Worshipping God In Spirit And In Truth Robert Meredith What does it mean to worship God in Spirit and in truth? Jesus, as He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). One needs to realize that not all worship is pleasing to God; worship must be in spirit and in truth. The Bible speaks of vain worship (one following man-made doctrines; Matthew 15:8-9), will worship (Colossians 2:23), ignorant worship (Acts 17:30), and true worship (John 4:23-24). Let us see what the Bible says about true, or acceptable worship; worship that is in spirit and in truth. Jesus said that worship must be in spirit. The word “spirit” here pertains to the inner man, or one’s attitude. Worship is not to be mere ritualism, that is, we do not just go through the motions of worship. One must be mentally involved in the worship. Just simply being present in the assembly is not enough. A dog could be present, but that does not mean he worshipped God. Likewise, if one is present, yet pays no attention to what is happening in the worship, or is simply daydreaming during the service, he has worshipped about as much as the dog has. Not only did Jesus say our worship must be in spirit, but He also said it must be in truth. If one is not worshipping in truth, his worship is vain. What does it mean to worship in truth? On one occasion, Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). Therefore to worship in truth means to worship God as He has set forth for us in His word. This is exactly what the apostle Paul commands in Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of (or by the authority of—RM) the Lord Jesus.” When one studies the New Testament, he sees that there are five different acts in which the New Testament church partook. They partook of the Lord’s supper each Sunday (Acts 20:7), gave of their means (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), prayed (1 Timothy 2:8), studied the word of God (2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 2:42a), and sang spiritual songs (Colossians 3:6; Ephesians 5:19). When one does these things, nothing more or less (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19), he is doing what God has authorized for man to do in worship to Him. God is the one being worshipped; He decides the “whats” and “hows” of worship. God is the supreme Creator of all things (Colossians 1:16). Man owes his very soul and its salvation to Him and His marvelous grace. Let us strive to worship Him as He desires, not as man wants (Proverbs 16:25).
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 20:08:32 +0000
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