What is worship?
As I was praying one morning and meditating on the word of God, I began to consider the expression of worship. What does it mean for us to worship the Lord in spirit and truth authentically (John 4:23)?
As I thought more about worship, many mainstream expressions came to mind in the body of Christ. We think of our times of music, praise, or even patterns of prayer. Next, the Lord brought to mind Romans 12, where Paul lays a foundational text, "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’." Now, we have a key component based on the biblical genius of Paul on worshipping the Lord: Offering our bodies to God as living sacrifices. What does Paul mean when he talks about holiness? He is speaking of believers living in such a way they are being sanctified. The purest form of worship is allowing the Lord to purge our lives of sin. It's walking with God in intimacy here on earth.
Now I begin to grasp how great the grace of Jesus is towards me and all of us, for even before our salvation, He is beaconing the hearts of men even before they come to faith in Him, even in their wickedness and rebellion. The Lord is offering the bountiful blessing of a right relationship with Him. Romans 5:8: "But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So, the work of salvation begins even before the recognition of one's need for a Savior! Praise God for this recognition and the grace to be born again.
Now, we've come to faith in God; that's one thing, but how then shall we live? Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). Interestingly, Christ said that every man and every woman must engage in the denial themselves. There is an aspect of submitting our will to His, surrendering our lives, bodies, and desires to the cross of Christ. Be assured such a power can only originate from God, from the cross via the blood. " For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1st Corin. 1:18).
One side note: in Christian theology, there are three tenses used of salvation, an initial moment (have been saved, justification), the present (being saved, sanctification), and a future ultimate redemption (will be saved, glorification) (Ligonier Ministries). So, without going too deep into other channels, we worship the Lord in spirit and truth when daily we submit to Christ's lordship of our lives and allow the Word to cleanse us, walking in the Spirit, not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
In doing this, we have offered our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your "spiritual worship!"
HalleluYah and Amen -
Morgan
Works Cited:
Currid, D. John, and David W. Chapman. ESV Archaeology Study Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Books, 2017.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/3-tenses-gospel
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