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Question - 7/22/2008 7:34:00 AM
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JMCrwd
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Joined: 5/2/2008
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I have been hearing for a long time that we must worship God in spirit and truth. What exactly does that mean?
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RE: Question - 7/22/2008 8:14:46 AM
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conrack50
Posts: 755
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From: 200 N. Bryan Ave. Shawnee, Ok 74801
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I found this by doing a search of the question within all the forums:
Hope it helps!
John 4:23
The Lord seeks true worshipers: those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. This parallels the truth of 2Ch 16:9, which says, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him..."
John 4:24
The reason we must worship the Lord in spirit is because that's the only part of us worthy to approach the Lord. When we get born again we become brand-new creatures in our spirits (2Co 5:17). That part of us is identical to Jesus (2Co 6:17, 1Jo 4:17). Our spirits are created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph 4:24). They stay pure and holy even if we sin because they've been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). They're sanctified and perfected forever (Heb 10:10-14, Heb 12:23).
When we worship the Lord through our born-again spirits, we have access right into the Holy of Holies without any fear of rebuke. Those who come to the Lord overwhelmed with their unworthiness are not in the spirit but in the flesh. That will never please God (Ro 8:8) or us. It's only in discovering who we are in the spirit through our new relationships with Jesus that we can ever successfully worship the Lord.
Jn. 4:24: God is not merely a force or influence or a thought in the minds of men. Also, "forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" (Ac 17:29).
God is a person. He has a personality and emotions (Ge 6:6; Zep 3:17; 1Jo 4:8,16). He has a mind (Isa 40:28; Jer 32:35; Ro 11:34) and reasoning (Isa 1:18).
He has a spiritual body with shape (Joh 5:37) and form (Php 2:6) as can be understood from many examples in the Bible where men saw him (Ex 24:9-11; Ex 33:21-23; Isa 6:1, 5; Eze 1:26-28; Eze 10:20; Da 7:9-14; Am 9:1; Ac 7:56; Re 4:2-5). Colossians 1:15 and 1 Timothy 1:17 do say that God is invisible, but in light of these instances where people saw Him, it must be understood that He is invisible to our natural sight even as are angels. However, He can and has manifested himself.
Jesus said in John 6:46 that no man has seen the Father and Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:16 that no man can see the Father. However, Exodus 33:20-23 shows that this must be speaking of seeing the Lord face to face because Moses did see God's "back parts." Taken in context, Exodus 33:11 must be using "face to face" as a way of saying God talked to Moses openly or directly without having to use visions or dreams (compare with Nu 12:4-8). "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (1Co 15:44).
from Connie Lou
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RE: Question - 7/22/2008 9:33:55 AM
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SpongeBlog
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JMCrwd
I have been hearing for a long time that we must worship God in spirit and truth. What exactly does that mean?
Worship must come from the heart and spirit of a person. Under the old covenant the people of God approached God through the outward and visible observance of various laws--laws of Feasts and Sabbaths, and sacrifices, and so on.
But now in the New Covenant, because of the Holy Spirit in us, worship is no longer simply outward and external. Worship in Spirit and in Truth means fulfilling the requirements of God in the true way God intended, by the Holy Spirit. Circumcision is to be circumcision of the sin nature from the heart of a person, not merely cutting off the foreskin. He is not pleased with foreskins. He's pleased with the cutting off of the sin nature.
Festival celebration is the joy and abundance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, not just a schedule of times and seasons for outwardly rejoicing. Temple sacrifices are the offering up of Christ, the perfect sacrifice, by faith, and the sacrifice of our bodies in service to Him, not the slaying of an animal and putting it on the altar. A true Sabbath Rest is the rest we have in Christ from the task master of sin, not just resting from one's physical labors.
All these spiritual realities are the true worship God is looking for, and that actually count for something. The externals did not necessarily equate to the spiritual reality God wanted inside a person. Does resting from your work on the Sabbath even remotely compare to resting from the labor of sin? Settling for the externals brings a person far short of what God desires in a person. God wants the heart of a man where true worship comes from.
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"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men." (Romans 14:17,18)
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RE: Question - 7/23/2008 12:05:58 PM
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Conquered
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It means real worship and worship that is real.
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A blog meditating on the wonders of Jesus Christ and the magnificence of his cross:
www.sevenmeditations.com
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