Religion or Faith Christian Worship Objectively Defined What is Christian worship? There seem to be many different views and opinions of what constitutes worship. This Biblical view was given by Jesus in John 4:21, “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. Verse 24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in aspirit and truth.” [aPhilippians 3:3]. The phrase “true worshipers” implies that there are also false worshipers. I do not desire for my worship to be displeasing to God. How do we know if our perspective of worship is true or false? By observing “Church traditions”? There seems to be a different understanding among the different Churches of what worship is and how it is to be conducted among the body of believers. Most views of worship seem centered on a few hours in one day of gathering for public prayer and singing and listening to a sermon, followed by six days of selfish living. This form of religiousness is not true to the worship in spirit and truth of which Jesus spoke. Much of man’s organized religion is based on church traditions, physical rites and rituals. Church tradition is the traditions of man and worldly thinking. There are a large number of different Christian denominations in the United States. (Thomas Nelson Publishers list 22,000). Each denomination has a different description of what worship entails. Indeed, even within each individual church within a particular denomination, the description can vary from church to church. When I ask my friends in these different denominations what worship is I get many different answers. I wondered, is Worship whatever anyone perceived it to be? Would it really matter how anyone worshiped if this is the case? This, to a small part may be true. But, I do know that there is a subjective truth and objective truth. I can imagine that ones opinion of what constitutes worship is dependent on which of these views they hold and practice. Subjective truth of Scripture, like anything else in life, is personal and individual. A subjective view is dependent on each person’s life of knowledge, experiences and perception. It is a view dependent on what is within ones own mind based on ones own desires. A subjective view is biased. This is what causes so much disagreement among Christians today; Personal and individual interpretation, What I think it means”, rather than what the word of scripture actually intends to say. More importantly, the objective view is what God intends rather than what we want to believe He intends. Objective interpretation of Scripture is what God says within Scripture. Scripture interprets scripture by using progressive revelation and comparative scriptural cross-referencing. It is not biased by our selfish lusts and desires. God’s unbiased word tells us who we are even when we do not want to hear it. From Nelsons New Christian dictionary, we find the definition of denominationalism. It is exclusive adherence to or advocacy of denominational principles and beliefs and allegiance to denominational bodies. This term is often used in an unfavorable sense as synonymous, (having the same meaning) with sectarianism. Sectarianism means something of a single religious group: relating to, involved with, or devoted to a single religious group or denomination. Sectarianism is dogmatic and intolerant: rigidly adhering to a set of doctrines and intolerant of other views. Each ‘denomination’ teaches different aspects of specific doctrines. Some choose parts of the Old Testament to adhere to such as not eating meat, ignoring the rest of the commands of religious service. Some see the Sabbath to mean a particular day of worship, such as Friday night, Saturday, or Sunday. Others see the word Sabbath to mean a ‘day of rest’ as meaning that there is a time in our life when we surrender from our own works of righteousness to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This period of time referred to as ‘a day’ is like the saying ‘in that day which can actually incorporate an unspecified length of time. The phrase the ‘seventh day’, although applying to a literal seventh day of 24 hour time periods, also means something greater. It means the final period of time when God has brought all things into subjection to himself. This referrers to a period of time after the Millennial Kingdom. All these views and interpretations cannot be equally true. It seems important to study these differing views and then to do an in depth study of what the Bible actually says. The word denominate means to give name to, to define the substance, character, and attributes that go along with that name. The Son of God was in the world before His incarnation and He was denominated (named and defined) as Yehovah. He is denominated as Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Throughout scripture, God the Son has many denominations or names, such as the Word of God, or the Lamb of God, the Stone, and the King. He is the only one worthy of the names and praise. Worship Objectively Discerned To do an in depth study of Bible doctrine concerning worship, it seemed necessary to study the words used in the original language. To help us understand from a Biblical perspective what worship means we will look at two Bible words. One is Hebrew and the other is Greek. Our English word worship is translated from the Hebrew word, שָׁחָה [shachah]. It is translated as worship, bow, bow down, obeisance, reverence, fall down, stoop, crouch. It is used to mean to bow down, to depress, and to prostrate oneself before a superior in homage, before God in worship. Shachah is used more than 170 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is used for the first time in Genesis 18:2 when Abraham bowed down and said אֲדֹנָי [’Adonay] my LORD. Here it is translated as bowed down. In 18:26 where Abraham’s