If you’ve been in very many discussions about religion with the general public, you’ve likely heard someone casually use the word legalism—most likely to criticize other religious folks who are serious about doing what God says. (“All they ever talk about is the rules. It’s just rules, rules, rules… They’re so legalistic.”) Some of us might think we’re legalists if we preach and teach the Bible’s specific commandments—that legalism essentially boils down to being “too conservative.” But Inigo Montoya can teach us a lesson: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

The word legalism has a specific definition. It describes the belief that we can save ourselves by perfectly following God’s laws. It’s not just being “conservative” or “serious about following God’s rules.” Legalism doesn’t need an external, divine Savior; it only needs an individual and their perfect adherence to a religion.

And that is a patently unbiblical belief. The nature and effects of sin are simply too damning to be overcome by ourselves, no matter how hard we may try. It is only by the grace of God, received through sincere, obedient faith in Jesus, that we can be saved. It’s absurd to think, after reading the New Testament, that we could ever earn salvation just through good works and religious fervor.

But we shouldn’t react by giving ourselves license to sin or be lax about it. Salvation brings transformation, making us follow God’s ways more ardently. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Tt. 2:11-14)

The Bible opposes legalism, and we should too. It is “a different gospel” (Ga. 1:6-7), and preaching it denies Christ’s saving power (cf. Ga. 2:15-21). But we must understand its meaning. We don’t have to be spiritually checkmated if accused of legalism. The next move can be as simple as asking, “What exactly do you mean by that word?” Let’s not give up the chance to persuade someone to obey God, and let's be determined not to be crippled by an opponent’s misrepresentation of truth.

- Dan Lankford, minister

When it comes to adding spiritual knowledge to our faith, the prime source for that knowledge is obvious: it’s the Bible (cf. 2 Tm. 3:16-17). But what about the abundance of other sources available? Books, magazines, blogs, sermons, podcasts, and even these articles all purport to teach; but how do we know if we’re getting trustworthy knowledge from them?

While some books, organizations, and people claim to be teaching the Bible, they’re doing it wrongly and often in self-serving, harmful ways (Paul warned that this was happening in his time; cf. Phil. 1:17, 2 Cr. 10-12). So how do we know if we’re getting correct knowledge? How do we know if it’s what God really wants us to know?

Here’s one piece of advice that will go a long way: Consider the *assumptions* that the teacher/writer is working from.

If they assume that right and wrong are determined by men, that the Bible was written by men, and that religious doctrine is from men… If they begin with the assumption that God revealed more of his will to someone else after the apostles’ work was finished… If they assume that the Christian way is mostly determined by a particular culture of men… Or if they work off the assumption that a particular Christian group’s word is authoritative simply because it’s that group, then we should look elsewhere.

If, on the other hand, the teacher/writer assumes that the Holy Spirit revealed his will truthfully and completely in the Bible, and if their goal is to expound that without changing it, then we can almost always learn something valuable to our faith from a source like that! If they point us back to God himself and persuade us to trust him, then we can be grateful to learn from them.

These checks on assumptions work well whether applied to commentaries, podcasts, YouTube videos, sermons, blogs, workbooks, devotionals, or ‘Christian living’ books. The firmer the teacher’s commitment to God’s will in God’s word, the more we can be sure that we’re learning something worthwhile from them. It’s not just that we would stand against certain types of sources, but that we should have some wisdom to guide our pursuit of spiritual knowledge from all potential sources.

- Dan Lankford

When Jesus was only 12 years old, His family made the trek to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After all was said and done, the family made their way back home assuming that Jesus was tagging along somewhere in the group when, in fact, He’d stayed behind in Jerusalem. When they found Him, He was sitting in the temple in the midst of the teachers (Luke 2:41-45).

