What Does it Mean to Worship in Spirit and in Truth
Happy Worship Wednesday Church!
Last time, we ended our post asking what it meant to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. But what does this mean? Why do we even ask this question?
Worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth comes from the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel. In it, we find Jesus at Jacob’s well with a Samaritan woman. It is there that she asks about proper worship of God, and where it should take place. John writes:
“19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Believe Me, woman,”
Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from
the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and His
worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
So, to give some Scriptural context, the Samaritan people were a Northern tribe of what is considered “rejected Jews”. Instead of worshipping the Lord in the temple as Israel had, they designated Mt. Zion as their holy place. This alone however was not the only reason for their rejection. In the book of 2 Kings, we find Samaria being invaded by the Assyrians. The Assyrians successfully raid and capture the land, until the Lord sent lions to drive them out (2 Kings 17:25). Once driven out, the Samaritan people once again settled in their land, but things had changed. The Samaritan Jews continued to worship Yahweh, but also chose to worship the idols and gods of Assyria and did right up until the days of Jesus (2 Kings 17:33-34).
This brings us to our topic at hand, where to worship the Lord? Jesus knew that the time would come when God’s Spirit would no longer abide in one place, but with all of those who would believe. The day of Pentecost is the confirmation of God dwelling in and with His people in the new age (Acts 2:1-4). His declaration in v.21 prophecies to this event disestablishes the locational adoration of God and sets up the worship of Spirit and Truth.
The Greek word for Spirit here is πνεῦμα, pronounced “new-mah”, meaning the vitality in which makes us alive. Our soul, what we feel with, express with, our essence, it's what makes you you. Worshiping in the spirit is worshipping in authenticity, in heart, in full meaning and being to God. Faking it until you make it does not apply to this biblical principle. All of us must respond to all of who he is, with all sincerity. Scripture reminds us repeatedly that God is not looking for you to give more to Him, but do you mean what you give?
Truth has been come a relative term in our day and age. 2024 has turned this absolutist statement into an arbitrary claim based on feelings, experiences, and subjective encounters. Truth must be objective for it to have meaning, and value. It must be singular, for it to be truth. Worshiping in truth is worshipping according to God’s Word. As Christians, we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, written by the people of God, in inspiration by the Spirit of God. This Spirit or πνεῦμα of God is also called the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17). Knowing this, we can know and trust that what God says in His Word is true, and worship out of the truths found there. Any worship according to any other source should be considered false, as the Bible must be our standard, as it is the standard of Christ.
Church, if we worship with Spirit and no Truth, we worship with genuine hearts and false ways. If we worship with Truth and no Spirit, we worship with hearts far from God, but in true ways. Both lead us to fruitless worship, the kind that is a vain and abominable offering to the Lord like in Isaiah 1:13. It is only when the two come together, that God is pleased with what we are offering Him as children.
God Bless you Church.