In 2027, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will study the New Testament for “Come, Follow Me” at home and church.
The New Testament includes Jesus Christ’s birth, life and teachings; His Atonement, Crucifixion and Resurrection; and the teachings of His apostles. The manual is now available on the Church’s website and in the Gospel Library app.
Donny Anderson, an institute teacher at the Logan Institute of Religion in Logan, Utah, joins Church News reporter Mary Richards to talk about the themes, structure and language of the New Testament in preparation for next year’s study.
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Donny Anderson: But they are dealing with multiple attacks constantly — online, social media, friends. And these attacks, you know, sometimes they’re going after sacred doctrines. There’s open deceptions, and there’s also decontextualized facts can be really harmful. You know, you take a fact in history, and with its context, it makes sense. And you remove it out of its context, and you can make great people and great things look very sinister. And they’re confronted with all of these things. But also, I notice that this very generation is very focused on Christ, I think maybe more than any generation previous.
0:40
Mary Richards: This is Mary Richards, reporter at the Church News. Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today, we are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 2027, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will study the New Testament for “Come, Follow Me” at home and at church. We will study the life and teachings of the Savior, Jesus Christ; His Atonement, Crucifixion and Resurrection. The “Come, Follow Me” manual for 2027 is online on the Church’s website and in the Gospel Library app.
To help us prepare for 2027 and what we should know and how should we be ready for this study of the New Testament, I’m joined by Donny Anderson, an instructor and teacher at the Logan Institute of Religion in Logan, Utah.
Welcome, Donny, to the Church News podcast.
Donny Anderson: Thank you. It’s great to be with you today.
1:34
Mary Richards: Tell me about teaching in Logan. How long have you been an institute teacher? And tell me about how you came about that. And Logan, that institute is really growing. It’s a really special place.
Donny Anderson: Yeah. We have a beautiful new building, and the program’s growing, and our faculty is amazing to work with. It’s a great place to be. Before institute, I taught seminary for 23 years. And the first two years were in Taber, Alberta, Canada, and then 21 years in north Utah at five different seminaries. And I’ve been at the Logan Institute now for five years.
2:09
Mary Richards: That’s wonderful. You have this experience, then, in seminary, now institute. And what would you tell our Gospel Doctrine teachers as well as our seminary and institute teachers about the New Testament and teaching from this book?
Donny Anderson: Well, I would say: Reach them quickly and deeply, especially with Sunday School. We don’t have much time. Another tip would be to follow Elder [Neal A.] Maxwell’s counsel that penetration is more important than coverage. Better to have a better experience with fewer converting experiences that sink deep than to cover less important material or information.
Also, trust the words of Jesus, and bring the students and ourselves as we study into the words of the Savior and into the actual words of scripture. There’s so much power there. We shouldn’t be afraid of that, even with the young people of the Church. Get them in the scriptures.
And finally, one piece of advice that a friend, Tyler Griffin, when he was a preservice trainer up in Cache Valley, I heard him tell somebody, he said — a prospective seminary teacher, he said — “You are using the scriptures as a diving board to get into the things that you want to do and talk about. Reverse that. Use what you want to do and say as a diving board to get the students in the scriptures and keep them in the scriptures. And yes, you have to be creative and help them be engaged so that they can discover what’s there. But get in the scriptures, and be in the scriptures with them.”
3:47
Mary Richards: I love that. Are you seeing that with the young adults, that they are engaged when you are in the scriptures with them? And tell me about the young adults today, as an institute teacher. What are they facing? What are they like, this generation?
Donny Anderson: The young adults I work with most as an institute teacher are giving, as adults, free time to gather with others to learn the gospel. So I start with an incredible group to begin with.
So, they’re amazing, but they are dealing with multiple attacks constantly — online, social media, friends. And these attacks, sometimes they’re going after sacred doctrines. There’s open deceptions, and there’s also decontextualized facts can be really harmful. You take a fact in history, and with its context, it makes sense. And you remove it out of its context, and you can make great people and great things look very sinister. And they’re confronted with all of these things. But also, I notice that this very generation is very focused on Christ, I think maybe more than any generation previous.