servant bowed down, it is translated as “worshiped God.” What Abraham and his servant did was to recognize God’s sovereignty and he bowed himself toward the ground. It is used as the common term for coming before God in worship, as in 1 Samuel 15:25 and Jeremiah 7:2. The word means to prostrate oneself, an act of homage generally done before a ruler or superior. It is recognition of ones superior position over us, an act of obeisance. This word is translated as worshiped in the following verses: Genesis 24:26, 48; Exodus 4:31; 12:27; 32:8; Deuteronomy 17:3; 29:26; 1 Samuel 1:19, 28; 15:31; 2 Samuel 12:20; 15:32; 1 Kings 9:9; 11:33; 16:31; 22:53; 2 Kings 7:16; 21:3, 21; 2 Chronicles 7:3, 22; 29:28, 29; 33:3; Nehemiah 8:6; 9:3; Job 1:20; Psalm 106:19; Jeremiah 1:16; 8:2. They all refer to placing oneself under the sovereign authority of God. In the New Testament Greek the word translated as worship is, προσκυνέω [proskuneo], worship, to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence, among the Orientals, the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence. In the New Testament, worship is demonstrated outwardly by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication. It is used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank, to the Jewish high priests, to God, to Christ, to heavenly beings, to demons. This worship is according to whom we choose to bow down under, who we accept and are in obedience to as sovereign over us. Many of us worship the things of the world that satisfy and please our desires and lusts. Another Greek word translated as worship is, λατρεύω [latreuo] from latris (a hired menial), translated as serve, worship, do the service and worship, to serve for hire, to serve, minister to, either to the gods or men and used alike of slaves and freemen. In the New Testament, it is used to render religious service or homage, to worship, to perform sacred services, to offer gifts, to worship God in the observance of the rites instituted for his worship, of priests, to officiate, to discharge the sacred office. This latreuo is the outward service of the Jewish Temple Priests, which lacked obedience to spiritual worship. This form of worship describes what much of Sunday church worship is about. Worship, προσκυνέω, in this sense is recognizing Gods superiority to and over us. If we truly accept Gods reverent position, worship also means that we would believe His written word and be obedient to what He requests of us. We would desire to be as much like Jesus as we could be if our worship was this type. First Century Christian Worship Many people assume that worship is going to a physical church, a building, singing and praying. While fellowship with others is necessary and commanded, it is not the worship that Jesus spoke about. Reading in Acts 2:46, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,” Verse 47, “praising God and having favor with all the people. “ We see that the early Christian believers were Jews and Gentiles alike continuing DAILY, in the synagogue, or temple and FROM house to house, eating their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. Not only were they assembling in the temple, and they were doing this daily, but also they were assembling in each other’s houses daily, and praising God. This is Christian fellowship. It is a daily thing, a way of daily living, not a Sunday thing. In verse 47, we see that it is God who added to the church daily, those who were being saved. The term with gladness and simplicity of heart describes one who is resting in the finished work of Christ, not being weighed down with the desires and worries of the world. When Israel and Judah were a divided nation, there were two different calendars. One worshiped on Friday, and the other on Saturday. The Jewish Sabbath of the New Testament time period was on Saturday, and officially ended at sundown. Historically, and traditionally, the first Christian believers met on the first day of the week to worship because it was the first day of Jesus’ resurrection. They worshiped His resurrection. Matthew 28:1 reads, Now, after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Jesus was gone, resurrected. [Mark 16:9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19]. The name Sunday is a pagan name; it was not the original Jewish name for the first day of the week. The first to be called Christian, called into the body of believers, the church of Christ, were Jewish. Certainly, they would know what days they were worshiping God on. There is no specific New Testament command to keep the Sabbath, (either Saturday or Sunday) after the beginning of the New Covenant in the book of Acts. Specifically, the Sabbath was a sign of the mosaic Covenant as seen in Exodus 31:16, 17; Nehemiah 9:14; and Ezekiel 20:12. The first commandment to keep a Sabbath was not until the time of Moses and recorded in Exodus 20:8. Christians are under the New Covenant, Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6, and Hebrew 7:22; 8:8; 9:15; 12:24. The Jerusalem council of apostles, under the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, (all Jewish) (Acts chapter 15), did not order Gentile believers to keep the Sabbath. The apostle Paul, who is the apostle to the Gentiles, chosen by God and Jesus to this position, did not caution believers about Sabbath keeping. Paul was certainly Jewish and had practiced his Jewish religion with fervor until called by God. It seems to me that from scripture, the New Testament teaches that Sabbath keeping is not a commandment or requirement now. In Romans 14:5 it says, One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike.” “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. Verse 6 says, He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.” Verse 8 tells