I don’t know about you, but for some reason I’ve always had the impression that Jesus was in the temple teaching the teachers. As if little boy Jesus was showing up all the seasoned veterans. Yet, that’s not quite true. Luke tells us that He was listening to them and asking them questions (Luke 2:46). The preteen Jesus stays behind in the temple, not to teach, but to learn. When He tells His parents that He must be about His Father’s business, that business was not preaching to the grown ups but learning from them - adding knowledge to His faith (Luke 2:49). Later, Luke records that as Jesus aged He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). Isn’t that fascinating?

No one fully understands all the intricacies and dynamics of what it means for Jesus to simultaneously be God and Man, but one thing seems to be clear - that Jesus added knowledge to His faith just as I must add knowledge to my faith. That fact should helps us appreciate two things...

First, that we should hunger and thirst for knowledge of His word like He did. We need to understand that being busy in our Father’s business is not just a matter of engaging in good deeds, it also involves learning. In fact, as it was with Jesus so it is with us, our involvement in the Father’s business should begin with seeking to understand His will and grow in His wisdom.

Second, if we develop such a hunger and thirst, we can grow in wisdom and knowledge as He did. Of course, there are some attributes of Jesus that we’ll never share, but we have the opportunity to grow like He did. If I dedicate myself to listening, learning, and asking as He did I will continually add knowledge to my faith.

- Jonathan Banning

Transcription / Notes:

Last week, Jonathan gave three tips for better Bible study. Here are four more from me, in order to "add to your faith... knowledge."

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1) Read whole Bible books.

I find it very helpful to read books of the Bible as whole books, similarly to how we read novels. I find that there is great power in the flow of thought from the beginning to the end of books like Isaiah or Romans. I find that the totality of the narratives is compelling in books like Judges or Acts. So I recommend reading them beginning-to-end on a regular basis.

2) Read without line numbers.

The Bible’s chapter and verse markings were added long after the documents were written. When I learned that, I wanted to find out if it would make any difference to read without them. For me, the answer was, “YES!” Chapter and verse markings are like the line numbers in a legal document—they’re useful for quickly finding a phrase or a thought, but they don’t have a bearing on the meaning of that thought. I’ve bought a couple of “Reader’s Bibles” in different translations, and I find them to be immensely helpful, letting the thoughts continue or break where in more natural ways, rather than where a particular line number may dictate.

3) Look for repeated ideas.

I often mark up my study Bibles with different colors, which helps me isolate various motifs, items, sayings, and concepts that the Holy Spirit is repeating. For two examples: the repeated mentions of belief in the whole Gospel of John and of resurrection in the whole book of Acts. Isolating these makes me take a mental step back to ponder why they were so important to the author, which helps me realize why they should matter so much to my walk with God.

4) Watch for God to act.

Especially in stories, don’t just look for what the human characters are doing—look for what GOD is doing, even if it’s behind the scenes. Early in life, we’re right to look at the human characters as the good or bad guys/girls. But as we get older, we often realize that: 1) human morality often isn’t so clear-cut as that, and 2) the humans often aren’t the main characters in a story anyway—God is. So watch for what he’s doing, and you will learn a lot about him, which is one of the things we should want most in our Christian lives (cf. Mk. 12:28-31).

- Dan Lankford

I once was blessed to hear a podcast conversation between two believers who had grown up attending what we could rightly call typical evangelical churches. Youth groups, concert-style worship music, big organizations, fundraising efforts, sports teams, bookstores and coffee shops in the building… were all part of the norm for their experience with religion and faith. But as adults, they had both left all of that behind and tried to lead a church environment guided by God’s word. What made the difference? Simply: the Bible.

Their experience is pretty typical of what happens for a lot of (though not all) people who grow up in religious families: they are taught religion as a largely feel-good, therapeutic, healthy addition to your life. Few of the tenets of the faith are taught as essentials to life—just “good ideas for a lot of people.” And while the Bible is often referenced, it’s rarely taught. They become what one of the podcast hosts described for himself: post-Bible Christians.

