Month: January 2024

worship is more than singing

MANY OF US BELIEVE worship means praising God in song and dance. We call singing the worship portion of the service; the musician are called the worship team. For the most part, this is a harmless distinction. However, worship is much more than this. To limit the definition of worship to singing can cause us to limit or compartmentalize our worship. We can avoid this by having a full understanding of the word worship. Certainly, worship means to giving praise, glory, honor, and service to God. But, in addition to singing, we must also worship God by living in obedience to Christ, emulating His life and teachings.

Our worship, regardless of its form, must be wholehearted!

Jesus told the woman at the well, “…the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). We should worship from our position in Christ. Part of taking up our cross is identifying the center cross as our cross. When we do this, we identify with Christ as our proxy; our substitute; our propitiation; the very sacrifice for our sins. Carrying this through to the end, we realize we have also been resurrected to new life in Christ.

Peter said we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, called out of darkness into His marvelous light (see 1 Pet. 2:9). As such, we are “set aside” by God to worship and serve Him. Paul tells us the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). The depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God are unsearchable. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things (Rom. 11:36). Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1).

In the original Greek, the phrase “your bodies” is not merely a paraphrase for the word “yourselves,” but emphatically commands that we dedicate to God the very part of us which has an occasion to sin. Moreover, Paul is speaking about our bodies, hearts, and minds. We are called to serve God with our physical capabilities and with our intellectual and spiritual faculties. I believe the phrase “living sacrifice” includes being healthy and fit for service; being a good steward of the financial resources and assets with which God has blessed us in our present circumstances. Ready to go forth in obedience to God.

In closing, our worship must be comprehensive. God loves to hear us rejoicing in song, praising His name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre (see Psa. 149). David wrote, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!” (Psa. 57:5a, 7b, 8). When we acknowledge the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior to His people, we pause and worship Him. We worship God when we pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Paul writes, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36). It is after this that he tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.

Remember, as you go forth each day, to strive for bringing honor and glory to God in all you say and do.

Steven Barto, BS Psy, ThM

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references contained herein are from the English Standard Version (ESV).

test yourself

PAUL ADMONISHED THE CHURCH at Corinth, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5a). He was returning to Corinth for a third time to address the sinful behavior of believers who were claiming to be in Christ. Apparently, many failed to take seriously the power of evil, and their behavior was causing divisions in the church. This was unfortunately true of some members of the clergy as well. Therefore, Paul told everyone to evaluate their conduct in light of the tenets of the Christian faith. In perhaps his harshest criticism, he said, “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (13:5-10).

A transliteration of verse 5 reads, …examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not recognize yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you fail the test? The Greek phrase “examine yourself” (πειράζετε, peirazete) is from the root peirazó, meaning “make proof of; to attempt, test, tempt.” This is similar to “try” or “trial,” as in a courtroom where one examines the evidence presented.

Paul instructed the Corinthians to test whether they were “in the faith” because many had not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality they practiced prior to knowing Christ (2 Cor. 12:21). The “practice” of sin suggests a deliberate and habitual undertaking that would seem to “disqualify” them as followers of Christ. Paul argued that true believers are identified as “those who have sinned in the past” (προημαρτηκόσιν, proēmartēkosin). Bible Hub’s interlinear translation breaks down the Greek in verse 21 as a perfect participle, “to sin before,” referring to those who before conversion had been guilty of vices especially common the Gentiles (see also 2 Cor. 12:21; 2 Cor. 13:2).1

This was not the first time Paul had admonished the believers at Corinth on their intentional sin. In his first letter, he remarked that many believers were participating in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. He wrote, “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in” (1 Cor. 11:20-22). Paul reminded them that the Lord’s Supper was meant to proclaim the Lord’s death until he returns. He then added, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (vv. 27-28).

Paul was worried about the spiritual well being of the believers at Corinth. Without reservation, he said if they were truly “in the faith” then they would know that Jesus Christ lives inside them. The Holy Spirit would be working on them, promoting spiritual maturity, ongoing sanctification, and moral living. To this end, he adamantly said, “Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit” (2 Cor. 13:5, Amplified Bible). We must also examine ourselves. Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit in our daily living? Do we live according to the example given by Jesus? I challenge you to make this your New Year intention.

Steven Barto, BS Psy, ThM

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references contained herein are from the English Standard Version (ESV).

References
1 Bible Hub, “Interlinear Bible,” retrieved Jan. 2, 2024, https://biblehub.com/interlinear/2_corinthians/12.htm