Pre-requisite for true worship

1.      Worship the Lord in Spirit

Jesus stated categorically, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).

To worship the Father in spirit denotes that the motive, the rationale, the objective for worship must originate from the intent of the heart out of love, out of passion and not out of compulsion, coercion or legalism, just like the analogy Jesus Christ gave concerning committing murder and adultery when He said; “You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” And, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:21, 22, 27, 28).

Therefore, worshiping the Lord in spirit is to be fully convinced in one’s mind the rationale for the occasion and out of one’s own passion and volition gives to the Lord the honor and the glory due to His name, but it does not invalidate the practical and literal aspect of worship that of presenting oneself before the Lord at the appointed times.

For the word of the Lord states categorically; “‘the feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts. And. “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. Therefore, when it comes to worship God in spirit it does not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in holy convocation.

2.      Worship the Lord in truth

 Worship the Lord in truth denotes exactly what it says; truth is ascribed to five things viz.

b.      God’s law

For we have been duly admonished saying; “Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

And Your law is truth.” The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever” (Psalms 119:142,160).

c.       Jesus Christ

Jesus said clearly, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

d.      Holy Spirit

With regards to the Holy Spirit the Lord says; “If you love Me, keep My commandments. and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17).

e.       God’s word

As alluded to by Jesus Christ in His prayer to the Father who prayed and said; “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:17-19).

f.       The Gospel

As confirmed by the apostle Paul in his defense of the gospel who wrote; “to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?” (Galatians 2:5, 14).

Therefore, any teaching, customs or practices that are not in compliance with the law, the teachings of Christ, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God’s word and the gospel should not be associated with the life of a believer because, everything that are associated with truth remains the same yesterday, today and forever, For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (John 17:17; Hebrews 13:7; Psalms 100:5).

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 Having covered the two prerequisites for true worship which are, to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, let us now look at the other five components of true worship which describes the prescribed manner or the protocol for true worship.

To be continued, stay tuned

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph