This study pathway accompanies Chapter 11 of Words of Plainness. The scriptures below are organized by theme and presented with brief editorial notes explaining why each verse belongs in this collection. Read them in order or follow the threads that draw you. Let the Spirit guide the study.
Christ’s Universal Reach
Hebrews 7:25 NT
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
The anchor verse. Panteles — completely, for all time, for anyone. If this is true, no human institution has the authority to narrow that door.
Galatians 3:28 (NIV) NT
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
Paul eliminates every tribal category his world had erected. Every boundary of birth, status, and identity is dissolved in Christ.
“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”
Peter’s conversion moment. God Himself had to correct Peter’s gatekeeping instinct before the gospel could reach the Gentiles.
Psalm 145:9 OT
“The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.”
Not “good to the doctrinally correct.” Not “good to those who pass the creedal test.” Good to all.
John 3:17 NT
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
If the Son of God did not come on a mission of condemnation, no follower of His has the authority to conduct one.
2 Nephi 26:33 BoM
He “inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female… all are alike unto God.”
The Restoration witness confirms what Peter learned and Paul taught: the invitation has no boundary and no exception.
Condemnation of Gatekeeping and Spiritual Self-Righteousness
“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”
The gatekeeping indictment. They were not merely failing to enter the kingdom — they were blocking the entrance for people who were trying to get in.
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.”
Meticulous about being right. Catastrophically wrong about what mattered.
The full “woes” of Christ: blind guides, whitened sepulchres, vipers, children of hell.
These are not our words. They are His. Every one of these names was earned by religious leaders who believed they were defending God’s honor.
Luke’s parallel account of the woes, delivered at a Pharisee’s own table.
Christ did not reserve this warning for public settings. He delivered it while eating dinner in a religious leader’s home. The location did not soften the message.
“This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Jesus rebukes those who elevate human tradition until it nullifies the word of God. Not an attack on all tradition — a thunderclap against making inherited structures untouchable where God has not spoken so absolutely.
Isaiah 29:13 OT
“This people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”
The prophetic origin of Christ’s rebuke in Mark 7. Isaiah diagnosed the disease centuries before Jesus named its carriers.
Christ Rebukes Exclusionary Sectarianism
Mark 9:38–40 NT
“Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him.” Jesus said, “Forbid him not… for he that is not against us is on our part.”
The man was doing the work of God. The disciples wanted to shut him down because he was not in their circle. Christ refused that logic.
Luke 9:49–50 NT
Parallel account of the same event.
Both Gospel writers preserved this episode. The repetition is the point: this correction was important enough to record twice.
Luke 9:55–56 (NKJV) NT
“Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
The disciples wanted to call fire from heaven on those who rejected Jesus. Christ rebuked His own disciples — not the Samaritans. The impulse to punish those who don’t receive Christ the way we expect is not His Spirit.
“I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?”
Paul condemns party spirit. Christ is not parceled into branded slices. No Christian gets to say “you are only right with God if you stand under my approved human chain.”
“For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Paul says factionalism is fleshly. Ministers and leaders are servants, not ownership markers.
The Spirit of Contention Is Not of Christ
3 Nephi 11:29 BoM
“He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention.”
The sharpest verse on contention in all of scripture. Not merely unwise. Not merely unkind. The spirit of contention is identified by its source: the adversary.
“Only by pride cometh contention.”
The diagnosis is seven words long. Contention is always rooted in pride, never in truth-seeking.
James 3:16 NT
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
James names the harvest. Where contention is planted, every evil work grows.
Titus 3:9 NT
“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”
Paul does not say these disputes are merely unpleasant. He says they are unprofitable and vain — they produce nothing of value.
“He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.”
The portrait of the contentious theologian: conceited, obsessed with controversies and quarrels about words. Paul wrote this two thousand years ago. It reads like this morning’s social media.
The Standard for the Lord’s Servants
“Strive not about words to no profit… The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.”
The qualifications of a servant of Christ: gentleness, teachability, patience. Not winning arguments. Not defending institutional turf.
“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations… Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”
The single sharpest verse in the New Testament on the sin of judging another Christian’s faith. That person’s master is Christ, not you. And God is able to hold them up without your permission.
“But why dost thou judge thy brother?… for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
Paul moves from rebuke to remedy: stop judging, start edifying. The energy spent on condemnation belongs to peace and mutual building.
“Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.”
Paul explicitly denies that spiritual authority means owning another believer’s conscience. Leaders are helpers of joy, not lords over faith.
“Feed the flock of God which is among you… neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”
Shepherds feed. They do not dominate. Authority in Christ’s church is real, but it is not imperial.
“With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Unity built on lowliness and meekness, not on enforced doctrinal uniformity. This passage holds truth and love together without letting either cancel the other.
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”
Paul warns believers not to let others disqualify them through imposed regulations or human precepts. “Let no one disqualify you” lands like a locked door kicked open.
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
When religious pressure tries to make conformity to a system — beyond Christ’s gospel — the test of spiritual legitimacy, this is the answer.
“But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.”
Jesus warns against status-hungry religious hierarchy and reminds His disciples that they are brethren under one Master. One.
Self-Examination over Accusation
“And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”
When Christ told them one would betray Him, the Apostles did not point fingers. They did not accuse each other. They asked about themselves. That instinct is the mark of a true disciple.
Mark 14:19 NT
Parallel account: “And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I?”
Mark adds the detail: one by one. Each disciple asked the question individually, personally. Not as a group exercise but as a private reckoning.
Romans 2:1 NT
“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”
Paul’s opening salvo in Romans. The one who judges is not standing on higher ground — he is standing in the same need of grace.
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.”
Judgment belongs to Christ at His coming — not to His servants now. The counsels of the heart are not visible to you. They are visible to Him.
“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
James’s version of “who are you to judge?” — sharper still, because he names the act as speaking evil of the law itself.
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Your spiritual journey is your own. The fear and trembling is for your own soul, not a weapon to wield against someone else’s.
Protection of the Little Ones
Matthew 18:6 NT
“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
The most terrifying warning Christ ever spoke. Every soul who seeks Him is under His protection. Do not stand between the Shepherd and His lambs.
John 17:21 NT
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”
Christ’s Intercessory Prayer. The unity He prayed for was not doctrinal uniformity — it was the unity of love that exists between the Father and the Son. That is the standard. Division is a betrayal of His prayer.
“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits… If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
Paul’s pastoral instruction for the community of believers. Associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Live peaceably. These are not suggestions.
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”
Whatever measure of the Spirit a person carries, it belongs in the conversation. The Spirit is given to each one for the benefit of all.
Return to Chapter 11: The Living Christ →
This study pathway accompanies Section II: Clear Warning to the Self-Righteous