And I think part of that is some of the blessings that President [Russell M.] Nelson promised when the Lord corrected our use with the name of the Church. I think that this generation is more focused on Christ, and that’s powerful to see.
They also want more scripture. Even just a few years ago, in institute, “Come, Follow Me” courses were popular, but scripture courses outside of that had less demand. But that’s changed, and students want to — they still like the “Come, Follow Me” courses. They’re still very popular, but other non-“Come, Follow Me” scriptures are in more demand, and that’s a great trend to see.
And what we also notice — this isn’t new — but the young adults, they want their study to be more consistent and more deep and more personal. And they’re using institute as a tool to help them do that and to make their study more consistent.
5:50
Mary Richards: Oh, I love that. I love that, what you said. And I think too about just this morning, I was relistening to one of President Dallin H. Oaks’ talks from general conference. I’ve been trying to go back and listen to all of them. He said he’s often focusing on Jesus Christ as well. And so the young adults focusing on Christ, we have to prepare for His return. And next year we’re going to be studying beginning with His birth and His life. I’m so excited for it.
We’ll begin the year right with His life and teachings in the four Gospels when we begin “Come, Follow Me” in 2027. What would you say, then, is kind of the theme of the four Gospels?
6:27
Donny Anderson: Well, for me, the biggest theme in the four Gospels, and what I love, is Jesus is revealing Himself to us. And I think there’s so many ways that He’s revealing Himself, but four key ways is He’s revealing to us His divinity, He’s revealing to us His power and what I like to call His indispensability, and He’s also revealing to us His paramount role in all of God’s dealings with His children.
6:54
Mary Richards: Yeah. Talk more about Him revealing His divinity.
Donny Anderson: Well, we, as Latter-day Saints, we know that the Godhead is made up of separate beings: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. And that’s great knowledge to have. And since the First Vision, that’s been absolutely clear to us. But what we sometimes mistakenly do is separate Themselves so much that we compartmentalize Them in ways that might even undeify Jesus accidentally.
For instance, the phrase “Jesus is God” may make some people feel uncomfortable because some attach the word “God” only to the Father and leave behind the Holy Ghost and maybe even Jesus with that. But Jesus is Jehovah. He is our Creator. He is our God. And throughout the Gospels, Jesus is continually showing us that.
One of the stories is: Remember when friends lowered one of their friends through the roof, the man with palsy (see Luke 5:18–26). And as he comes to Jesus there, the Savior looks at him and says, “Thy sins are forgiven.” And Pharisees and some present thought that that was blasphemous, and they thought, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And Jesus didn’t dispute that. In fact, He then looks at the man with palsy and says, “But that ye may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth,” then He heals him of his palsy. And that was His way of saying, “Yes, I am God.” And that’s incredible.
The phrase “I am” is so important in the New Testament along with the Old Testament. And of course, “I am” refers to Jehovah. The name “Jehovah” means “He that exists” or “the existing one.” So when Jehovah tells Moses, “I am that I am,” you can look at that as “I am Jehovah, your God and your Creator.”
And so that phrase comes out often from the Savior declaring His divinity, like the Light of the World sermon. The Savior ends that with, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). And they knew what He meant, and they went for rocks to stone Him right then, and He slipped away from among them. It wasn’t His time yet, of course.
When He was arrested, there was a point where those who were arresting Him, though they were armed, started to fall back in fear. And why? Because He had said to them, “Whom seek ye?” And they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And then He said, “I am he” (John 18:3–9).
And that phrase happens three times in that little story, but all three times the word “he” is italicized. Now, the italics in the New Testament is not to add emphasis. Of course, it’s because the translators, from the transcripts, that word wasn’t there, but they thought that English doesn’t make as much sense without that word. So of course they added that word. So “I am he,” the word “he” is italicized. So what they were working with in translation was “I am,” and then they added “he.” But I think He was simply declaring “I am,” His divinity. And they got the message, and that’s why they showed the fear that they showed.
