Did you know that if you are in Christ you are already a perfect worshiper? This may come as news to some, but it’s good news all the same. I know, I know, you’ve probably been told differently and informed that real worship, perfect worship, is demonstrable worship with hands being clapped and raised. Some others will have insisted that no, real worship is found in the quiet and silent assembling of God’s people. Still others maintain that to have perfect worship you must have the proper day of worship insisting that the proper day is Saturday while others argue for a Lord’s Day (Sunday) observance. But here’s the truth of the matter, neither worshiping on a certain day nor having a particular form of worship can present us perfect before the Father.
The great problem we have in the arena of worship ministry is that very often our form of worship or day of worship subtly replaces the gospel. The gospel concerns the amazing saving work Christ has done outside of us and for us in history. Everything Christ did was perfect. That means He worshiped God perfectly on our behalf. He prayed and praised perfectly on our behalf. Every day to Him was a Holy Sabbath perfectly set apart to the Father. Now here’s the thing; the gospel lets us know that in Christ Jesus we are just as righteous as Christ Himself. Indeed, His very righteousness has been reckoned to us (Phil 3:8-9; Rom 4:6; Rom 4:22-24; 2 Cor 5:21). This means, among other things, that we have already worshiped God perfectly in the person of our substitute.
Of course, as we attempt to follow the Lord we will embrace some form of worship. This is right and proper; but the danger lies in the fact that we so easily think our form of worship gains us approval from God. In our estimation, our form of worship is the only one that God really endorses. If, however, we believe this way, we do not yet understand the gospel. We have swapped the gospel for religion. Religion, by the way, is not the gospel. Religion is man’s way of saying and doing things, but the gospel is God’s way of saying and doing things in Jesus Christ.
We are accepted in Heaven because Christ fulfilled all righteousness not because we speak in tongues, have the gift of prophecy, raise our hands, dance our feet and shout Amen! We are only accepted in Heaven because of what Christ Jesus did on our behalf when He was on earth 2000 years ago. Christ Jesus alone, not our form or day of worship, has opened the door of Heaven for us. It is only through His shed blood that we have access to the Father, therefore, we praise, pray and worship in His name alone. Christ not only paid it all he has done it all. He has substituted for us perfectly in His life on earth. He has worshiped, prayed and praised perfectly on our behalf. To hold on to some system of worship and imagine it overrides Christ’s perfections in worship is to depart from the gospel in favour of religion.
Since, Christ’s worship and obedience was perfect, we should never put our style of worship into competition with His. Our faith must always be directed towards Him, His doing and dying and exaltation. Christ is our full acceptance in Heaven.
We are so quick to point out to the unbeliever (and rightly so) that there must be nothing added to Christ’s work for us, yet we, as believers, foolishly add our forms of worship to the finished work and somehow think that because we worship this way or that we have additional acceptance in Heaven. But in the light of the gospel that is nonsense!
And that’s the Gospel Truth