given it much thought. Sometimes, we tend to think of the gospel of Jesus Christ as solely in the New Testament, but the Old Testament testifies of Christ in types and shadows and in prophecy. This would be what the Bereans searched when Paul came to reason with them concerning the gospel (Acts 17:11). Paul said that they were more noble for doing so and for essentially reasoning in accordance with Scripture.

The Bible makes it clear from Acts 17 that reasoning from the Scriptures was Paul’s custom. We can see this also being done in Acts 17 while Paul is in Athens as he reasons with those in the synagogue, as well as those in the marketplace (Acts 17:16-21). While in Corinth, he reasoned with the Jews and the Greeks, and in Ephesus, he entered the synagogue to reason with the Jews (Acts 18:4, 19).

Something occurred to me while reading these passages that brought pause and meditation on the Word of God. Paul’s ministry was both fruitful and volatile. His reasoning from the Scriptures was fruitful in there were those who came to faith in Christ. It was volatile in that whenever the gospel was preached, persecution followed. But there was something else I noticed. Though there are accounts in the Acts of the Apostles where God wrought signs and wonders through the apostles, there were none to speak of in these passages of Acts 17 and 18. This is not to diminish the miraculous work of spiritual regeneration in the life of a dead sinner. It simply struck me that for all the emphasis placed at times on the importance of signs and wonders being done today by some, which though we do see them in Scripture, they are not as common as one would assume, Paul was demonstrating two things here of note. He displays the value of using reason with Scripture, and he demonstrates what he so eloquently expressed to the Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Reasoning is Biblical and Spiritual

In the context of the particular passages in Acts, reasoning is defined as “to teach publicly or to present intelligent arguments.” Paul did just that by way of the Scriptures. He did not go to them with feelings or personal experiences. He did not tell them to abandon critical thinking or to simply feel what God wanted to do. He taught the people publicly and he presented intelligent arguments by way of the Word of God. He reasoned with them Biblically as well as spiritually. He presented the truth to them concerning Jesus Christ. We are reminded in these accounts that reasoning does not have a negative connotation nor is it a sign of being less spiritual. In fact, to reason in accordance with Scripture is to demonstrate spiritual maturity.

You may or may not have heard someone say regarding spiritual things not to analyze or to think about certain matters, but instead, to feel with your heart or even experience things by the Spirit. I once heard an individual tell someone regarding a particular spiritual gift to not think about what they were doing or to try and analyze it with their mind. Using critical thinking or reasoning is at times diminished as less than spiritual. It can even be perceived as religious or Spirit quenching. But critical thinking and reasoning are vital in the lives of believers. The Word does not instruct us to go by our feelings, and it does not instruct us to shut down reasoning with our minds. In fact, we are told in Scripture to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37). Reasoning is integral in our lives as believers in Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about presenting an encounter or an experience with God. Rather, it is about proclaiming the truth of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life only through grace through faith in Christ alone. Do not abandon reasoning, dear Christian. Learn from Paul’s example to reason among others from the Scriptures.