And one final example of Jesus showing his divinity: The beautiful story of the woman at the well, in John chapter 4. He starts one-on-one talking to her, and she’s shocked that He, a Jew, is talking to her, a Samaritan. And so she calls Him at first a Jew. And coming from a Samaritan, that’s not necessarily a great thing from a Samaritan. But then as they talk, she upgrades that maybe to “Sir,” and then from sir, He reveals that He knows some things about her. And then she realizes she’s in the presence of a holy man and calls him a “prophet.”
And in that state, she becomes spiritual and even bears her testimony. And she testifies to Jesus of the Messiah: “I know that Messias will come.” And then He responds by bearing testimony to her of the Messiah with that language, “I that speak unto thee am he” (John 4:26).
And that’s another “I am” statement: “I that speak unto thee am he.” In other words, “Not only am I your Messiah, but I am your God as well.” And then of course she goes into the town and starts testifying, “The Messiah’s here.” And then the town has that experience themselves.
11:21
Mary Richards: Yes, that now that she knows, she shares that. I love that story. He’s revealing His divinity, but He’s also revealing His power. And why is that?
Donny Anderson: As Jesus performs miracles and saves, it’s very clear that it’s important to Him, and it’s important for us, that we believe that He has the power to do that. “Believest thou that I can?” That word “can” is always a signal of power, and so it’s important that we believe that. And so, in so many of the miracles, Jesus is trying to show us that: “I have the power to save you. I have the power to help you. I have the power.”
So remember the pool of Bethesda? (See John 5:2–16.) Man impotent — im/not potent, able, so disabled for 38 years. And the Savior approaches him and asks the question, “Wilt thou be made whole?” And his answer was: “When the water stirs, there’s nobody to help me. I’m always second place or worse, for years and years.”
And so, but the Savior didn’t ask him, “Can you be healed?” And his answer was pretty much, “I can’t.” The Savior is like, “Will you be made whole?” And so he doesn’t understand. And so the Savior then gives him a commandment with three imperative words: Rise, take up thy bed and walk — which he responds.
So the Savior takes things that we can’t, or where we lack power but need, and He expands the circle of our agency to allow that. So, with the Savior’s power, things that are “cannot” become “will or will not.” And that gives us the opportunity to exercise faith even to the point of salvation.
13:08
Mary Richards: Wow. Faith and agency, I think, too. Yes, if I feel like I can’t, then I can’t, but it’s a choice for me too. I love that power. I love that He’s revealing — there’s so many miracles we see in the New Testament.
But you also used a word earlier, “indispensability.” Tell me about how Jesus is revealing His indispensability. What do you mean by that?
13:30
Donny Anderson: Many people might look at Jesus as a good alternative for some; He works for them. But Jesus is indispensable for all. Everybody needs Jesus Christ. And He’s showing us that all throughout the Gospels.
And one of the ways He’s showing us that is He takes things that we absolutely need, and He tells us, “I am that to you.” And again, more “I am” statements here, but “I am the Bread of Life,” “Living Water,” “the Light of the World,” “I am the Life,” “I am the Truth,” “I am the Way.” And more, more sacred ones. But the Savior shows us that everything we need, ultimately, He is, and we all need Him.
14:17
Mary Richards: Yeah. So, you mentioned four things. So, we have His power, His divinity, His indispensability. What was the fourth thing you mentioned He’s revealing Himself in the Gospels?
Donny Anderson: His paramount role in all of God’s dealings. So, to illustrate that, I’m going to read to you a story, and I want you to tell me if this is gibberish or if it makes sense.
Mary Richards: OK.
14:40
Donny Anderson: OK:
With the hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. “Your eyes deceive,” he had said. “An egg, not a table, correctly typifies this unexplored planet.” Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. Forging along, sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often through turbulent peaks and valleys, days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last from nowhere welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying momentous success.
Did that make any sense?
15:16
Mary Richards: It felt like there were some extra words in there and other things like that that I wasn’t exactly sure what you were talking about. But tell me; I love that you’re a teacher, and you’re helping teach me right now. So, tell me about that.
