Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 are used out of context. Neither verse is dealing with worship services. The context of Ephesians 5:19 goes back to Ephesians 4:1. It’s about your life as a believer. The same with Colossians 3.<\/p>\n
When the Israelites were baptized in Acts 2, they went to the Temple daily. The Temple still had those instruments that Nehemiah put back in there after the construction of the Temple after the Babylonian captivity. There is no mention of the instruments being removed prior and no record of the apostles telling them to rid of the instruments or that using them was a sin.<\/p>\n
Also, in the church, pitch pipes are used; yet, they are not found in the Scriptures. Song leaders are used; yet, not found in the New Testament. Some churches have choruses but do not use them during worship, using the reasoning that “as long as it’s not during worship then it’s fine.” The problem is that the Bible never makes a delineation between corporate and non-corporate worship. The same goes for those who listen to gospel music.<\/p>\n\t
“Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved<\/em>” (Acts 2:46-47).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Temple area was\u00a0where<\/em> the early disciples gathered to meet and learn. But it does not mean that these early Christians were participating in Jewish worship. The temple complex was quite large. The western wall alone was 1590 feet long. It was designed to allow large gatherings of people, not just for worship but also as a place to gather for learning. Thus, the early Christians gathered in this area for daily study.<\/p>\n
Jewish worship occurred primarily on the Sabbaths (Saturday). Christian worship occurs on the first day of the week (Sunday). There are zero reasons to assume that Christians would have kicked the Jews out of the temple or borrowed the items used for their worship to be used in Christian worship. The assumptions of this argument have no foundation in reality.<\/p>\n
The reason the early church didn’t use instruments is that God didn’t authorize their use as He did in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n\n
Song leaders are mentioned in the New Testament. “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm<\/strong>, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:26).<\/p>\n
Regarding the distinction made between personal worship and the worship conducted as a church, see:<\/p>\n
\n
- Is Sunday the only day of worship or can we worship God any day?<\/a><\/li>\n
- If I am just not able to get out, can I worship at home?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Is it okay to listen to instrumental “Christian” music outside of worship?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Choirs and Solos<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 are used out of context. Neither verse is dealing with worship services. The context of Ephesians 5:19 goes back to Ephesians 4:1. It’s about your life as a believer. The same with Colossians 3. When the Israelites were baptized in Acts 2, they went to the Temple daily. The…<\/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],"class_list":["post-35677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-instrumental-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92731,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/make-melody-in-your-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":0},"title":"Make Melody in Your Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Text: Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 These two familiar scriptures on singing spiritual songs are set in a context of a \"time of reformation,\" in which the carnal and earthly temple and instruments are given their spiritual fulfillment in Christ. In contrast to the Old Testament or\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":86935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-3-prove-instrumental-music-is-scriptural\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":1},"title":"Does Acts 3 Prove Instrumental Music Is Scriptural?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall An up-and-coming trend to defend musical instruments in praising God consists of this line of argument: In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer to pray. The temple used instruments in prayer. Therefore, Peter and John's actions show it is\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":41554,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/instrumental-music-was-not-replaced-so-it-must-continue\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":2},"title":"Instrumental music was not replaced, so it must continue","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your answer to instrumental music quite by accident and I found it revealing. I wouldn't call blunt rude, but it was near the line. I hope to be treated in your response less close to the line, but I have a different take on this issue\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":41441,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-play-or-not-to-play-that-is-the-question\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":3},"title":"To Play, or Not to Play: That Is the Question","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Shakespeare's Hamlet pondered the question: \"To be, or not to be. That is the question.\" In the following pages, we want to deal with the question: \"To play, or not to play.\u00a0That\u00a0is the question.\" The question continues as it has through many centuries and divisions in\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":59816,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-spiritual-simplicity-of-our-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":4},"title":"The Spiritual Simplicity of Our Singing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Earnhart In the 1940s Elmer T. Clark observed that is \"a peculiar type of mind which is convinced that God is interested in whether his worshipers sing with or without instrumental music\" (Small Sects in America, p. 16). Clark's words carry a twentieth-century bias. The truth is that\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":8723,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-it-is-wrong-to-use-instrumental-music-because-the-new-testament-doesnt-mention-it-then-it-would-be-wrong-to-use-electricity\/","url_meta":{"origin":35677,"position":5},"title":"If it is wrong to use instrumental music because the New Testament doesn’t mention it, then it would be wrong to use electricity.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My brother was a member of the Church of Christ which is why I know something about their beliefs. They didn\u2019t use musical instruments when singing songs because, as he told me, musical instruments were not mentioned in the first-century church. Neither was electricity, but that sure didn\u2019t keep\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35677","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=35677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}