What Worship does the
Creator Appreciate?
honor god, bow, prostrate
praise, give glory, humble, humility, serve
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To understand what the New Testament (NT) teaches about worship we first need to understand the perspective of those that lived and wrote during that time. Their background was rooted and grounded in the teaching of the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament.
One of the first
principles to keep in mind in understanding Hebrew speakers and writers is
their proclivity to be what modern English speakers might call
redundant. Formally its called Hebrew
parallelism. That is, they repeat
their thoughts, not with the exact same words, but with different words often
from a slightly different perspective.
To them its all the same intertwined thing, but to us it can seem
like multiple different things. We
must read Hebrew Scripture from a Hebrew perspective, not our own.
Ps 66:4 All the earth shall worship (shachah) thee,
and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing [to] thy name.
Ps 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and
praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name.
1Sam 1:3 And
this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the
LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni
and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, [were]
there.
Ps 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow
down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Chronicles 29:28 So
all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all
this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
Chronicles 29:30 Moreover King Hezekiah and the leaders
commanded the Levites to sing
praise to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph
the seer. So they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Psalm 66:4 All the earth shall worship
You And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to
Your name."
Exodus 34:8 So
Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
II Chronicles 7:3 When all the children of Israel saw how
the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their
faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised
the LORD, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever."
Genesis
22:5 And Abraham said to his young
men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad [Or young man] and I will go
yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." Animal sacrifice = worship/ bowing
Worship
throughout the fairly literal translation King James Version Old Testament is
closely associated with verbal praise and religious music, also animal
sacrifice, literal bowing and prostrating ones self. It is also frequently associated with the
temple or house of God. It seems to
emphasize semi-public activity directly in honor or praise of God. Isnt that what people typically refer to
when they talk of worship i.e. singing, praising, acknowledging (bowing to)
God? Of course today it is not
associated with animal sacrifice
we have gotten out of that habit.
Christianity
gave this author the impression that the greatest thing we can do for God is
to worship Him. Is it really? How interested in our worship is our
Creator?
Actually
the Hebrew word translated worship in all these cases is 'shachah'.
It literally means: to bow down, depress, or prostrate oneself.
Interestingly
enough the only place this 'worship' was enjoined on or required of ancient
Israel in the Law is Deuteronomy 26:10 when they present their first fruits
to Him.
...and
now, behold I have brought the firstfruits of the
land which you, O Lord, have given me Then you shall set it before the
Lord your God, and worship before the Lord your God.
On
that occasion they would be right there at the House of God, it is only
reasonable that they go in, pay their personal respects and bow. Compared to many other stipulations in the
law, worship is hardly mentioned. So
it seems that God was not intently interested in worship, or the outward
show of worship. It is requested only
when people are already in town, taking care of other obligations.
If
God was not overly interested in worship, what did he want?
And now, Israel, what does
the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in
all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and
His statutes, which I command you today for your good? (Deu. 10:12-13)
Worship
is not directly mentioned here in this straightforward statement illuminating
what God really wanted from Israel.
The reason for that may be fairly simple. The use of the word worship in the OT is
more an interpretation of modern translators.
They see worship as singing, praise and the external show of
religion. In ancient times God was
apparently not overly interested in this worship.
Apparently
this is not what God really wanted. However,
are keeping the commandments, walking in His ways, loving God, fearing and
serving Him five different things?
This seems fairly obviously a variation on Hebrew parallelism (see
also Ex 20:6, Deu 5:10, 6:13, 8:6, 11:13, 20, 13:4,
30:16, Jos 22:5, etc.). These things are all the same intertwined thing, each
separate phrase approaching from a slightly different angle or
perspective. Pardon me if I call that
'serlove' for easy reference. I want to avoid any
extra baggage. Worship is not
specifically included as an important aspect of this intertwined fear, love,
service, obedience and walk of serlove.
So
above worship, God desired 1.
Fear (yare) 2. to walk (halakh) in all his
ways, 3. to
love (ahav) him, 4. to
serve (avadh) the LORD thy God with all thy
heart and with all thy soul, 5. To keep (shamar,
keep, guard, preserve) the commandments of the LORD and his statutes.
Does
worship fit at all?