Donny Anderson: So, this comes from a study in 1971 by Dooling and Lachman. And they were showing that some things are really hard for humans to make sense of without contextual keys, something to unlock it. So, the contextual key for this — by the way, only 1 out of 50 people could make any sense of that in the study — so the contextual key for that story is Christopher Columbus. So, let me read it again, and watch what’s different the second time.
Mary Richards: OK.
15:56
Donny Anderson: OK:
With the hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. “Your eyes deceive,” he had said. “An egg, not a table, correctly typifies this unexplored planet.” Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. Forging along, sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys, days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last from nowhere welcome winged creatures appeared, signifying momentous success.
Mary Richards: OK.
Donny Anderson: Changes, doesn’t it?
16:29
Mary Richards: I totally see it now. It’s the story of Christopher Columbus coming across to the New World with the three ships.
Donny Anderson: And all those elements, yeah. They come alive. What’s powerful about the Old Testament is it has a contextual key. And of course, the contextual key for the Old Testament is Jesus Christ. When you read the Old Testament with the Savior in mind, looking for Him, it comes alive. And the Savior in the Gospels shows us this.
He, at one point, says, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). And then He also said — and this is a famous statement, of course — “Search the scriptures; for in them [the scriptures] ye think ye have eternal life: [but] they [the scriptures] are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
So, all of God’s dealings, Jesus Christ has a paramount role in everything that God has done with us, all the way up to Jesus Christ’s time and, of course, ever since, and it’ll always be that way.
17:28
Mary Richards: Yeah. How is all of this that we’ve been talking about, these themes in the Gospels, what does that mean for us, for Jesus Christ revealing Himself to us individually?
Donny Anderson: I think that we need to comprehend Jesus in full and continue to comprehend Him until we understand Him in full. Incomplete understandings of Jesus can be dangerous to our faith.
For instance, there’s cultural images of Jesus that aren’t really Jesus. One of those I like to refer to as “Nice Jesus.” Now, nice is a great quality, but “nice” is not a New Testament word. And nice can even be shallow or a little hollow. But “kind” and “love” are New Testament words, and they are deep and powerful. And those are words that describe Jesus. The word “kind,” in fact, has a root word “kin.” So kind, to treat people kindly, is to treat them the way we ought to treat family.
But as we read the New Testament, we’re confronted with a Jesus who is kind and loving, but He also — with all of His compassion and miracles, of course — took time to form a whip and threw over money tables and cleansed the temple that way. He also confronted wicked leaders, and He even called names. You could say He called people hypocrites, vipers, fox, blind guides and told His chief apostle at one point to “get behind me, Satan,” in a teaching moment for Peter.
But in all these instances, I don’t know that “nice” is the word to describe Jesus, but “kind” always, “loving” always. So, as we get to know Jesus most fully as He reveals Himself in the New Testament, we need to confront our discomforts till we know Him most fully. But He reveals Himself to us. We just need to let Him do that.
19:39
Mary Richards: Yeah. I thought of that phrase — when you were talking about kind and loving — “loving-kindness” in our covenants that we make with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This will be so wonderful to study this year.
What are some other, I guess, keys that we should know for understanding the New Testament?
19:58
Donny Anderson: Well, knowing how it’s structured helps a lot, especially for those who are new to the New Testament. But this is good for all of us to know.
Of course, it starts with the Gospels, the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three of those Gospels are known as the Synoptics. And the word “synoptic,” “syn” means same, “optic” refers to the eyes or seeing. So the Synoptics are the Gospels that see the life of Jesus Christ in a similar way. They tell similar stories in a similar order, in similar ways. So that’s Matthew, Mark and Luke.
And of those three, Mark was the first one written, and he’s the smallest. And it appears that the other two may have used his book as a basis for theirs, which explains some of the similarity in their testimonies. By the way, when Joseph Smith did the inspired translation, he changed the word “Gospels” to “testimonies.” So the four Gospels are testimonies of Jesus Christ.
