“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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Jesus teaches that Christian worship is Trinitarian (“in spirit”), and that it will be in accordance with God’s revelation (“in truth”).
Worship “in Spirit”
Jesus, the Son, says we will worship the Father. He also says that God is “spirit.” Maybe “spirit” should be capitalized, to refer to the Spirit, commonly called the third Person of the Trinity. “Worship in Spirit and truth is Trinitarian worship—worship that is aware of the distinct work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in our salvation” (John Frame). In the one Godhead, the Father and the Son have dwelt, from all eternity, in the blessed communion of the Holy Spirit. The Father and Son relate to Each Other in the Spirit. We can’t conceive of everything this means. But, because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can know that we’re invited into this Triune relationship. As we have been granted the very Spirit of God, we’ve been welcome to relate to God the same way God himself relates to God. We relate to the Father the same way the Incarnate Son, Jesus, relates to him, in the Spirit. This is the best gift and the highest privilege of God’s grace!
Since God is Triune, and our worship is a participation in the Trinitarian life, this means worship involves worshiping together. For Christians, corporate worship is “natural.” We cannot conceive of worship solely or even primarily as a private devotion. The Spirit is the divine Unifier of Persons; worship in the Spirit is when people (plural) are unified in communion with the Triune God.
Worship “in Truth”
“The acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will” (WCF 21.1). There is such a thing as “acceptable worship” (Heb. 12:28) and unacceptable, unauthorized worship (Lev. 10:1-3; Acts 5:1-11), because truth matters in real relationships. God tells us who he is, he tells us what relationship with him will be like, and he forbids us from relating to him according to our own imaginations (see the Second Commandment). So Christians worship God on his terms, in his ways, according to the truth that he has revealed to us.
Ultimately, Jesus is the truth God has revealed to us about himself for worship. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the Son worshiping the Father Jesus is a human being worshiping God as God would, in the Spirit. His life and words are the pattern for our worship, and more than “merely” the pattern. Jesus is the true worshiper (Pss. 15 & 24), and we may only come to God through him, we may only truly worship in his name.
According to the Gospel, how is it possible for sinners like us to worship the Father, to relate to him as his Incarnate Son relates to him? What does it mean that the Father and Son relate to Each Other in the Spirit? What does it mean that we are welcome to relate to God in the same way, in the same Spirit? What is the significance for your life, your worship (personal or corporate)? Why does truth matter in real relationships? What do you think about God telling you what is acceptable worship? What do you think about God rejecting “unauthorized” worship, even revealing that it means death? Are there ways in which you are prone to approach the worship of God according to your own imagination or preferences, rather than according to his revelation? What does Jesus reveal to us about true worship in his life and teachings? Why would you want to worship in his name rather than coming to God in your own name?
