Jesus said that we are to worship the Lord our God and serve Him only (Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8). Under the Old Covenant, God’s people had strict rules about how to worship Him. The priests had to bathe themselves before coming into the presence of God and were to wear certain clothes as they performed their duties (Exodus 28-29). There were regulations concerning the various sacrifices (Leviticus 1-7). There were certain times of the year when they were to present themselves before God to worship (Exodus 23). The Israelites had all these instructions on how to properly worship God, but this is not the case with the new covenant. There is no checklist provided in the New Testament that tells us what is acceptable or what is unacceptable. This does not mean, however, that anything goes, for Jesus told the Samaritan woman that those who worship God must do so in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Since God desires obedience rather than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), it behooves us as partakers of the New Covenant that we search the New Testament Scriptures to see what God has authorized, and then, to do it.
[Editor’s Note: The New Testament provides instructions, approved examples and divinely given implications respecting every aspect of Christianity that we need to know to please God. In addition, several lists of sins clearly show what God prohibits. Therefore, both from positive and negative lessons throughout the Gospel, mankind can know what is expected of him. This is true about acceptable worship, too. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