So, once you get past the Synoptics, you get to John. John’s Gospel is different. He kind of makes you a fly on the wall in many intimate situations. For instance, you hear some long sermons like the Light of the World and the Bread of Life, and some long conversations that are powerful, like Nicodemus and the woman at the well. And those are all unique to John. Also, 23% of John’s book comes from the Last Supper alone, which makes John very intimate with the final hours of the Savior’s life.
So there’s the four Gospels. And then Acts — the first book after Jesus is dead, known as the Acts of the Apostles — was written by Luke. You could call it 2 Luke, even. And with that being — it’s what the apostles did when Jesus was dead. And with those two books, Luke is actually the most prolific writer of the New Testament as far as, especially as far as, words go.
Mary Richards: Yeah, because you would think it would be Paul.
Donny Anderson: Yes.
Mary Richards: But it’s Luke.
Donny Anderson: That’s right.
Mary Richards: Yeah.
Donny Anderson: That’s right. So, Paul has the most books.
Mary Richards: Right.
21:59
Donny Anderson: I believe 13 letters. And his letters come next, right after Acts, and they’re organized into two different groups. The first group is his letters to the churches, and those are organized — that’s Romans to 2 Thessalonians — and they’re organized from biggest to smallest. And then come his letters to individuals — Timothy all the way to Philemon. And those are also organized biggest to smallest. And then after that, you have the general epistles. You have James and Peter and John and Jude. And then finally, the book of Revelation, which was also written by John.
So, if you look at the prolific writers from least to most: As far as the top five, No. 5 is Mark, and he wrote 8% of the New Testament. And then Matthew also wrote just one book, like Mark, but he wrote 13% of the New Testament. John is third, and John has five books: the Gospel, three letters and then Revelation. And he wrote one-fifth of the New Testament, with 20%.
And then Paul wrote 24% among his 13 books. And that’s assuming that he didn’t write the book of Hebrews. And then finally Luke, who wrote 28%. So, if you take just Luke and Paul, more than half the New Testament between those two writers. And if you add John in the mix, those three wrote nearly three-quarters of the New Testament.
23:27
Mary Richards: Wow. I was telling you earlier about how I wish the Old Testament and the New Testament had the dates like the Book of Mormon does in the corner, because I don’t think I fully understood that till probably seminary or institute classes, that it’s not in a timeline, per se, the New Testament, of beginning to end. It’s even just moving in the letters and epistles by longest to shortest. It’s not the order that he gave them in.
So, getting ready to study this at home and at church, what are some tips and tools you might have for members, for students, for teachers, for parents, for individuals?
24:04
Donny Anderson: OK, I’d recommend three major tools, maybe. Use multiple translations. Access Greek. That might sound really scholarly and boring, but it’s not. It’s powerful. And then learn a little bit about New Testament culture.
So, to get into those a little bit more, multiple translations, John Hilton makes a great point that when we teach, we ought to consider the reading levels of our students. If you just take America, your average American reads at an eighth grade level. And that number is skewed up because of a small percentage of really high-grade-level readers among us. And so really, 54% of Americans read below sixth grade level. So, as we’re teaching, we’ve got to keep that in mind. Now, the King James Version, 12th grade level. See the problem?
So, with Bible translations, different translations are at different reading levels. For instance, the English Standard Version — that’s the third-most used version — it’s at a 10th grade level, so a little friendlier than the King James Version. The New International Version, that’s the most widely used version in the world right now, eighth grade level. And then the New Living Translation, it’s the fourth-most used. The second, by the way, is the King James Version. But the New Living Translation is at a sixth grade level.
So, as we teach different age groups, and even adults, using these different translations has been encouraged by the Church to supplement what we do with them, and they can really help a lot.
One example of how just one word in translation, using different translations can help, is when Jesus says to us, when He says, “Come unto me” and “Take my yoke upon you,” He uses the phrase “learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:28–29). Now, in modern English, when we hear that “learn of me,” that word “of” isn’t very helpful. We have to change it to another preposition to make more sense. Is He talking about learn “about” me, or is He talking about learn “from” me when He says, “Learn of me”?
