The One leading us into true worship is the Holy Spirit, not the person holding the microphone.
And that is just one example. Wanna go New Testament? Acts 16. Paul and Silas in prison singing songs of worship together – corporately – and suddenly there’s an earthquake powerful enough to set all the prisoners free, even though they were just listening. Corporate worship is powerful. It’s in the Bible.
But that still leaves the question of how scripture defines worship. For that, let’s go to Romans 12:1:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [Romans 12:1, NIV]
Living sacrifices – sounds super fun, right? But our worship will only go as deep as our obedience allows.
aul isn’t talking about the Old Testament concept of taking an animal, killing it, sacrificing that dead thing to God. We no longer have to sacrifice the way the Jewish people in Rome would have understood sacrifice. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice – and His sacrifice demands a response from us.
Our worship will only go as deep as our obedience allows.
There’s something significant about Romans 12:1 from the very first word: therefore. This is a really important structural relationship – a literary device to help us better understand scripture – called causation, or the movement from a cause to its reasonable effect.
So offering our bodies as living sacrifices is the effect of a cause that came before chapter 12. Honestly, the entirety of Romans chapters 1-11 is the cause, but for the sake of word count, let’s just look at the last three verses of chapter 11 to give us context we need:
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen!” [ROMANS 11:34-36 NIV]
And now…
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. [Romans 12:1, NIV]
This kind of worship is your reasonable, rational response to what God has done.
Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice – and His sacrifice demands a response.
Then there’s the living sacrifice part. That means that we place ourselves on the altar – our preference, our comfort, our hopes, desires, dreams – all of it. And we are alive to feel every cut, every bit of pruning as John 14 puts it. Our worship will only go as deep as our obedience allows.
And Paul calls this reasonable. Why wouldn’t you offer yourself as a living sacrifice? Yet Paul says, “I urge you.” Other translations say “I plead with you”… Paul, why do you have to plead if it’s so reasonable?
Because without a holy encounter, being a living sacrifice feels anything but reasonable. Having an encounter with Jesus is what elicits a sacrificial response. Without Him, there’s nothing to worship because without Him, we have no path to reconciliation with God. It’s all about Jesus.
So shouldn’t we hear from Jesus on this topic? We’ve heard from Paul. But what does Jesus say about worship? John 4:23 has the answer.
23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. [JOHN 4:23 NLT]
Worship is the way we relate to God through the Holy Spirit, in accordance with the teachings of Jesus.
The “time” that is referred to here is the time when worshipers would no longer need to go to the temple in Jerusalem to present their sacrifices in worship. Jesus’ death, resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts would usher in a new means of worship. The presence of God is no longer contained in a single location because the spirit of God dwells within those who believe.
What about “spirit and truth?” I get the fact that worship is no longer contained to sacred sites. But understanding the concept of “worship in Spirit” proves less concrete. Our understanding of the Holy Spirit only goes so far. His ways are nothing like our ways, His thoughts nothing like our thoughts.
So there might be times when we just don’t know. But then there will be times where you sense the invitation of the Spirit to linger in prayer even though the world demands your attention. Fight to love someone, pray for them, even through the pain they’ve caused you. Step out in faith even though you’re afraid.
Perhaps to offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God?
When we worship, our focus shifts from self to Savior.
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