The Regulative Principle of Worship: Worshiping God the Way He Has Ordained.

The Regulative Principle of Worship consists of the church practicing in worship only the elements prescribed in the Scriptures and instituted by God. This principle is an act of obedience to God and protection of the church to avoid errors such as that of Cain, who offered a sacrifice to God without the shedding of blood revealing his faithless and evil heart. Other examples are Nadab and Abihu, who disobeyed God’s instructions by offering “foreign fire” in the Tabernacle, by which God immediately consumed them with fire, killing them on the spot (Lev. 10:1-7); the people of Israel in the desert when they raised a golden calf to worship Yahweh while Moses “delayed” to come down from the mountain (Ex. 32); the priests in Malachi’s time who offered their sacrifices in the way they thought to be correct but God did not accept the worship they offered, among other examples. This use of creativity in worship is the foundation of the Normative Principle of Worship, which understands that if the Bible does not directly condemn a specific element for use in worship, such element can be used as long as it does not cause discomfort or division in the body. According to this principle, anything the Bible does not expressly forbid can be used in worship without restriction, with man’s creativity and common sense being the regulators of what should or should not be practiced. That is a tremendous danger since man’s heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9), and there is, as seen in the examples above, a tendency in man to divert the focus of worship from God to himself and to worship the creature instead of the creator.

In the Bible, it is clear that God is the one who gives the guidelines for

how sacrifices should be offered, as well as at times, He provides the animal for the

sacrifice, which is ultimately done in the offering of His own Son. Scriptures define what we should practice in public worship, for God revealed in His written Word how His people should approach Him when they gather in worship and also demonstrated that the worship that pleases Him—and why not say that it is the worship He receives—is done within the parameters defined by Himself. In this sense, man does not have the right to invent new and creative ways of worshiping the Lord under penalty of having his worship rejected by God or even being punished by Him, as already cited in the examples mentioned above.

When we then think about what these elements would be, we see in the Scriptures that they are:

Public Worship to God:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

The church gathers to sing praises to God and worship Him for who He is and for His righteous deeds. Singing praise has always been part of the public worship of God’s people in both the New and Old Testaments.

Practice of the Ordinances:

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, [...] (Acts 20:7a)

The Lord’s Supper and baptism were public practices of the first-century church. Following Christ’s example, we break bread and drink the cup “as often as we come together” and baptize new disciples.

Corporate Prayer:

When he [Peter] realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” (Acts 12:12).

Prayer has always been a central part of public worship before and after Christ’s first coming. The church in Acts gathered together for worship and prayed corporately, making intercessions and supplications for one another as part of their liturgy.

Dedication of tithes and offerings:

“Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” (1 Cor. 16:1-2).

Offerings and tithes were collected weekly to support the church ministry, the missionary work, and other churches. The Book of Acts and the Epistles demonstrate that this was done while the church was gathered to worship.

Exposition of the Word: The teaching of the Word has always been central in public worship since apostolic times. Two of the many biblical passages that attest to this truth are:

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42

and

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” When the preacher opens the sacred Scriptures and expounds faithfully the text therein, God speaks to the gathered church. (1 Timothy 4:13)

Fellowship of the Saints: The regular practice of the solemn gathering of the church on the Lord’s Day is the main instrument that God uses to unite the saints through His Spirit, making them one body of which Christ Jesus is the head. Therefore, when we sing, we sing together; when we pray, we pray together, accompanying who is praying, and we confirm this when we say together “Amen!” (“so be it”) at the end of the prayers. Everything in the service is done together.

When the church is faithful and obedient in worshiping the way God instituted, we reduce the risk of tainting the worship with our strategies and center everything on Jesus, as we “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship.” (Rom. 12:).