Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth

Much of the focus of the contemporary Charismatic and Pentecostal Churches has been on in the Spirit. We worship God in Spirit; we sing in the Spirit; we pray in the Spirit and we dance in the Spirit and so on. The question is - are we doing it right in the eyes of God in the right spirit?

How many times have you heard a preacher said in the Local Church something like this: "Let us raise our hands; speak in tongues and worship God in the Spirit. The Bible says we should worship God in Spirit and in Truth!"? The preacher usually did not explain what is meant by "Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth.

The fact is that raising our hands does not make us true worshipers. True worshipers worship God in two ways: In Spirit and in Truth. You will not see any physical manifestation when someone is truly worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth. The fact is, praying in the Spirit goes far beyond just speaking in tongues. I can speak in tongues and not be "in the Spirit" at all. The physical gyrations I put myself through may have very little to do with worship. I must enter into the spirit of worship, and to do that I must come to God in truth.

True worship of God is only being done by those people who are truthful in their relationship with God. How can we worship a God that we are lying to? Here is where the problem of worshiping God in Spirit comes in. We will never enter into the true spirit of worship if we are not truthful with God. In my opinion the woman at the well (John 4) was in much better shape than many Christians today. One thing about her was that she was truthful. When Jesus pointed out her sin, she said, "You are right; I'm living in sin".

The woman at the well

In John Chapter 4 we find the account of Jesus and the woman at the well. Jesus explained to the woman of Samaria that if she would drink from what He could give her, she would never thirst again. Let us pick up part of the conversation between them:


"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw,' Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.' The woman answered and said, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said to her, 'You have well said, 'I have no husband.' 'for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly" (John 4:15 - 18, NKJV).


When Jesus pointed out this woman's sin, she was very quick to admit it. She did not try to whitewash it; she simply said, "I have no husband." She did not try to cover her actions at all. She allowed Jesus to reveal the truth about her.


Proper way to worship God


When Jesus was asked by the woman about the proper way to worship God, He responded:

"Woman, belive Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:21 - 24).


Here are som statements of truth:


1. Many heathens considered certain places pecularly holy or fit for the worship of their deities. But Jesus was pointing out that the place was a matter of little importance. The time was at hand in which the spiritual worship of God was about to be establised on earth, and all the rites and ceremonies of the heathens and the Jews were to be abolished entirely. The fact is that salvation is of the Jews (the Messiah, being a Jew, will bring salvation), only the Jews understand the true form of worship. But many Jews had corrupted it.


2. True worship was no longer going to focus un on a place but rather on an attitude. True worship was going to take place in the heart from that moment on. The issue was no longer the outward actions or rituals. The issue was becoming focused on who we are in Christ. Jesus was trying to make the point God now lives in the heart, and the heart becomes the place of worship. If a person's heart is not right with God, if there is no truth, he cannot properly worship God. Without truth we will never enter into the true spirit of worship.


3. The woman was dealing with the physical aspect of her relationship with God, but Jesus was dealing with the spiritual aspect of that relationship.


Renaming Sin


The world and the Church are diligently working to rename sin. Instead of dealing with the truth of the matter, we rename it. If it can be renamed, then it does not bother anyone and we don't have to deal with it! There are no alcoholics in the Church; there are only social drinkers. There are no gamblers in the Church; there are only investors of stocks and shares. Nobody in the Church has a problem with lust; all we deal with is sexual indiscretion. Renaming sin is like not admitting sin. We have the mentality that if a sin is not fully committed, it will not be considered sin by God. The root cause of renaming sin is disobedience. We have this mentality that as long as we sin in moderation it will be tolerable to God. But the Scripture says: "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9, NKJV, emphasis added).


Notice that not only a truly born-again believer does not sin, but also he cannot sin - not capable of sinning! God's seed in him will not allow him to sin. Therefore, those who rename sin are not born again; they are not saved.


Result of not dealing with truth


The person who will not deal with the truth ultimately deals with great sacrifice. A good example is found in 1 Samuel 15 where there is an account of the prophet Samuel and King Saul. God had instructed King Saul to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites. However, when King Saul returned, it was discovered that he did not utterly them. The Lord was grieved that He had made Saul king because he didn't carry out the Lord's instruction (1 Samuel 15:10).


It is interesting that Saul was fully convinced that he had completely fulfilled them, He even said to Samuel: "They (the people) have brought them (animals) from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed" (Verse 15).


Samuel then told Saul how God was grieved that He had made him king, and yet Saul still did not get the message. He was still fully convinced that half-sin is not full sin. He said to Samuel: "But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal" (Verses 20, 21).


Saul obviously misunderstood what Samuel said about "utterly destroy" - destroy everything, people, animals and things. He said that he brought back these few things so that he could sacrifice them to God. Samuel then made his now famous statement:


"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" (1 Samuel 15:22, NKJV).


It is not that God does not want sacrifice. It is that obedience is better than sacrifice in that obedience goes before sin; sacrifice goes after it! If Saul had simply obeyed God, it would not have been necessary to make a sacrifice. No matter how we try to justify our sin today, it will be the first thing we sacrifice once God has us on our knees. What we are finding in contemporary Christianity are people who will search the Scripture to justify their life styles and yet not search their hearts to find their God!


Make no provision for the flesh


Whenever we justify our sin, we will live in a world of sacrifices. Since we don't fully put to death things which appeal to our flesh, we will constantly be asking God to forgive us for our involvement in them.


Paul said, "Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (Romans 13:13, 14).


But, instead of clothing ourselves with Jesus Christ, many of us make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust of it. People who have a drinking problem often pattern their lives so as to make it easy for them to drink - they keep company with drinkers and hang around the bars. People who have a gambling problem make frequent trips to Macau or Las Vegas for "sightseeing". People who have a lust problem, have internet assess where pornographic websites are freely available.


Paul also said, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Gal. 5:17).


Many of us have this constant struggle going on inside us. Our flesh does not want to seek God. Our spirit does. The one we give into, whether the flesh or the spirit, will determine what comes out of our lives.


It is interesting to find out the reason why King Saul was instructed by God to utterly destroy the Amalekites. The Amalekites were very immoral people. They represent the constant struggle man has with his flesh. The Amalekites (speak of the flesh) were always fighting against God's people (speak of the spirit). Saul would not utterly destroy them because he was as fleshly as the Amalekites. His spirit had no power to overcome his flesh. That is the reason why God rejected him as King.


On the other hand, King David lived in a world of sacrifices. David had his problems with obeying God. However, David had a heart for God and eventually learned what God was looking for.


After he had committed adultery with Bathesheba and after Prophet Nathan had confronted him, David wrote: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 51:17).


The phrase "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit" indicates David came to God and worshiped Him in Spirit. The phrase "A broken and a contrite heart" indicates David came to God in truth. David was honest with God.


We will never shock God with truth. If we decide to tell God about our problem with sin, we will not set God back on His throne in astonishment. We must come to God in truth; otherwise, we will not let God deal with us. If I am trying to hide my sin from God, then I will refuse any help from Him because to accept His help is to admit to my sin.


We must ask ourselves, "Do I want to be one of the true worshipers of God?" If we do, then we must go to Him with our hearts opened. We must allow God to minister to us. God will never reveal sin to bring judgment upon us. God reveals sin for one purpose: to bring repentance and reconciliation. God does not want to condemn us to hell anymore that we would want to send our own children to damnation!