And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 18:27-28

In a previous post we pointed out that Aquila and Priscilla corrected Apollos privately, rather that publicly. We said there are exceptions. Apollos’s refutation of the legalistic Judaizers was one of those exceptions. Those engaged in public ministry who preach error and will not repent, must be called out publicly for the sake of protecting the sheep. We can assume that these false teachers had been given an opportunity to repent, but refused to do so. So, for the sake of protecting the flock, Apollos called them out not only to stop them but to warn the flock of God. What was Apollos’s method?

First, he was vigorous (passionate). The truth is worth fighting for when need be.

Second, he reasoned from Scripture. The truth of Scripture is the standard by which every matter must be tested and found either to be truth or error! We must know our Bibles, friends. We need not all be scholars, but we all need to think biblically, to know what the Bible says, and be able to reason and speak biblically—even if not eloquently.

Third, he pointed them to Christ and the gospel. Apart from Christ and the gospel, we have nothing. If we do not proclaim Christ and the gospel, we proclaim falsehood—maybe not explicitly by what we say, but implicitly by what we fail to say!

These are reasons why God used and blessed Apollos. May these be true of us that He might bless and use us as well!