Day 263

Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day.

Chapter 22, Paragraph 2.

“Religious Worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to him alone;…”

Scripture Lookup

Matthew 4:9,10

John 5:23

Matthew 28:19

Reflection

God alone is to be worshiped. Pretty simple, right? Why would anyone disagree about that?

A popular view of God is that He loves everybody and is super forgiving, bending over backwards to affirm you and be there for you. With such a view of God, it becomes easy to move to the logical next step, which is allowing other things to be worshiped. Since God is loving and forgiving, why would He be upset with other things getting praise and adoration? Aren’t we supposed to build up, not tear down?

Such a view distorts the true God, the God who has revealed Himself through creation and Scripture. God is love, that is correct, and He is most gracious and merciful. But He is also good and holy. Allowing glory to be given to another when it is due Him alone is not right. God cannot do wrong, so He naturally demands that He only be worshiped. “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8, NASB)

Not only is God to be the sole object of worship, all three persons of the Godhead are to be worshiped. This is why Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other trinity-denying groups are not considered Christians. Decry the divinity of Christ or the Spirit, deny that the Father continually exists with the Son and Spirit, and you are worshiping a completely different god than the One who has breathed out the Scriptures.

Do we as believers worship all three persons of the Trinity? In theory we do, but how does that play out practically? Do we acknowledge all three in their respective roles regarding salvation? Do we place greater emphasis on one over another in our prayers? If we are to fear, love, praise, call upon, trust in, and serve the Triune God, let us make sure that we do so, not neglecting any member of the Trinity.

Questions to Consider

• Do you tend to acknowledge one person of the Trinity over another?