us, For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; therefore if we live or die, we are the Lords. This seems to say to me that how we worship is a personal decision and that we are not to make religious rites and rituals out of our worship. Above that, we are not to decide for others what their worship consists of, outside of Gods description of worship. As stated in verse 8, if we live or die, we are the Lords. In fact, Paul said in Galatians 4:9, After you have known God, or rather, are known ‘of’ God, how turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements where unto you desire again to be in bondage? By the term elements, Paul was referring to the laws and customs of the Jews. Continuing in Verse 10, You observe days, and months, and times, and years. This was the Jewish religious custom where rites and rituals were commanded, yet personal obedience to the commands of God was not present. Verse 11 continues, I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain.” Paul was afraid that he was responsible for the Galatians vain practice of religion, which was a form of bondage. We can practice religious rites and never act in love. What Paul taught was of the freedom of our faith and the Love of God that was revealed to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. In Colossians 2:16 Paul said, Let therefore no man judge you in meat, or drink, or in respect of a Holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath.” Verse 17, “things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” Why would we want to be judged by men in mere shadows that were meant to show the coming Glory of Christ? Let us reason, which would we desire, the shadow of an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, or the substance of the real thing? We now have the fullness of God in Christ, and no longer need the shadows of the Old Testament. We have been called into Christian liberty by: God, Colossians 1:13, Christ, Galatians 4:3, 5, the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:15, 2 Corinthians 3:17. This liberty is our freedom from: 1) The law, Romans 7:6; 8:2; 2) The curse of the law, Galatians 3:13; 3) The bondage of men, 1 Corinthians 9:19, and; 4) Jewish ordinances, Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:20. This liberty is also freedom from death, [Hebrew 2:15], and sin, [Romans 6:7, 18]. We are not to offend others with our liberty, [1 Corinthians 8:9]. Our freedom is called the glorious liberty of the children of God in Romans 8:21. Worshiping in the spirit We are commanded to pray about all things, at all times, with all kinds of prayers. Our faith is expressed in a daily personal relationship with God as our Father. Every day is the Lords day, and we are to walk Holy and in the Spirit at all times. We are not commanded to preach or practice religion, but rather we are called to have a moment to moment personal relationship desiring communion with and obedience to God the Father. This is how we worship the Lord. Let every man be fully persuaded in his mind,” Romans 14:5. God is not limited by time and space, He is infinite. When people are born of the Spirit, they can commune with God anywhere. Spirit is the opposite of what is material and earthly. Man is born worldly, and his worship is most often worldly and made up of physical things. Christ makes worship a matter of the heart. We agree with God and desire to walk in love in our daily lives. Truth is what is in harmony with the nature and will of God. It is the opposite of all that is false. Here the truth is specifically the worship of God through Jesus Christ. The issue is not where a person worships, but how and with whom. In Paul’s epistles, we find elements of our faith taught that were not taught in the Old Testament. God is spirit. This verse represents the classical statement on the nature of God as Spirit. The phrase means that God is invisible [Colossians 1:15; 1Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:27] as opposed to the physical or material nature of man [John 1:18; 3:6]. The word order of this phrase puts an emphasis on “spirit,” and the statement is essentially emphatic. Man could never comprehend the invisible God unless He revealed Himself, as He did in Scripture and the Incarnation. Must worship! Jesus is not speaking of a desirable element in worship but that which is absolutely necessary, in spirit and truth. The word “spirit” in this context does not refer to the Holy Spirit but to the human spirit. Jesus’ point here is that a person must worship not simply by external conformity to religious rituals and places (outwardly) but inwardly (“in spirit”) with the proper heart attitude. Our renewed spirit must be in agreement with and obedient to the Holy Spirit as he urges us toward enlightenment. The reference to “truth” refers to worship as that of Abraham and truth as God reveals in scripture. Our worship of God is to be consistent with obedience to revealed truth of Scripture and centered on the Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who ultimately revealed His Father (14:6). Worship that is done out of a sense of duty, or in response to perceived religious rites and ritual, is not acceptable worship to God, though it well may be acceptable to the people around us. Worship that comes from ones heartfelt adoration and awe manifests itself in obedience to God by our walking in the law of love. This love does not need to parade itself in ways that people would say were of rites and rituals, and “religion.” As we read in Galatians 1:10, For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men I would not be a bond servant of Christ.” Worship such as revealed by Abraham pleases God, religion pleases men.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:10:11 +0000
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