Featured Biblical Principles of Unacceptable Worship

Scripture reveals much to us about worship that is unacceptable to God. Here are some things that I would think that all Bible-believers should be agreed about what renders worship unacceptable to God:

1. Worshiping the wrong object--anyone or anything other than the one and only "living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9)

2. Worshiping that attempts to come to the Father in any other name than Jesus' name and through the work of anyone else other than the Lord Jesus Christ

3. Worshiping without faith

4. Worshiping with a wrong heart

5. Worshiping with wrong motives or purposes

6. Worshiping with singing that has ungodly or unbiblical lyrics

What other principles of unacceptable worship do you believe Scripture reveals?

 

It simply is not true that someone who has experienced the new birth always has a right heart before God and always has pure motives and godly purposes for what He does in worship.

We sin continually even after we have been genuinely saved and born again.

So another biblical principle of unacceptable worship is that worshiping without confessing known sin in one's life renders one's worship unacceptable to God.

 

The second line is a very good way of thinking about worship and approaching it. After more thought, I have reservations about the first statement.

 

I agree that there are many passages in Scripture that detail what displeases God in worship. I am interested in discussing such revelation to learn more about how it is supposed to profit us today concerning our worship.

 

Wow, these are major denials of biblical teaching. I disagree very strongly with what you say here.

 

See my edited original comment. I agree with the second line but I have strong reservations about viewing and speaking of worship as the "entertainment" of God.

 

I agree that the entertainment aspect of contemporary worship styles is a major consideration for holding that they are unacceptable, but IMO, using the word "entertainment" to speak about what worship means to God is problematic because the word according to its very widely understood meaning carries with it senses that are not biblical when speaking about God and worship.

What is biblical is to say that in worship we are to seek to please God with what we do.

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

These passages from apostles make clear that true believers do not always have a right spirit/heart before God. We are told that we must cleanse ourselves not just from all filthiness of the flesh but also of the spirit. We must cleanse our hands when we have engaged in sinful actions and we must purify our hearts when we are double minded.

 

This is certainly a passage that instructs us about unacceptable worship. Among other things that it teaches us, it shows that worship by unbelievers that involved (or involves) the use of any other incense in worship by unbelievers was unacceptable worship not just because it was offered by unbelievers whose hearts, motives, and purposes were wrong and because they offered it to wrong objects--their worship was (and is) unacceptable also because we do not have any evidence that God has ever accepted the use by anyone in any kind of worship of any other formulation of incense other than what He revealed to the Israelites.

 

I disagree. There are lots of discussions about that subject.

I chose the theme of this thread purposefully because I want to direct attention to biblical revelation that brings out truths for us about what makes worship unacceptable that I believe many believers may have overlooked or have never understood correctly or fully.

 

Divine wisdom has chosen to reveal truth to us both through "positive" instruction and examples and "negative" examples and instruction. The latter helps us understand what we should choose every bit as much as the former.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.