God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth
John 4:24
πνεῦμα ὁ θεός καὶ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτὸν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ δεῖ προσκυνεῖν
John 4:24 (Greek; Textus Receptus)
(The word translated from δεῖ is rightly translated, must’ it is third person singular, present, active; therefore this Greek word carries the meaning of being necessary, binding, must: it then is so, that the person who is actively acted upon is presently doing this worship in the present time with the action continuing, there is no discontinuance of the action)
The first proposition presented in these blogs was that God was Sovereign and that He was Providential. That due to man's corruption by the original sin of Adam God had only one recourse in regards to His justice: that is, death. Therefore the Law of Death has reigned over man since that original sin. Also that the nature of God was that He was merciful, and gracious and through this nature of God He provided a way to meet the justice demanded by the original sin and the inheritance of that sin to all of Adam's progeny by sending His Wisdom, Jesus Christ the Only Begotten Son of God to die as a propitiation for the sins of man. Imbedded in the first proposition is that God is a Spirit and man cannot see God and live. It was by His Wisdom becoming clothed in human flesh that man could visualize God physically. But God is not physical, does not have a carnal body, God is Spirit and demands that man worship Him in spirit in truth. It is Jesus himself that propounded that proposition from which we arrive at a Doctrine of Spiritual Worship. The Doctrine may be stated thusly: "That the worship due from us to God ought to be spiritually performed. We are to worship God.
Misunderstanding, even misuse, of words have led many people away from the truth; therefore, it is necessary to define words. The word spiritual has several meanings and connotations, therefore to exercise spirituality has caused many forms of worship, performance of worship, that is not necessarily Scriptural or worthy of the Creator, our God, not worthy of the Son of God His Only Begotten Son. I will use the word, spiritual, to mean things that are sacred, matters of things that are religious. This definition is not to demean feelings and emotions, rather to elevate the word to its rightful position, exercised by each individual and for the corporeal body of Christians. There and have been problems with spiritual worship throughout the history of the Church due to misunderstanding and misuse of Spiritual Worship, and this problem will continue as long as the misuse of the word is not addressed. Paul had to address the misuse of worship that had become unScriptural in the Corinthian Church. While Spirit and truth are understood variously, we must not forget one important and true fact: We are to worshp God.
The first objection raised is legalism. People are so afraid of being legalistic that in their approach to eliminate that objection, anarchy becomes the basis for their practices and beliefs. It is true that Spiritual Worship is not by legal ceremonies. The Reformation was caused by men who became predisposed to seek the truth due to the many demanded ceremonies that could not be supported by Scripture. For Protestants we would heartily and readily agree in our admittance that the Roman Catholic Church and those Churches that separated from the Latin Church were wrong in their demand that people adhere to certain practices. Those previous demanded ordinances are to be considered carnal, in opposition to the fact that the administration of the true Church is spiritual. This dichotomy between truth and falsehood, spiritual worship, and carnal worship can be demonstrated by Mount Gershim, a mount that became a worship place for the ten tribes that broke apart the twelve tribes of Israel. There they proclaimed that they had the truth and that Jerusalem was not the only place to worship God. The Samaritan woman to whom Jesus was speaking as recorded in the narrative of the opening verse,was being reminded that they, the Samaritans, do not hold the truth, and that they would not worship God on that mount (vs. 21), rather that true worship is one were the worshiper is worshiping God in spirit and truth (vs. 23). The false worship would cease because it was carnal worship. The Jewish worship that has use of images and animals is carnal, fleshly, but was necessary for the Jewish people and ordained by the administration of God. Now there is no need for such worship. The sun spread its beams of light, the shadows have been chased away due to the coming of the Son of God, the discovery of the Gospel. The thing for which the Jews sought for by the means of sacrifices, and ordinance are now expired, we have this discovery of a new administration found in the coming of Jesus Christ.
It is with great disparage to our senses that such sacrifices and ordinances were so instituted and were so carnal. Furthermore, that the Latin Church would so soon become carnal and legalistic. We see the legalism in their administration of God’s people. Yet, we fail to see that legalism reigns alive and well, ever expanding into the lives of those who desire to worship God but are steeped in religious exercises, exercises that are not Scriptural; holding to another form of legalism, subtly supplied by leaders who have ulterior motives while espousing that they hold to true Christianity. Worship has become carnal worship, while attempting to adhere to a belief that this form of false worship is Godly, that they are Godly; sincerity is no evidence of truth.
Jesus so stated that true worship, a worship that God accepts is one that is done in a spiritual and sincere frame, that is, with the inward operations of all the faculties of our souls. This worship ought to be suitable to the nature of God; therefore this worship should be done in a spiritual manner. Jesus further stated that our worship must be in truth, because the true God should be adored without vain imaginations and fantastic resemblances of Him. Idols, pictures that are supposed to be Jesus, or saints, etc, are to be removed; actions that are more like a person at a rock concert, should be stopped, there are a degenerate forms of worship, a worship that is not apropos to the nature of our glorious God. These ingredients that are not found to be Scriptural so often a part of religious services may arouse our senses and our enjoyment becomes focused on those gyrations, utterances, seemingly to be sincere worship; but are only a façade of worship, a façade of service and not a truthful, spiritual worship, rather carnal in its exercise. Worship that is worthy of our God is one that is not merely one of body, or a mere corporeal worship, God is not body, God is a Spirit; therefore our worship must arise from the center of our souls. We must banish from our minds all carnality of worship, all carnal imaginations of Him, to separate from our wills and dissembled affections to Him. We are not only to have a loud voice, but an elevated soul; we bend our knees to Him, but we must have a broken heart; we not only to have a supplicating tone, but a groaning spirit; not only a ready ear to hear the word of God, but a readiness to receive His word by our hearts. God has always sought worship in spirit and truth, He expected the heart of the worshiper to join their instituted rights of adoration to be found in every exercise of those rights, but He expects that our rights should be in conformity with His administration. This we can do because we have the sun shining chasing away that darkness of carnality, by our discovery of His nature in His word. We have the assistance of His written word as to what God expects of His children. We are without excuse.
We are admonished not to sleep, or slumber, rather to be vigilant and not simply have a false villiform of worship. We are to examine all things (1Thessalonians 5:21). This will be our focus as we continue to examine the incarnation of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Now may the God of Peace
Himself sanctify you
completely; and my your
whole spirit, soul, and body
be preserved blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
May the Grace of our Lord Be With You
Richard L. Crumb
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