And I think most English readers will default to “about” — “Learn about me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” But if you pull up that verse, Matthew 11:29, say, on biblehub.com, it will display 40-plus different translations, and you can just skim down them, and you can see that almost every translation translates that phrase to “learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” He’s asking us to be His disciple and telling us what kind of a teacher He is. And just one-word changes by using other translations can open up meaning and inspiration.
26:58
Mary Richards: Yeah. But what about Greek? Do I — you’re making me a little bit nervous when you said to learn a little bit of Greek. But we have these ways that we can — there are benefits of using side by side and looking at different ways of understanding, I guess, these words.
Donny Anderson: Yeah. Oh, by the way, if I can add something on the last idea: As you use other translations, don’t leave the King James Version behind.
Mary Richards: Yes.
27:23
Donny Anderson: Because it’s beautiful. It’s hard reading for many, but it’s beautiful. And one example of where the King James Version can shine compared to all other translations practically is like in the Golden Rule. Most modern translations use the way we normally express it, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That comes across in so many of them. But the King James Version captures the word “should” there: “Whatsoever ye would that [others] should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
And that raises above preferences. You know, we all have different preferences, and if I go around doing to everybody my preferences, I’m going to really annoy people with different preferences. That’s not the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule doesn’t have to do with preferences; it has to do with morality, what’s wrong and right. So, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” So, don’t leave the King James Version behind. It’s still so helpful and so beautiful in so many ways.
But getting back to the Greek. So, why Greek? Jesus and His apostles would have spoken Aramaic generally in their life, but the language of the Roman Empire at that time was a form of Greek, before the common language of the Roman Empire. So, when they wrote Jesus’ apostles and the others, they wrote Greek to an international audience to hit more people. So, going back to Greek words opens up a lot of what they meant when they wrote. So it helps a lot.
So, three words that I’d like to highlight that the Greek word can just open things up — and these are just examples; there’s so many — one of those is “fear,” and the other one is the word “hypocrite,” and the other one is “neighbor.” So, fear, the word “fear” comes from three different Greek words, all translated as “fear.” And among those three words, there’s two basic meanings. So, one of the meanings of fear is “cowardly” and “faithless,” not good. But the other meaning is “reverence” and “awe,” and that’s great, and that’s the beginning of wisdom, and it’s so good.
So, as you read it, they are all translated just as “fear” in the New Testament. So you need to discern every time you see “fear”: “Is this the good fear or the bad fear?” And it’s pretty clear almost every time, but it opens up meaning knowing that fear can mean those two different things.
Mary Richards: When we’re told to fear God.
Donny Anderson: Yes.
Mary Richards: Yes, look at that context.
29:46
Donny Anderson: Yeah, which is a great thing. And then other times, the Savior confronts us and puts fear as the antithesis of faith and destructive to it.
So, the word “hypocrite,” this is more widely known throughout the Church, but the word “hypocrite” in Greek actually means “an actor” or “a pretender.” So, modern English, we define hypocrite among each other often as somebody who says one thing and does another, but in the New Testament, it’s deeper than that. It’s one who is one thing and pretends to be something else. And so as Jesus confronts hypocrisy, that’s a really interesting thing to look at.
My favorite of those three words, though, is “neighbor.” So, you know the story of the good Samaritan?
Mary Richards: “Who is my neighbor?”
Donny Anderson: Yes.
Mary Richards: That’s what they ask.
30:29
Donny Anderson: Starting with a lawyer who asks how he can have eternal life, and Jesus says, “You’re a lawyer, you know the law, what do you say?” And he summarizes it perfectly into the two great commandments. And Jesus says, “Do this and live.” But then he asks, “And who is my neighbor?” trying to justify himself. I think he’s trying to shrink the circle of people that he’s obligated to love. Then Jesus responds with this mighty parable. And in this parable — now, in Greek, the word “neighbor” literally means “nearby.”
