The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Regulative principle

Of course, I will whole-heartedly agree with you that the Scriptures are the measure of what is right and wrong in every part of life. But that was not my point.

My point was this: God requires that we worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He has also given a great deal of instruction as to how we are to do that. Unless you see no connection between the instructions that the Lord God gave the Israelites re: how to approach Him in worship, then surely you would agree that God desires to be worshiped in a corporate setting with Himself as the object of and reason for that worship.

What I see you describing is how the church glorifies God. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I believe that proper worship will result in the kind of changed lives that you are describing.

Let me see if I can explain what I mean (anyone can jump in here and help me out!) The proper worship of God requires that we use the means that He has given us. The corporate worship service is about Him, not us. He has ordained the preached Word of God as a means of grace both to bring us to Christ and then to instruct us in His truth and His ways. The acts of service are a result of our worship and informed by our worship, but they are not strictly acts of worship in and of themselves. It is true that our lives should, of course, be regulated by scripture, but I believe that a distinction should be made between the two.