Here are my rough notes that I used to present this topic at the National Association of Free Will Baptist. Eventually, I will circle back around and update these for clarity.
In the Old Testament, one of the first principles we learn about worship is that sincerity alone is not acceptable (see the narrative of Cain’s sacrifice in Genesis 4). The heart of worship in the Old Testament was objective; the ceremonies prescribed in the Law of Moses were realities apart from feeling and emotion. The heart of worship in the Old Testament was the actual presence of God in the tabernacle and in the acceptable sacrifices of the priests.
In the culture around us, worship is often associated with a feeling. “I just don’t feel like I truly worshiped today,” or “Boy, we really worshipped today. Couldn’t you feel it?”
The heart of worship is not subjective or abstract. Just as the worship of the Old Testament was objective and concrete—even visible—so is the worship of the New Covenant. So, what is the heart of worship in the New Covenant?
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
This thesis was created after sorting through the temple imagery used in the New Testament. For the sake of convenience, this thesis is repeated throughout the verses below.
Jesus as Replacement of the Temple
John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 2:19-22 – 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Revelation 21:22-27 – 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
The Spirit and Truth as Replacement of the Temple
John 4:23-24 – 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
For more on the Spirit and Truth, read here.
The Scriptures in the Context of Temple Imagery
1 Peter 1:18-23 – 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
1 Peter 2:1-5 – So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:12-15 – 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
For more on the Scriptures in Worship, read here.
A Holy Church with Temple Imagery
1 Peter 2:4-5 – 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:9-12 – 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
Temple Imagery and the Work of Christ
Hebrews 9:11-14 – 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
Temple Imagery and the Gathered People of God
Hebrews 10:19-25 – 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Ephesians 2:18-22 – 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
For more on the gathered church, read here.
Temple Imagery and Personal Holiness
1 Corinthians 6:18-21 – 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Romans 12:1-2 – 1 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. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The heart of worship is the sacrificial work of Christ wherewith and wherein the Father draws humankind near to create for himself a holy people by the Spirit and the Word.
For more on personal holiness, read here.
Practical applications
- The worship of the church should not emphasize the subjective and abstract; we must point people to God’s truth.
- The worship of the church should minister to the whole person—head, heart, and hands. We must avoid extremes (intellectualism, emotionalism, and legalism).
- Every Lord’s Day meeting will be gospel-centered and gospel-shaped, rather than some services being “evangelistic” and others not being.
- The work of the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Truth—should not be mystified in daily life or in the gatherings of the church.
- We will see the physical gathering and all the ordinances of the church as essential, because this is the visible aspect of New Covenant worship.
