It Is a Sin to Worship God in Any other Way or Style (Jn 4:24)

Worship in Spirit and Truth

We already studied the true way or style in which to worship the Father in the Bible Study on True vs. False Worship, for Christians Who Want to Be Recognized by the Father, Not Ig­nored. So, let us just review the meaning of it a little bit, since it needs to be the guiding light of our church and our worship. Every element of Christian worship needs to be filled with it.

Jesus said the way to worship God is in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23, 24), not in so called ‘tra­ditional’ or ‘contemporary’, ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’, not in sensuality and error, not in emerging worship styles, not in culturally ac­ceptable ways, not in emotionalism and en­tertainment, not in unintelligible ecstatic ut­terances, not in Mosaic or Davidic, not in the Law and the Prophets, not in unregulated or freestyle, not in any way we want or choose, not in the arts or sciences, not in the ways of the world or in its wisdom, not in classical or fresh ways, not in blended or orchestral, etc.

“True worshipers will worship the Father in [1] spirit and [2] truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23, 24).

In what required “spirit” and “truth” are we to wor­ship God? Obviously, we are to be a people of the Holy Spirit, not an unholy one because our God is the Holy Spirit. So when Jesus said that worshipers “must worship in spirit”, to be consid­ered true worshipers, and to be sought out by the Father, not ignored, He meant for us to worship God in the spirit of holiness. The spirit of holiness is sinless, sanctified, set apart, pure, and unde­filed. But the opposite of “spirit” is “flesh”. Flesh means sensual, unholy, worldly, earthly, natural, carnal, sinful, fleshly, profane, demonic, and de­filed. Likewise, the opposite of “truth” is “error”. God is the God of truth, so we must practice the truth to be recognized by Him. But from the beginning of Christianity to this day, worshipers have been involved in sensual, fleshly and er­rant forms of worship. The New Testament bears witness to this in several ways. For example:

1. Worshipers Replace the Commandments of God with the Traditions of Men (Mk 7:6-9)

2. Teachers Place Greater Emphasis on Things of Lesser Value (Mt 23:17, 19)

3. Some Follow Moses and Christ (Gal 4:29-31)

4. Many Ignore Rules of Conduct During Group Wor­ship (1 Cor 14:37, 38)

5. Many Will Be Divisive (1 Cor 1:13; 3:1, 3)

But Since We Already Laid this Foundation, Let Us Quickly Move Forward to the First and Fore­most Regulation of Worship; Your Attendance.