II Ki 17:36 But
the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a
stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him
shall ye do sacrifice.
A
parallelism outside the law includes and mixes worship with fear of God. Although not duplicated in the law, it
seems that the Prophets understood these things were related. But the primary act of 'bowing' is not that
in which God is overly interested in the Old Testament.
Actually
the Hebrew word avadh translated 'serve' in
this case can also include a sense of worship or obeisance. This by itself
would tend to merge worship as an aspect of serlove.
Indeed service is directly connected
with singing and praise (1Chron 6:31).
However, in that context it is also connected with the Levites who
were specifically employed (paid) by God to serve Him on behalf of Israel. It
was part of their work to sing, so their service included some outward show
beyond what was originally asked of the people.
2 Chronicles 8:14 And,
according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the
priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve
before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by
their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded.
2 Chronicles 31:2 And Hezekiah
appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their
divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for
burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp [ That is, the temple] of the
LORD.
And,
behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance,
for their service which they serve, [even] the service of the tabernacle of
the congregation.
(Num 18:21 AV)
Service
is equated with employment as well as actual servitude, (see Ex. 21:2).
So how were they to
serve God? How does anyone work for someone else? They do what He says. What did He tell them to do?
and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy
heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (Deu
10:12c-13)
Ye
shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments,
and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
(Deu 13:4 AV)
God didnt give Israel
time consuming work with which they were to busy
themselves. He gave them direction as
to how to relate to others. This is
what the commandments address. So they
were free to go about whatever business they wished, but they were to conduct
that business in a manner upholding Gods instruction regarding respect of
their brothers and their Creator.
What is the fear of
God?
Deut
8:6, Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk
in His ways and to fear Him.
I said,
Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive
instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished
them: but they rose early, [and] corrupted all their doings. (Zep
3:7 AV)
Fear
is an openness and attentiveness to receive the instruction of His
commandments.
And
I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against
sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit
wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an
alienBecause they do not fear Me," Says the LORD of hosts.. (Mal 3:5)
You
shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but
shall fear your God: I am the LORD. (Lev 19:14)
The
fear of God is the fear, care, concern, and attentiveness that we not disobey
even when no one will likely know.
Those that do not fear have little regard for Gods instruction. The result is they mistreat their fellow
man because they think they can get away with it.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is
mans all. (Ec 12:13)
And Moses said to the people, "Do not
fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so
that you may not sin. (Ex 20:20)
So
we fear by being attentive and careful to obey the commandments.
How
was Israel to Love God?
Deu 30:16 in that I command you today
to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments,
His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD
your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
Josh
22:5 "But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses
the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in
all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him
with all your heart and with all your soul."
Deu 11:1 Therefore you shall love the LORD your God,
and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments
always.
Deu 11:22 For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you
to doto love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast
to Him
Deu 19:9 and if you keep all
these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD
your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities
for yourself besides these three
So
serlove revolves around keeping the commandments,
which are His ways. It is a continual
service and love toward God by living according to His policies and being
cautious and fearful of running counter to them. God asked ancient Israel to
show love toward Him by doing what he requested of them. What He requested is what He determined
would be in their best interest.
What
is walking in His way?
Deu 26:17 "Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be
your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His
commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice.
Jud 2:22 "so that through them I may test Israel,
whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers
kept them, or not."
Worship
does not appear in these verses that explain what God really expected of
Ancient Israel. It is secondary in
what was expected of Israel.
Then Samuel said: "Has the LORD as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of
the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat
of rams. (1Sam 15:22 AV) That
which is closely associated with worship is secondary. Worship and obey do not appear in parallel
together in the OT or NT. They are in different categories.
However any action in accord with the Commandments of God would be service to
God and would therefore be of greater worth to God than worship.
New Testament Worship
Has this changed in the New Testament? Is God still interested in the same
relationship with people that He desired of ancient Israel?
But
this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I
worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the
Law and in the Prophets." (Acts 24:14)
Worship
here is actually the Greek word "latreuo"
which literally means to serve for
hire,
This is the same word
that is used for service in I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
to God, which is your reasonable service.
