Is the use of instrumental music in worship a salvation issue? For example, regarding the division between instrumental and non-instrumental churches of Christ, if in the end when Christ returns both churches are still divided and convinced of their own views on the issue, will all of them that otherwise have remained faithful to God be saved?<\/p>\n\t
Your real question is how important is obedience to being saved. The use of the phrase “salvation issue” is simply the way some men try to rate God’s commands as to their importance. If a command isn’t seen as directly affecting a person’s salvation, then it is assumed that it can be safely ignored.<\/p>\n
But consider these:<\/p>\n
The very claim of faith demands that we obey God. Israel could not enter the promised land because of their disobedience. “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief<\/em>” (Hebrews 3:18-19). It is faith that spurs us to obey God. “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God,\u00a0for obedience to the faith<\/strong>\u00a0— to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen<\/em>” (Romans 16:25-27).<\/p>\n When we claim to love God, that love implies we will be obedient. “If you love Me, keep My commandments<\/em>” (John 14:15). “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome<\/em>” (I John 5:3).<\/p>\n In other words, disobedience demonstrates that we do not believe God really meant what He said and that we don’t really love Him. Obedience is critical to our salvation; thus, every command of God is a “salvation issue.”<\/p>\n “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure<\/em>” (Philippians 2:12-13).<\/p>\n “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience<\/em>” (Hebrews 4:11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Is the use of instrumental music in worship a salvation issue? For example, regarding the division between instrumental and non-instrumental churches of Christ, if in the end when Christ returns both churches are still divided and convinced of their own views on the issue, will all of them that otherwise have remained faithful to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[292,54,47],"class_list":["post-18497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-instrumental-music","tag-obedience","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-dont-use-instrumental-music-then-should-you-not-use-hymns-composed-on-pianos\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":0},"title":"If you don’t use instrumental music, then should you not use hymns composed on pianos?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In doing some research for a book, I came across your web site. I was really surprised by the bluntness of your home page. I grew up in several different churches of Christ, Christian, and restoration movement churches. The instrumental churches and non-instrumental churches have always puzzled me. I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34456,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-from-the-history-of-the-instrumental-music-controversy-among-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":1},"title":"Learning from the History of the Instrumental Music Controversy Among Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark Roberts Could one issue really divide brethren who claimed allegiance to the idea of just going by the Bible, doing Bible things in Bible ways, and following the Bible alone? As the Civil War finally came to its end and life began to return to normal in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45093,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-leave-our-current-church-because-of-unbiblical-practices\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":2},"title":"Should we leave our current church because of unbiblical practices?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am currently attending a church of Christ where I was baptized and continue to worship. I have been studying the Bible through your very informative website and have realized that a lot of things taught on your site are not practiced in our congregation, which has made me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-instrumental-christian-music-outside-of-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":3},"title":"Is it okay to listen to instrumental “Christian” music outside of worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me this question and I would like your opinion. I looked on your great web site but didn't see it addressed. A young lady asked me if it is okay to listen to \"Christian rock\" or instrumental (\"Christian\") songs outside of worship. I would appreciate your opinion.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7669,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-instrumental-music-be-used-during-weddings-held-in-a-church-building\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":4},"title":"Can instrumental music be used during weddings held in a church building?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have searched your website and didn't find any information on this so I am submitting this question: Is it scriptural to have recorded music (not vocal) in a wedding ceremony that is held in the church building? There is a young Christian couple that has asked to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57050,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-salvation-army\/","url_meta":{"origin":18497,"position":5},"title":"The Salvation Army","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Weaks I wonder how many people know that the Salvation Army is a church. The only time you see them is at Christmas time when the red kettles and bell ringers show up at entrances to shopping malls. How many times have people tossed money into the kettle,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/the-new-york-public-library-MNs3KvP5mAA-unsplash-238x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18497\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}