https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Narrow-Minded-Beliefs.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Micah 6:1-8<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. At times when I study with someone, I’m told that taking a firm stance on certain matters\nis legalism. People believe that religion is supposed to be about accepting other people,\nno matter what they believe (well, within reason).\n
A. When you insist that only one way is correct, then the response is you are narrow-minded.<\/p>\n
II. Exploring Narrow-Mindedness<\/p>\n A. When a lawyer states that a deed of trust must be written in a specific manner and\nmust be filed in a certain way, is he being narrow-minded? Why couldn’t it be\nright to do things in a different way? Why wouldn’t it be just as acceptable?\n B. When the mechanic says that a Ford carburetor will not work on an Oldsmobile, is\nhe being dogmatic? Has he ever tried to put a Ford carburetor on an Oldsmobile? \nDoes he really know that it will not fit or work? Is he prejudiced against Fords?\n C. When an electrician clearly says that a 20-amp fuse will not be enough to protect a\ncircuit, isn’t he being too blunt? Why is he insisting on having his own way? \nMaybe he is just stuck in a rut because that is the only way he has done things.\n D. Obviously, we don’t think this about these people. Why? Because they have\nauthority in these matters.\n 1. A lawyer knows what is required for a piece of property to be sold with\nclear title.\n
2. A mechanic knows what is necessary to repair an automobile.<\/p>\n 3. An electrician knows what is essential in wiring and circuits to be safe and\nproperly functioning.\n 4. They are narrow-minded to the extent that what is right, what will work,\nand what is required must be done to accomplish the desired result.\nIII. When it comes to spiritual matters, the same principle applies. If we want to accomplish\nthe desired end of reaching our heavenly reward, we must be narrow-minded or legalistic\ntoward the truth.\n
A. Moses and the rock – Numbers 20:1-13<\/p>\n
1. God expected Moses to follow His word precisely, without any alterations.<\/p>\n 2. Even though earlier God said to strike a rock to bring forth water, even\nthough God told Moses to bring Aaron’s rod before the people, Moses was\nexpected to understand that he was only to speak to the rock. That is all\nthat God authorized.\n
B. Saul and the Amalekites – I Samuel 15:13-26<\/p>\n 1. Saul was expected to follow God’s word precisely and without any\nalterations.\n 2. He wasn’t allowed to mostly fulfill the command and say it was close\nenough in spirit.\n 3. He wasn’t allowed to alter the command so that God could get some extra\nworship He wasn’t expecting.\n
4. God’s first priority is obedience, not sacrifice – Jeremiah 7:21-23<\/p>\n a. Saul altered God’s Word to fulfill a technicality of the Law, but it\nwas not something that God wanted.\n
b. Similarly, we cannot alter God’s will to suit our own desires.<\/p>\n C. God is picky about His commandments. They are precisely what He wants done\nto achieve the exact effect He wants on the hearts of mankind. God is the ultimate\nauthority!\n 1. Even in reading God’s word, seemingly minor things become major\npoints.\n
a. Seed versus Seeds in Galatians 3:16<\/p>\n b. What if some scribe along the way thought to correct what\nappeared to be a minor mistake on the ending of a word?\n
IV. Were not the Pharisees guilty of legalism?<\/p>\n A. They “interpreted” God’s commands, adding rules and regulations that did not\nexist.\n
1. Matthew 15:1-11<\/p>\n
a. They used the law to avoid responsibility<\/p>\n
b. They modified the law and used it as a weapon against others<\/p>\n 2. The number of regulations on minute matters is staggering in today’s\nJewish laws that are codified in the Mishnah and the Talmud. I glanced at\nan index of the Mishnah that was over 1000 pages in length, and this just\nindexed the highlights of the Mishnah!\n
B. They emphasized the physical over the spiritual<\/p>\n 1. Matthew 23:23-24 – They were careful about tithing to the smallest part,\nbut they could easily overlook greater matters, such as justice, mercy, and\nlove.\n 2. Matthew 23:25-31 – They look good on the outside, but they were corrupt\non the inside.\n
C. They misapplied God’s law – Matthew 12:1-8<\/p>\n
1. There was an apparent conflict between two laws<\/p>\n
a. No work on the Sabbath – Exodus 20:10<\/p>\n
b. Gleaning food for the hungry – Deuteronomy 23:25<\/p>\n
2. What is the purpose of the Law?<\/p>\n
a. Do you follow it so blindly that someone goes hungry?<\/p>\n
b. Jesus points out that God never intended this interpretation.<\/p>\n c. The logical conclusion is that picking a few grains to chew on does\nnot constitute “work” that the Sabbath laws forbade\n 3. David ate the showbread when he and his men were starving. David was\nvenerated and yet broke the law. The disciples did not break a law and yet\nwere condemned.\n 4. No work did not mean a total abstinence of all work. For example, the\nSabbath was not violated when the priests preformed their duties — even\nthough they were working.\n