(Romans 12:1) Is offering ourselves in
service a new concept? Ps 4:4 Offer
the sacrifices of
righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. (Ps 4:5) My
tongue shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness.
(Ps 119:172)
For You do
not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt
offering. 17 The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heartThese,
O God, You will not despise. (Ps 51:16-17)
It was recognized in
the Psalms that doing the commandments was a righteous sacrifice.
Luke 2:37 and this woman was a widow of about
eighty-four years who did not depart from the temple, but served (latreuo) God with fastings and prayers night and day.
For we are the circumcision, which worship (latreuo)
God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh.
Mat 6:24; No
one can serve (doulos) two masters: for either he will hate the
one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
This word, (Gr. Doulos),
which primarily means a slave, is never translated worship, but it is clear
it continues in line with what God said he wanted of ancient Israel.
Jesus
Christ throughout the Gospels compares the faithful to servants. Peter used
the word in connection with believers after Christ ascended.
"And on My menservants and
on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall
prophesy". (Acts 2:18, Joel 2:29) Peter in Acts clearly continues the
instruction ancient Israel received.
Believers would continue to conduct themselves as servants of God who
obeyed His will.
Another Greek word translated
worship is proskuneo.
Revelation 3:9 Indeed
I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are
not, but lie--indeed I will make them come and worship (proskuneo) before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
One
can almost see prostrate in
the word. It is often used of those who bow or do obeisance. God will actually share this kind of worship with His
faithful. It is not something reserved
exclusively for God and Christ. This
worship is often associated with a presence at the temple.
Act 24:11 because
you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to
Jerusalem to worship. (proskuneo)
Act 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man
of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the
Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem
for to worship (proskuneo )
Rev 11:1 And
there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the
angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and
them that worship (proskuneo) therein.
Proskuneo is the word that used
for 'worship' in Matthew 4:10,
Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written,
You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve." Latreuo
is the word that is used for 'serve'
Interestingly
Matt 4:10 is supposed to be a quote from Deuteronomy 6:13, among other
places. "Thou shalt
fear (yare) the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."
Did
Jesus change what was intended in Deut 6:13?
What is the status of fear in the NT? This would be indicated by the Greek word phobeo especially and also sebomai.
Phobeo is used of Cornelius in
Acts 10:2 "a devout (eusebees, reverent, pious, devout,
religious) man and one who feared God
with all his household, who gave alms generously to
the people, and prayed to God always". Peter clearly
recommends fear (phobeo) as an aspect of how
we should approach God. He also again
includes the thought of servitude (doulou,
1Pet 2:16-17) as free, yet not using your liberty as a cloak for vice, but as
servants (doulou) of God. 17.
Honor all people. Love the
brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. So fear toward
God is still highly recommended.
When
referring to the upright the New Testament often uses the word, sebomai, which emphasizes the aspect of
reverence. (sebomai
.. Stand in awe of, to venerate, to reverence, to adore, to feel dread of a
thing). This word is used in Acts
16:14.
"Now
a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the
city of Thyatira, who worshiped (sebomai) God.
The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul."
Act 18:13 saying,
"This fellow persuades men to worship (sebomai) God contrary to the law."
John
includes this word in his narrative an interesting way, "Now
we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God
and does His will, He hears him." (John 9:31, note the Hebrew
parallelism, respect/worship & do His will) Actually the word used there
is "theosebes" which is a
combination of theo and sebomai. This is a quote from someone Jesus had
healed. Is there any hint that John
did not agree with the understanding of his statement? Obedience and reverence or fear are the
same basic thing and are in turn respected by God.
So
why is Proskuneo used in Matt 4:10
instead of fear as it is in the original of Deuteronomy 6:13? , Then Jesus said to him, "Away with
you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship (proskuneo) the LORD your God, and Him
only you shall serve." More than likely it was changed in the
translation from Hebrew to Greek to keep thought with the statement of Satan.
And saith unto
him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship (proskuneo) me. (Mt 4:9)
Satan of course
requested proskuneo, bowing &
prostration. He simply wants to be
acknowledged and praised. Simply come
as you are, no particular conduct is necessary.
