Worship by God's Design

While reading this post over at the Reformation Theology blog about John Hendryx's experiences while visiting Seattle Washington with his wife and especially their worship experience at Mars Hill church, I began to reflect and wonder. I offered this as a comment over there:

I'll bet most every reader of this post had their idea of the regulative principle of worship as a background noise in their head as they immersed in your experience at Mars Hill.

For me, the regulative principle of worship has been one of the hardest things to nail down. I agree in principle of course. But the application of the principle in churches seems to be as broad as it is long. You're liable to see everything from exclusive a capella psalmody to rock music, Power Point and videos to churches without even a cross displayed, and everything in between.

Personally, I believe that the means of grace and congregational singing satisfy our worship needs visually, emotionally and intellectually, and simpler is better, as all focus is on our Triune God.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the doctrine of the regulative principle, this Wikipedia article explains the doctrine rather well:

The substance of the doctrine regarding worship is that only those elements that are instituted or appointed by command or example in the Bible are permissible in worship, or in other words, that God institutes in the Scriptures everything he requires for worship in the Church and that everything else is prohibited.

The regulative principle is often contrasted with the normative principle of worship which teaches that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permitted in worship, as long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the Church. In short, there must be agreement with the general practice of the Church and no prohibition in Scripture for whatever is done in worship.

The normative principle of worship is the generally accepted approach to worship practiced by Lutherans, Anglicans, Evangelicals, and Methodists.

The regulative principle of worship is generally practiced by the conservative Reformed Churches, Restoration Movement and in other conservative Protestant Denominations, and it finds expression in confessional documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelburg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the London Baptist Confession of Faith.

I closed my comment to J. Hendryx's post by stating that I believe that our worship needs are completely satisfied in the elements of a traditional worship service adheering to the regulative principle of worship. What I meant by that is that all of our faculties are engaged in the simple, biblically-regulated worship service. We worship with our emotions in prayer and singing; we worship with our intellects in the reading and preaching of God's word; we worship with our physical senses by participating in the Lord's Supper and Baptism. There is no need left un-met in God's ordained worship practices.

So what's the point of rock bands, dramatic plays, light shows, videos, movies, background 'mood' music, flags, fancy paintings and sculptures, and the like? It's pretty simple, and if you're honest you will admit it. That's entertainment! If you give people a pleasing and entertaining experience, they will keep coming back. I'm sure the idea is to attract people who find God-centered worship boring and stuffy and maybe even foolish. So that perhaps they might eventually 'get saved'. But who are we to think that we mere fallen, finite, foolish humans can improve upon God's own methods? Is God too weak to acomplish his ends through his own ordained means?

The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 (modern English version) outlines well the elements of the simple, bible regulated worship service that honors God, is gospel centered, and through which the Holy Spirit may work powerfully to bring lost sheep to Christ:

CHAPTER 22 - RELIGIOUS WORSHIP, AND THE LORD'S DAY

1. THE light of nature shows that there is a God who has dominion and sovereignty over all. He is just and good, and He does good to all. He is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, invoked, trusted and served by men with all their heart and soul and strength. But the only acceptable way of worshipping the true God is appointed by Himself, in accordance with His own will. Consequently He may not be worshipped in ways of mere human contrivance, or proceeding from Satan's suggestions. Visible symbols of God, and all other forms of worship not prescribed in the Holy Scripture, are expressly forbidden. Exod. 20:4-6; Deut. 12:32; Jer. 10:7; Mark 12:33

2. Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to Him alone. It is not to be given to angels, saints, or any other creatures. Since man's fall into sin, worship cannot be rendered to God without a mediator; and the only accepted mediation is that of Christ. Matt. 4:9-10; Matt. 28:19; John 5:23; John 14:6; Rom. 1:25; Col. 2:18; 1Tim. 2:5; Rev. 19:10

3. God requires all men to pray to Him, and to give thanks, this being one part of natural worship. But to render such prayer acceptable, several things are requisite: it must be made in the name of God's Son, it must be Spirit-aided, and it must accord with the will of God. It must also be reverent, humble, fervent and persevering, and linked with faith, love and understanding. United prayer, when offered, must always be in a known language. Psa. 65:2; Psa. 95:1-7; John 14:13-14; Rom. 8:26; 1Cor. 14:16-17; 1John 5:14

4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for men of all sorts now living or as yet unborn. But prayer is not to be made for the dead, nor for those who are known to be guilty of 'the sin unto death'. 2Sam. 7:29; 2Sam. 12:21-23; 1Tim. 2:1-2; 1John 5:16

5. The reading of the Scripture, the preaching and hearing of the Word of God, the instructing and admonishing of one another by means of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with heartfelt thankfulness to the Lord, the observance of baptism and the Lord's supper-these are all parts of divine worship to be performed obediently, intelligently, faithfully, reverently, and with godly fear. Moreover, on special occasions, solemn humiliation, fastings, and thanksgivings ought to be observed in a holy and reverential manner. Exod. 15:1-19; Esther 4:16; Psa. 107; Joel 2:12; Matt. 28:19-20; Luke 8:18; 1Cor. 11:26; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1Tim. 4:13; 2Tim. 4:2

6. In present gospel days neither prayer nor any other aspect of religious worship depends for its efficacy on the place where it is performed or towards which it is directed, for God is everywhere to be worshipped in spirit and in truth; as, for instance, in the daily worship carried on in private families, in the worship in which individual Christians engage in secret, and in the worship of the public assemblies. Such assemblies are convened in accordance with God's Word and providence, and believers must neither carelessly neglect them nor willfully forsake them. Psa. 55:17; Mal. 1:11; Matt. 6:6; John 4:21; Acts 2:42; Acts 10:2; 1Tim. 2:8; Heb. 10:25

7. As it is a law of nature, applicable to all, that a proportion of time, determined by God, should be allocated for the worship of God, so, by His Word, He has particularly appointed one day in seven to be kept as a holy Sabbath to Himself. The commandment to this effect is positive, moral, and of perpetual application. It is binding upon all men in all ages. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ the Sabbath was the last day of the week, but when Christ's resurrection took place it was changed to the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day. It is to be continued to the world's end as the Christian Sabbath, the observance of the seventh day being abolished. Exod. 20:8; Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:1-2; Rev. 1:10

8. Men keep the Sabbath holy to the Lord when, having duly prepared their hearts and settled their mundane affairs beforehand, for the sake of the Lord's command they set aside all works, words and thoughts that pertain to their worldly employment and recreations, and devote the whole of the Lord's day to the public and private exercises of God's worship, and to duties of necessity and mercy. Neh. 13:15-22; Isa. 58:13; Matt. 12:1-13

A quick note about the blog "goodies"

Over to the right you see I have added a small banner add for Monergism Books. I am an affiliate, and if you purchase a book through that add (which is a link), I earn a small commission. Don't ask me how much, no one has ever done it :-P. But it is there primarily because I believe you could literally buy every book they offer and never get a turkey and be edified by them all. There's no ridiculous heresies, financial success books, or popular psychology junk for sale at Monergism Books. If you are feeling spiritually famished, I recommend Monergism Books. And when you buy from them, you are supporting the incredible ministry of Monergism.com which is transforming hearts by the grace of God, a definitely worthy cause.

The second item of mention is the E-Sword add banner. I earn no commission with E-Sword, as it is a free bible study software program with lots of goodies. There are dozens of free modules including different bible translations, dictionaries, commentaries, maps, devotionals and, more. Most of the free modules are so old that they are public property but here's a tip- that's where all the good stuff is! I would recommend for starters you download the ESV translation, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge commentary (which is actually thousands of cross references), and Nave's and Torrey's topical dictionaries.

The third item is a counter. You knew that.

The fourth item is a Google Custom search, which is tailored to give priority when searching to some of the best Reformed resource sites on the internet including Monergism, A Puritan's Mind, Founders Ministries etc. Type in a theological topic and read for days at your pleasure.

I plan to add more links, a book list and more in the future, so even if my own contribution is lame, you are sure to be able to use this blog as a springboard to many useful things.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The way of the law forever barred

As I have been listening to John Piper's expositional sermon series on Romans, I can't stop wondering about some things I've read and heard concerning lawkeeping as a means of salvation. Now I realize that Dr. Piper is not quite as Reformed as most would wish him to be concerning the law of God. Nevertheless, I don't think he is antinomian and I agree with 98% of his exposition. Not to mention I believe he is the most gifted preacher I've ever heard.

In his sermons on Romans 5-7, the summary statement, paraphrasing Piper, is that we have died to the law, (the law here viewed as the written moral code), as a means of justification and sanctification. Now, when I first heard that, my right eyebrow went up. And it's still up. I can't find enough good literature on the subject. I agree with John Piper that we fulfill the law as we are lead by the Spirit, but I disagree that to read the commandment and obey it is somehow thwarting sanctification. I don't believe we just "let go and let God"; the Christian should delight in the law of God and submit to it, because Romans 8:7 tells us that the non-Christian cannot.

But that's not what this post is about.

My concern here is the idea that if, theoretically speaking, a person were to keep the law perfectly from birth then that would be counted as righteousness for him. I've actually heard the ten commandments used in evangelistic conversations to the effect that "there are two ways of salvation, keep the law perfectly or trust in Jesus Christ as your righteousness." Baloney! Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation for any man after Adam. I know that the promise is blessing to those who keep the commandments, but something happened at the fall that barred forever the way of the law as a means of salvation for any of Adam's descendants. In Romans 5 we read:

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--

That is to say, when Adam sinned we all sinned. Again we read as follows:

Romans 5:15-19 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

The corollary Paul draws is between the righteousness of Christ given to all those in Christ by way of imputation, in the same way that the guilt and condemnation of the one transgression of Adam is given to all those in Adam (who is everyone save Jesus alone) by way of imputation. So then, the guilt of the one trespass is passed to all men after Adam- so how can anyone say that perfect lawkeeping could, even theoretically, lead to life? We have already broken the law in Adam! We are imputed with the guilt of the one trespass, and the penalty is due, before we are ever born.

Barred forever is the way of the law for salvation. For the penalty for sin is not "keep the law perfectly from now on"; the penalty for sin is death. Jesus Christ is the only way for salvation, philosophically, theoretically, and in reality, to the glory of God. Justification may only be had as a precious gift of God's grace for the sake of Christ.

2 Peter 2:1

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

In chapter 2 of Peter’s second epistle, the Apostle addresses the problem of false teachers in the church. He characterizes and analyzes the motives and methods that false teachers typically employ when engaging in their heretical practices and false teachings. He ends this section of this letter with a sober assurance of their destruction in judgment, made worse by their having heard and rejected the true gospel and then introducing heretical teachings to lead the vulnerable astray.

This first verse presents us with a difficult phrase that I would like to focus on; the clause “even denying the Master who bought them”. The word bought is the same Greek word (agorazo) used to describe the redeeming work of Christ for example, in Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,. The word ransomed in Revelation 5:9 is the same Greek word translated here as bought.

So how is it that these false prophets have been bought by our Lord? Is it that they are as much blood bought as true believers? Or is it that they were once Christians who lost their salvation?
Frankly, the second interpretation may be rejected outright because scripture conclusively establishes the permanence of salvation in true believers in many passages including Psalm 138:8, Ecclesiastes 3:14, Isaiah 46:4, Jeremiah 32:40, Romans 11:29, Philippians 1:6, 2 Timothy 4:18, John 6: 39-40, John 10:27-29, Romans 8:28-31, Romans 8:35-39, Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews 10:14.

I believe that the first interpretation as well, given the light of the whole council of scripture, can safely be denied. Again, the bible speaks explicitly in many passages of the particular nature of Christ’s redemptive cross work, that is to say, that the redemption price paid secures the salvation of those redeemed: Matthew 1:21, Matthew 20:28, Matthew 26:28, John 10:11, John 11:50-53, Acts 20:28, Romans 8:32-34, Ephesians 5:25-27, Hebrews 2:17, Hebrews 3:1, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:28, Revelation 5:9.

So what does it mean that our Sovereign Lord bought these heretics? Well, I think there are a couple of possibilities given the context, and both are based on this observation: the false teachers are operating within the church. They are professing to be Christians, redeemed Christians. And so the first possibility may be that this verse is referring to the profession of these false teachers; while claiming to be bought or redeemed, are actually denying the Lord they claim has redeemed them.

The second possibility, and the one I am inclined towards, is that these heretics have entered into the covenant community of the church and have enjoyed many benefits of belonging to that community, while never actually being saved. I get this from the Old Testament passage which Peter eludes to in this verse:
Deuteronomy 32:6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? (emphasis added)

I quoted from the King James Version because it translates the Hebrew word qanah as “bought”, which is one meaning of the word, but now compare with the English Standard Version text of the same verse, which gives another definition of the same Hebrew word which carries a better sense of how it is being used in this context:
Deuteronomy 32:6 Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (emphasis added)

The word “created” is another meaning of the same Hebrew word and I believe also carries the meaning of the word translated “bought” in 2 Peter 2:1; the idea of having been established, created, redeemed from the world and established within the covenant community of the church. In the same way that Israel was redeemed out of Egypt and established as the covenant people God, though there were many unbelievers within Israel. It is then therefore their relationship with the church that is the sense in which unbelievers are considered bought, having enjoyed the benefits of belonging to the covenant community of God in the same way that unbelieving Israelites were ransomed out of slavery to Egypt and given the promised land as their inheritance along with believing Israelites.

Be careful when reading difficult passages such as 2 Peter 2:1 that you do not abandon the teachings of clear passages of scripture in favor of an obsure verse which on the face of it seems to contradict the clear passages. It seems so obvious, but quite literally denominations have been built upon such poor interpretive methods. Scripture never contradicts itself, so when a difficult passage seems to contradict the majority of passages, you must dig deeper than the surface to discover the meaning.

First Blog Post

I have been considering a blog for a while now, and I've finally decided to throw my hat in the ring. I have been hesitant, as I am not sure I have anything new to offer. This is not my first foray into the world of Internet armchair theology. I have a website (http://livelystn.madpage.com/) that I haven't updated in quite a while. It still has a lot of useful information there (mainly by way of links) and a search able collection of confessional materials that from my Internet wanderings seems to be rather unique.

I like the way this minimalist template looks; it's rather classy to my taste and I think I will leave it. A blog should be about the content, not the eye candy, and the minimalist look is conducive to that. Google's stuff is almost always good. And I've noticed that a lot of my favorite Reformed bloggers use Blogger, so I feel I'm in the right neighborhood.

I notice as I compose this post that the program is very smooth and I'm liking that auto save feature. The "Edit HTML" feature is a nice and unexpected plus, in case I ever want to get fancy. The spellchecker is always welcome (and much needed in my case).

This blog, Lord willing, will be about my thoughts and reflections on Scripture, culture and various topics of theology. My title description should let those who normally look at these kinds of blogs know what I'm about. I feel a bit overwhelmed by the responsibility of presenting the gospel on the Internet. It is not something to take lightly, as I fear too many today do. Remember James' warning: James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

I pray that those who read this blog will be blessed in the doing, with thanksgiving to God, to the praise of His glory, for Christ's sake. Amen.