D. Notice that none of these examples imply a free-for-all.<\/p>\n 1. Matthew 23:3 – Jesus told the people to do as the Law taught, just not as\nthe Pharisees did.\n 2. Matthew 23:23 – Jesus said it was right to tithe the little things, but they\nshouldn’t have forgotten the weightier matters. They were supposed to do\nboth!\n E. The Pharisees were not picky about the Law. They picked and chose which laws\nthey wanted to follow. They followed laws without regard to their meaning.\n 1. In a sense they had a knowledge of the facts of the Law, but they did not\nunderstand how to apply the Law.\nV. We need to make sure that we are not like the Pharisees. We need to keep all of God’s\ncommandments as carefully as we can.\n
A. Many religious errors come when people faddishly follow a small set of ideas.<\/p>\n
1. Faith and only faith – faith alone can save a man.<\/p>\n
2. God is in control, so there is nothing I can do to effect the outcome.<\/p>\n
3. Spirit – the Spirit of God must consume us.<\/p>\n B. Often times, the right answer is in the middle ground, carefully preserved and\nzealously guarded.\n C. It is not within man to direct his own steps. Let us admit that God’s way is better.\n– Jeremiah 10:23\n
D. God is the authority, let us follow His directions.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Micah 6:1-8 I. At times when I study with someone, I’m told that taking a firm stance on certain matters is legalism. People believe that religion is supposed to be about accepting other people, no matter what they believe (well, within reason). A. When you insist that only one way is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[78,843,555,1288],"class_list":["post-63083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-legalism","tag-pharisees","tag-steadfastness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44604,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/truth-or-free-thinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":0},"title":"Truth Or Free-thinking","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton To the modern man, it seems wrong to believe that you can actually \"know the truth\", and therefore be in a position to \"answer\" the false religious claims of others. While an open mind is indeed a good quality, that open-minded nature ought to eventually settle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/open-mind-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86267,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lets-not-be-narrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":1},"title":"Let’s Not Be Narrow","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roy E. Cogdill via Gospel Guardian, June 9, 1955 One of the most dreadful things many people can imagine is that they will be accused of \"narrow-mindedness\" in religion. That scares them to death; the very thought that they might be considered narrow drives them completely away from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49671,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-normal-to-get-depressed-over-the-worldly-minded\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":2},"title":"Is it normal to get depressed over the worldly-minded?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it normal to get depressed because there are people in the world who hate God, and even more so because those who claim to be Christians have thought processes that are not much different than those out in the world? Answer: \"Brethren, join in following my example, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68806,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mistakes-in-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":3},"title":"Mistakes in Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 7:13-29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do you find the truth? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People use numerous ways, but usually they revolve around avoiding effort II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Following the Majority - Matthew 7:13-14 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You see this in many areas of life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If most people say something, then it is assumed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7065,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/legalism-the-un-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":4},"title":"Legalism: The Un-Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Klein Since the church began, the devil has concocted any number of diabolical schemes to ensnare God's people. One of his most successful gambits has been the invention of the pseudo-sin commonly called legalism. More people consider legalism to be a sin than consider 7-UP to be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lavistachurchofchrist.org\/LVarticles\/images\/legalBooks.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50836,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/law-and-legalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":63083,"position":5},"title":"Law and Legalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by H. E. Phillips via\u00a0Guardian of Truth\u00a0- January 6, 1994 Law is: \"A general rule of action or conduct established or enforced by a sovereign authority; as, a law of Caesar; a law of God\" (Webster's Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged). Webster says of legalism: \"Close conformity to law.\" Law and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63083\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}