The
better translation for yare, fear, is phobeo. Sebomai,
would work too. Whoever translated
Jesus words into Greek probably went for effect rather than precision. Perhaps the translator or maybe even Jesus
was influenced by the context, either that or Jesus misquoted the verse
Interestingly,
even though God did not stress 'worship', it shows up very frequently in
scriptures that discuss homage to other gods like Deuteronomy 8:19.
Deu 8:19 And
it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other
gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that
ye shall surely perish.
Jeremiah 16:11 then
you shall say to them, "Because your fathers have forsaken Me,' says the
LORD; "they have walked after other gods and have served them and
worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law.
you shall not bow
down to them nor serve them (Ex 20:5, 23:4, Deut 5:9, Josh 23:7, Jud 2:19,
2Kin 17:35, Josh 23:16)
Deuteronomy 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart
be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship
them.
2 Chronicles 7:19 "But
if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set
before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them.
Jeremiah 22:9 Then
they will answer, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD
their God, and worshiped other gods and served them."'
See also: Deuteronomy 12:31
Deuteronomy 17:3 Deuteronomy 29:26 Deuteronomy 30:17 1 Kings 9:6
1 Kings 9:9 2
Chronicles 7:22 Jeremiah 1:16 Jeremiah 13:10 Jeremiah 16:11 Jeremiah 25:6
II
Ki 5:18 "Yet
in this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the
temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on
my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmonwhen
I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD
please pardon your servant in this thing."
The Greek words for
love are never translated worship.
However a frequently quoted directive in the New
Testament is love God and love your neighbor. So God still wants to be loved, as He did
in the Old Testament. On these hang
the law and prophets (Deu 6:3, Lev 17:18). Jesus said to him, "You shall love
the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great
commandment.39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as
yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the
Prophets." (Mt 22:37-40 see also Luke 10:25)
Jesus uses the same
terminology to delineate what is important to God. Can it be taken out of the context that
every Jew listening to Him would have attached to it? The context was that of Deuteronomy 6, which
just the chapter before had repeated the commandments. The Law
and the Prophets were continually pleading for a continual love and service
toward God by living according to His policies and being cautious and fearful
of running counter to them.
Seldom
is it mentioned that these same words (love the Lord and love your neighbor)
came from an apparently unbelieving Jew. And
behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lu 10:25) Even less often is it noted that Jesus
felt this Jew understood the meaning of these words and praised him for his
correct answer. And He said to him, "You
have answered rightly; do this and you will live." (Lu 10:28) Note also that Jesus went to the law for
instruction in this matter He said to him, "What is written in
the law? What is your reading of it?" (Lu 10:26) So here we
have a Jew with apparently no special gift of the Holy Spirit checking up on
Jesus and His understanding of how to attain eternal life. Jesus acknowledges this Jews
understanding which came from the Law as being accurate.
Lets note some other
verses in the NT that help define Love of God.
1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children
of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
Interestingly enough
there is no parallel expression or command connecting Worship + love in the
KJV, NKJV, or NASB. There is one quote
from the NIV.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD , and to worship (servant evedh)
him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my
covenant- (NIV Isaiah 56:6) Of
course this is a loose interpretation.
Evedh is more literally translated
serve.
Some would say that
the meaning intended by "commandments" is different in the New
Testament than in the Old. This
ignores the fact that the entire Jewish population of the world had a
preconceived idea of what the commandments were. If the apostles intended a different
meaning they should have clarified it regularly to distinguish their concept
of the word from everyone else's.
There is no such clear distinction.
Jesus did issue a
"new commandment" (Jo 13:34).
In this command He told the disciples to love one another. Not according to the general standard of
the day, but as I have loved you. The
next day Messiah would give His life not only for those disciples, but for the
whole world. Messiah is asking a pure
selfless love of His followers.
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. On
this evening when the symbols of the New Covenant are instructed, we are called to a higher
standard of selflessness.
What does the NT say about our walk?
He who says he abides in Him
ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1Jo 2:6) He kept His fathers commandments. John
15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have
kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love.
But if we walk in the light
as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1Jo 1:7) He didnt do it all for us. We should walk that same walk. Many would say this is impossible. Perhaps, but with God all things
are possible (Mt 19:26, Mk 10:27,
Luke 18:27). Don't sell Him short.
This
is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you
should walk in it.
