From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

In worship as in all things, Christians must desire that which God commands.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)

A Matter of Imperatives

Contrary to the teachings of the promoters of counterfeit worship, God's Word is specific in telling us how He is to be worshipped, and by whom. He is to be worshipped in the beauty of holiness, and in spirit and in truth. He is to be worshipped by Christians only - by those who have been delivered from unbelief to saving faith in Christ by the truth of the Gospel and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. These truths of God's Word are the foundation of the worship He honors. God the Holy Spirit is the enabler of such worship.

There is a tendency today, even among Christians who oppose the evils of counterfeit worship, to talk in terms of what we "should" do, or "should not" do in worship. There is this tendency to talk as though God's commandments and imperatives are matters on which the church may make its own judgments, as though the church is free to decide which parts of God's Word to obey, and which may be ignored.

That is not how God speaks to His people. Our God is a God of imperatives. Colossians 2:18-23 tells us this: Do not let anyone cheat you of your reward by introducing man-made doctrines into the church. Do not be driven by the commandments and doctrines of men. Do not let anyone who is vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind drive you to do things that displease your God. Charles Spurgeon put it this way:

Numbers of good brethren in different ways remain in fellowship with those who are undermining the Gospel [and counterfeit worship surely does that]; and they talk of their conduct as though it were a loving course which the Lord will approve in the day of His appearing. The bounden duty of a true believer towards men who profess to be Christians, and yet deny the Word of the Lord, and reject the fundamentals of the Gospel [as counterfeit worship does], is to come out from among them (II Cor. 6:14-18)....

Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any successful protest against it. If any body of believers had errorists among them, but were resolute to deal with them in the Name of the Lord, all might come right, but confederacies founded upon the principle that all may enter, whatever views they hold, are based upon disloyalty to the truth of God. If truth is optional, error is justifiable....

It is hard to get leaven out of dough, and easy to put it in. This leaven is already working. Our daring to unveil this deep design [that is, this deep-laid plot] is inconvenient, and of course it brings upon our devoted head all manner of abuse. But that matters nothing so long as the plague is stayed. Oh, that those who are spiritually alive in the churches may look to this thing, and may the Lord himself baffle the adversary!¹

If you are truly a believer, you died with Christ to the basic principles of the world, the world's ways of thinking and doing. Do not go back to them. And, do not bring any of them into the church! These things are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh - against the old nature. In fact, today's counterfeit doctrines of worship are a gigantic appeal to the indulgence of the flesh.

"Seek Those Things Which Are Above"

The Apostle Paul under divine inspiration not only says these things in chapter two. He continues on in the opening verses of Colossians chapter three:

If then you were raised with Christ [if, then you are indeed a Christian and not an imposter] seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Paul tells us in Colossians chapter two that true believers have been crucified with Christ, have been buried with Christ, and have been raised with Christ. Ephesians chapter two, verse six tells us that we have been seated in the heavenlies with Christ.

Our earthly worship must reflect those great facts of our salvation. Our old man has been crucified. We have been raised to newness of life. "If anyone is [truly] in Christ [and not merely a professing Christian] he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (Second Corinthians 5:17). The worship of God by true believers on earth must reflect that newness. Indeed, it must be an extension of the worship that takes place around the throne of God in Heaven.

That is our goal. "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:4-5).

Bringing the Unclean Into the Church

Worldly worship is spiritually unclean. It brings that which is unfit and unholy into the church. We have no more right to bring such things into the worship of the church on earth than any saint or angel would have the right to bring such things into the throne room of God in heaven. Worldly worship cultivates the kind of impurity of which Paul speaks in these verses. When he speaks here of "evil desire" he speaks of a desire for things that God has forbidden. Indeed, that is the very nature of counterfeit, worldly worship.

Furthermore, such false worship is based on and cultivates a covetousness, an idolatry, of the thinking, practices, and trappings of the world. I saw such idolatry in so many of the pastors and church leaders at the conference I attended - "Oh, we have to have these things that the world has! We have to bring these things into our church! This is the key to transforming our church!"

And so, they are making idols of things that are abominations in the eyes of God. Indeed, they are transforming their churches - they are transforming them into synagogues of Satan.

Some will protest that bringing these things into the church is necessary, because the church must "engage the culture." What exactly does that mean? What is "the culture" according to Scripture, and how are believers to view it? We shall take up those questions in our next article.

References:

1. Charles Spurgeon, in "Notes," Sword and Trowel, October 1888. Reproduced at www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/1088nts.htm.

bw0016

Copyright 1998-2024

TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org

All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only,
for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included.

We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article
for the convenience of your readers.