That particular phrase—“post-Bible Christian”—describes a danger that can plague all believers, both from liberal and conservative (and even very-liberal and very-conservative) traditions. Both are tempted to know proof-texts, but not really study and absorb the full context to understand God’s own heart (cf. 1 Sm. 13:14). Both are tempted to treat the Bible as a good motivational book, but not neglect to treat it as the very words of eternal life (cf. Jn. 6:68). Both are tempted to reference the Bible but not know it; to read it but not engage it; to accept it, but find that they do not actually like it.

I hope this reminds us of two things:

1) That if we are people who know the Bible well, we need to be compassionate in our outlook toward those who do not. We shouldn’t look down on them for not knowing (although we might rightly criticize their spiritual leaders for such failures); we should compassionately do our best to lead them deeper into God’s word and toward his heart. We should try to draw them toward a fuller experience with the Bible if at all possible. We should offer to study, to guide, to teach, and sometimes just to read it with them; because so many have so little exposure to the word. (By the way, this is why I started giving page numbers for Bible references when I preach; I want as many people as possible to be able to read along).

2) It should remind us not to get complacent with our own Bible knowledge. Complacency and self-righteousness go hand-in-hand, and they are the companions of spiritual failure (cf. Lk. 18:9-14). Members of the Churches of Christ used to be commonly called “people of the book,” and that was a wonderful reputation... but it’s one that I fear we could lose without deliberate choices. I find that saints in churches like ours—particularly teens and young adults—are often passionate about Jesus and church-related activities, but they don’t know their Bibles nearly as well as a previous generation did (for more specifics on this, see this article from a couple of weeks ago). It’s not just that they don’t know certain distinctive doctrines—it’s that they don’t know the Bible, and they haven’t learned to love it. We may be on track, without some purposeful, prayerful attention from all church leaders (cf. 1 Tm. 4:6-16), to creating our own trend of post-Bible Christianity. That’s a trend that we can counteract, though, and so we must, for the glory of God and the preservation of our souls.

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hb. 4:11-12)

- Dan Lankford, minister

After a somewhat brief ceasefire, the conflict between the terrorist organization, Hamas, and the sovereign nation of Israel is back in full swing. The conflict, which started with a terrorism attack on a peacetime population in October of ’23, has resulted in massive loss of life and incredible unrest for the populations living closest to it. This past week, it had gotten bad enough that the residents of the Gaza Strip (Hamas’ home territory) took to the streets in mass protest of the terrorist organization. This sort of behavior is largely unprecedented in the Islamic-ruled Middle East, which shows just how bad things are on the ground there.

As believers, we ought to have extreme compassion on those who suffer under such regimes, even though they share no semblance of our faith in Jesus. The Lord himself showed great compassion to those who were ‘not of the house of Israel’ when he saw their needs in this life (cf. Mt. 15:21-28). Our job is to be the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13)—to be a source of goodness and compassion wherever we come in contact with the world. If we cannot muster even a small amount of compassion when we see suffering in another part of the world, how will we accomplish true compassion with real impact when we see suffering close to home?

I pray that this particular conflict will be resolved soon. I pray the same for the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. And I pray for the day to come when all of the leaders and the citizens of the nations will move toward Zion—the spiritual mountain of God; the seat of his power; the center of his authority and his goodness (cf. Isa. 2:1-3). I pray for the day when Christ will be enthroned as king in all men’s hearts, and all the conflicts of this world will vanish, along with the suffering they cause.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Transcription / Notes:

Last week, Dan put forward this beautiful idea: What if we came to know the Bible so well that the teachings of the Bible naturally flowed out of us? That’s what I want! I want the teaching of the Holy Spirit to become second-natured, to become my natural inclination. Accomplishing that starts with establishing a consistent habit of Bible reading and not just daily reading but good daily reading. So, this week, we thought we’d offer a few tips on what good daily Bible reading looks like.

1) Be Patient

In the Bible, the Gospel is often compared to a seed. Like a seed, if the Gospel is planted in your heart and allowed to grow it will inevitably transform your heart, your life, your actions (Matthew 13:18-23; Galatians 5:22-23). At the same time, like a seed, this process takes time, and we need to be okay with that. If daily Bible reading isn’t having a life-altering effect after two weeks, remember that Jesus personally taught His apostles for three years and by the end of His ministry they still didn’t quite get it (John 14:9). Be patient.

2) Quality Over Quantity

Sometimes in our impatience we try to speed up the growth process. Like a procrastinating college student, we cram loads of Bible study into tiny sections of time to make up for years of neglected study, but that just doesn’t work. That’s not how hearts change. So, good Bible students learn to emphasize quality over quantity. It’s better to just let five words sink in than to let 1,000 words go in one ear and out the other (I Corinthians 14:19). Just read a chapter, or a chunk, or a verse and allow it to sink in.

3) Master Meditation

When you close the book make sure to take something with you. Maybe it’s a thought, a promise, or a question. Whatever it is, take it and keep it with you through the day. Remember it. Meditate on it. Dwell on it. Absorb from it every ounce of edification it provides. This is what David did, what he longed to do – he anxiously waited for the night watches because in those moments of solitude he meditated on God’s word (Psalm 119:148). We should do the same.

Next week, Dan will have a few more Bible study tips to share!

- Jonathan Banning

In Christian bookstores, you can often look over the new releases and get a sense of what’s happening in the broader world of all that’s called ‘Christian.' I did that recently at Focus of the Family Bookstore, and here are some of the titles:

• Take Your Life Back; How To Stop Letting the Past and Other People Control You
• I Shouldn’t Feel This Way; Name What’s Hard, Tame Your Guilt, and Transform Self-Sabotage into Brave Action
• I Declare War; 4 Keys To Winning The Battle With Yourself
• The Bondage Breaker; Overcoming Negative Thoughts, Irrational Feelings, Habitual Sins
• Neighbor, Love Yourself; Discover Your Value, Live Your Worth
• Take Back Your Life; A 40-Day Interactive Journey To Thinking Right So You Can Live Right

What’s the common factor here? They’re all promising to help re-gain control of our thoughts; to help us overcome difficult things like guilt, regret, comparison, and tension. They all promise that if we follow the steps, we’ll be free from what’s negative inside us. It says a lot about our cultural moment when this is what Christian writers and publishers know people will buy in order to find help.

What’s the real solution to a mind that is anxious, frustrated, regretful, and restless? What will all the ideas in those books boil down to if they’re correct? Ultimately, they’ll be rehearsing truths from God. Truths such as, ‘Don’t be anxious; trust God’ (cf. Mt. 6:25-34), and ‘Believe it when God says you’re forgiven’ (cf. 1 Jn. 2:12), and “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tm. 1:7).

What can we do to gain and maintain control of our minds? Ultimately, we gain control by surrendering control—by becoming so thoroughly indoctrinated with God’s ways that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Only that will win the battle over self.

- Dan Lankford, minister

The things in my life that I know best are the ones that I recall and revisit every day—the “I could do that with my eyes closed” kind of stuff. I know my way around the house because I navigate it every single day. I know the way I drive to work without thinking about it. I know my family by daily interactions. I know my native language by perpetual usage. These and many others are a kind of knowledge so regular and deep that I take it for granted. They are a kind of knowledge that I’ve gained, not just by amassing facts, but by repetitive experience.

What if we added knowledge to our faith like that? What if our knowledge of Christianity was so deep that it became fully natural to us? What if our knowledge of the things of God was so ingrained by daily experience and exercise that we took it for granted as the natural and normal way of life?

How can we do that? By revisiting, recalling, and refreshing the Christian way in us every. single. day.

In Deuteronomy 17, God prescribed regulations for the ideal king who would lead his people, and they were exceedingly simple. They come down to his restraining his own power and prestige (vv. 14-17) and continually reading God’s word (vv. 18-20). I find those rules powerfully instructive: More than being savvy politicians with deep knowledge of political science, God wanted the kings to have knowledge of him. And how would they come to a point where that knowledge is their natural path? By engaging the written word every. single. day.

Daily Bible reading is a habit that Christians sometimes write off as “a good idea, but not really commanded.” And while that’s technically true, it’s not good spiritual wisdom. The reality is that the more often we engage the words and ways of God, the more natural they become for us. Over time, they become the only way that we know to do life. They become the things that we can do and say without thinking about them, because we have come to know them on a whole different level. “Add to your faith… knowledge [that comes from daily habits].”

- Dan Lankford

“In those days also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and they could not speak the language of Judah…” (Neh. 13:23-24)

Ashdod is a very old city, dating back approx. 3,700 years. It was a city of the Philistines in Old Testament times and was a linchpin of some conflict between them and God’s people (cf. Jos. 11:22, 1 Sm. 5). But in the time of Nehemiah, as quoted above, the problem with Ashdod was not conflict; it was compromise.

In Nehemiah’s time, some of the people of God had intermarried (again) with the nations around them, and they had made so much room in their lives for the culture of their foreign wives’ people that some of their children had already lost an understanding of their native language—Hebrew—in a single generation. This is exactly the problem of intermarriage that Moses had warned them about generations before, and it represents another BIG step away from God and their rightful Israelite identity. The problem was that Israel was supposed to be the influence for good in the world, not be influenced for bad by the world.

There is an inherently and close-to-home danger that Christians can be warned about from this passage: namely, that covenant children—those being raised by Christian parents—aren’t being taught some things that should be our distinctive characteristics, just as the children of the tribe of Judah apparently weren’t being taught. I see trends that may seem small, but which indicate a move away from the “native language” of Christianity and toward only speaking “the language of Ashdod.” Some elements of Christian life that ought to be natural to us, but which are easily lost when they’re not deliberately taught. Things like:

• Bible knowledge—even the basics, like the order of the books—is increasingly hard to find among religious children, even in conservative groups like us.
• The importance of worship—that attendance at assemblies actually takes precedence over many other life events and situations.
• The practice of hospitality—that it’s not a burden, but a joy. That it’s not a pretentious show of self and wealth, but a humble gift that we can give to others. And that it’s a job for every believer, whether we have little or much in earthly goods.
• The gladness of fellowship—that our bonds in Christ are to be enjoyed, elevated, cherished, and seen by others as a sign of our devotion to Christ (cf. Jn. 13:35).
• The path of humility—the truth that no one should think of himself/herself as the most important people in the world; even our children. They should not be made to think that they are the most important person, even to us as their parents. Because God is the most important person. Period.
• The comfortable, warm, and rightly-fitting place of things like hymns, psalms, quoting scripture, bedtime prayers, and Bible reading in our home lives. These and others are things that ought to be the native language of Christian home life.

I worry that by neglecting things like these, we prime children for a time in their life when they recognize the native language of Christian living, but they don’t speak it. And more problematic than that: they don’t really care to learn it and regain what has been lost.

The problem between Israel and Ashdod wasn’t conflict; it was compromise. And we so often face the same problem. We are supposed to be the influence for good to the people around us; not be influenced for bad by them. And we are supposed to be the influences on our kids, not have them influenced by the people around us. If we’re letting them losing distinctive elements of God’s presence in their lives, then we’d better repent and redouble our efforts to draw them close to the heart of the father.

- Dan Lankford, minister

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Author's Note: This post was inspired by my grandfather's sermon by the same title (he drew different applications than I did, but saw a good principle in the text; see his notes in inset picture). He preached for almost 7 decades, and passed away just this past week at the age of 90. I'm writing this (and likely more to come) in his honor.