So, He talks about somebody that’s left half dead after getting beat up, and here comes a priest, and here comes a Levite, and both of them see the man in need and go to the other side. They distance themselves. They didn’t nearby him. And then the Samaritan comes along, sees him and went to him. He nearbys him. And then the Savior takes that noun of “neighbor” and turns it into a verb with the phrase, “Which of these three was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?” And so, yeah, it’s another example of how meaning can just come alive as we look at the Greek and what it means.
31:45
Mary Richards: Oh, I love that. I’m getting so excited to study this again for “Come, Follow Me.” Are there any other themes you’d like to point out from the New Testament that we should be aware of?
Donny Anderson: Yeah, I think the idea of grace is a powerful thing to look at throughout the New Testament. So, something that’s interesting about grace, there’s some things that Jesus did not teach but His apostles did, and grace is actually one of those. Grace is mentioned more than 100 times by New Testament writers and zero times by Jesus. Now, that’s using the word “grace,” not that Jesus didn’t talk about grace. He taught us how we are to be saved through Him, and then His apostles talked about that relationship and labeled that “grace.”
So, grace is powerful throughout Jesus’ teachings of how to be saved through Him, then the apostles’ teachings of what grace means for us. But as we study grace, the debates, the age-old debates, in Christianity come up of, “Are we saved by grace or by some other way?” And of course, we’re saved by grace. No question about that. That’s not the real question. The real question is, “How do we access grace?”
And there’s debates about: “Is it faith or works? Is it our beliefs or our actions?” Those are false dichotomies when it comes to grace. When it comes to grace, grace is not accessed through those. Grace is accessed through the doctrine of Christ, and we need to come to know the full doctrine of Christ as Jesus taught it across all of His teachings.
And He taught us about belief and faith in Him. He taught us to repent and called us to repentance. And He taught about baptism and how sacred it is and how necessary and commissioned His apostles to baptize all nations (see Matthew 28:19–20). And then He said He would send the Holy Ghost as a gift (see John 14:16–18), and after He died, the apostles would then bestow that by the laying on of hands. And then Jesus very clearly taught that if you endure to the end, you’ll be saved (see Matthew 24:13). If you don’t, you can’t be.
So, His doctrine is rich throughout the New Testament. We need to look for it. We need to let Jesus reveal that to us. But that is the way to access grace. And that’s a powerful theme through the Gospels and all the writings after it.
34:04
Mary Richards: Yes. This has been such a beautiful conversation. I’ve learned so much from you. You are a teacher. And I’m just, again, looking forward to this next year. And this has really, I think, helped me to be more ready for that.
Our last question on the Church News podcast, we always like to give our guests the last word. And through all that you have learned and you know about the New Testament, the question would be: What do you know now?
34:35
Donny Anderson: I love the question of knowledge that you pose. I think it’s really important to be confident in knowing spiritual things, because many people will say it’s OK to believe spiritual things, but nobody can know spiritual things. But we have five senses that give us information and that provide knowledge, and I think to say that we can’t know spiritual things is to totally discount the Holy Ghost. And if you discount the Holy Ghost, there’s no gospel. The Holy Ghost is real, and the Holy Ghost is a source of knowledge, and it’s the best source because the Holy Ghost reveals to us the way things really are and leads us to all truth, and we should never be ashamed of the Holy Ghost as a source of knowledge.
So, with that, I know that — I’m going to use Russell M. Nelson’s words, and I’m going to make sure I get it right. I know that “whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.” I love that statement, and I know that. I know that to be true. And I know that as we pay the price in the New Testament, that Jesus will reveal Himself to us.
I know that Jesus lives. I know that He’s the source of every good thing and that if we follow every good thing, it’ll also lead us to Christ. And He is my joy, He’s my Redeemer, and He is my God, and I love Him. And I share that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
36:16
Mary Richards: Thank you for listening to the Church News podcast. I’m Church News reporter Mary Richards. I hope you learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had your faith in the Savior increase by looking through the Church News window as a living record of the Restoration. Please subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests and to others who made this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates about the Church on TheChurchNews.com or on the Church News app.