(II Jo 1:6)
For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10) What walk did God before ordain for
us? The walk was ordained in His covenant.
Then
the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk
according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed
hands?" (Mr 7:5)
"but they have been informed about you that
you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying
that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the
customs. (Ac 21:21) This is not
changing the walk God desired, but that defined by men. But He answered and said to
them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your
tradition? (Mt 15:3)
And
in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Mt 15:9)
Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort
in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received
from us how you ought to walk and to please God. (1Th 4:1)
I have no greater joy than to hear that my
children walk in truth. (III Jo 1:4).
You are near, O LORD, And all Your
commandments are truth. (Ps 119:151)
There is therefore now no condemnation to
those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:1).
For whoever desires to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Mt 16:25)
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in
darkness, but have the light of life." (Joh
8:12). The 'following' that is
intended here is clearly a mimicking of his principles and philosophy of
conduct. If we walk as HE walked in
the love of His Father and keeping His commandments we will have light. O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In
the light of the LORD. (Isa 2:5) For
You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from
falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living? (Ps
56:13)
Based on all this it seems God is still very
interested in the same things in the New Testament in which He was interested
in the Hebrew Scriptures. We are still
exhorted to serve (latreuo and doulos),
fear (phobeo & sebomai),
love, keep His commandments and walk as He
walked. Worship (proskuneo)
is valued by the Father, but freely shared with His saints. It is not something Jesus specifically
required of us. However, Satan seems
most interested in this form of service.
New Testament bowing
Proskuneo is the worship in
question in John 4:23. "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. (Joh 4:23)
In
the overall context of the Bible, true 'bow-ers'
are not primarily concerned with proskuneo,
bowing. However that was the type of
worship the Samaritan woman was asking about.
Those that truly bow to God are those that reverence Him and seek the
spirit of His will. (The law is spiritual, Rom 7:14)
Once
they understand how the intent of the law applies to them they work
accordingly in that way for God. The
problem throughout the history of Israel is that as a whole, they never
really did serve, love or fear God.
Consequently they never really did keep His commandments or walk is His
ways. The Creator is still seeking
people to truly and completely serve Him, not just by keeping the letter as
written, but by understanding and applying the spirit and concept in their
conduct.
This
doesnt typically mean you alter your career, but that you obey your Creator
and respect your fellow man. Can we do
this in the spirit and ignore the letter?
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but
does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you
says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do
not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does
not have works, is dead. (Jas 2:14-17)
Worshiping in spirit
is the same. If we say we worship in
spirit, but do not do what God said to do, we are no better than those who
simply ignore Him without pretense.
Actually maybe worse, because we become familiar with the instruction
of God, but harden our mind against it.
David
My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd;
they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
(Eze 37:24)
I
will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the
heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and
cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them." (Eze
36:26-7)
Putting
the spirit of God in someone will cause them to walk in the statutes
and judgments of the Ten Commandments.
The commandments of
God, i.e. the ten commandments of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are the short
form expression of the mind of God and a summary of how one walks in His
ways. His judgments and statutes,
especially Ex 20:22-23:19 and to a large degree Lev
18-26, detail these
commandments and give insight that may or may not be intuitive in our
culture. Some of these are specific to
the operation of the tabernacle.
Lessons can be learned even from these.
However these statutes
and judgments are all derived from the commandments themselves. Unfortunately, almost no one spends much
effort in trying
to understand the concepts and the spirit behind this instruction. No wonder the world and the church are in
such a mess.
We are to seek the
spirit of these laws and apply that in our lives continually. The worship God really wants is to fear
the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 To keep the
commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command you today for
your good This is how we love the Lord your God with all thy heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This
has not changed from what God requested in the Old Testament. Neither will it change after His return.
Many people shall come and
say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house
of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His
paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem.
(Isa 2:3)
Singing and praising
our Creator is admirable. Doing what
He says and living as he lived is better.
Unfortunately, there is no indication that any significant group of
people will actually ever live within this instruction until after David is
resurrected. Be a special treasure to
your Creator; try to live by all His law and walk is His way. A study of the judgments of Exodus 21-23 is
vital. This is something you need to
do for yourself. However, CreatorsCovenant
has put some insights into writing that may help.