by Paul Mays<\/p>\n
Where did God say that we are not allowed to use instruments in the avenue of Christian worship that is music?<\/p>\n
The thing is God doesn’t owe us a list of what worship we are not allowed to offer. He is merciful enough to give us a way that we are allowed to worship Him.\u00a0He has always been specific since the garden with what kind of worship that we are privileged to offer (Genesis 4). We simply obey in love (John 14:15) and fear (Ecclesiastes 12:13).<\/p>\n
I submit that almost everyone already understands this. They just don’t make the connection. I hope this will help with that connection.<\/p>\n
We understand that He allows us to worship Him during the Lord’s supper to remember His death. He specifically prescribed unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine (Luke 24). He didn’t tell us not to use beef jerky. He didn’t have to.<\/p>\n
He also allows us to worship Him with music. He specifically prescribed singing, teaching, and admonishing as the kind of music that we are to offer (Colossians 3:16). He didn’t tell us not to use instruments. He didn’t have to.<\/p>\n
He did, however, in the very next verse (Colossians 3:17), tell us that whatever we do must be by the authority of Jesus Christ. It has to be in His name because He asked for it.<\/p>\n
Beef jerky isn’t.<\/p>\n
Neither are instruments.<\/p>\n
Literally, every scripture that governs Christian worship music specifies singing. None authorize playing. If He wanted them, He would have prescribed them. He has always been specific. In fact, He prescribed them for the Levites under the Old Law. He authorized specific instruments at a specific time (II Chronicles 29:25\u202d-\u202c31).<\/p>\n
God doesn’t owe us a list of what worship we are not allowed to offer. He prescribes His will, and how we are allowed to worship Him. We obey in love and fear (John 14:15, Ecclesiastes 12:13). I want to be His disciple so I abide in His word.<\/p>\n
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed<\/em>” (\u202d\u202dJohn\u202c \u202d8\u202c:\u202d31\u202c \u202dNKJV\u202c\u202c).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Paul Mays Question: Where did God say that we are not allowed to use instruments in the avenue of Christian worship that is music? Answer: The thing is God doesn’t owe us a list of what worship we are not allowed to offer. He is merciful enough to give us a way that we…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[292,84],"class_list":["post-58244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-instrumental-music","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-only-levites-allowed-to-use-instruments-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":0},"title":"Were only Levites allowed to use instruments in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, Please help me resolve a question regarding the use of instrumental music in worship by Christians. Although it is not prohibited specifically, the fact that God specified singing ought to warrant its prohibition through the principle of \"silence of the Scriptures\" as indicated by Hebrews 7:14. The\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":38085,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-god-allow-sinful-things-to-worship-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":1},"title":"Why does God allow sinful things to worship Him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If your opinion of using musical instruments in the New Testament is sin, why does God allow sinful things to be used to worship Him, either symbolically or physically or metaphorically or whatever in His presence? In the Old Testament sacrifices and musical instruments are used to worship God;\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":43850,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/because-we-are-to-sing-psalms-and-the-psalms-mention-instrumental-music-doesnt-this-mean-we-can-use-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":2},"title":"Because we are to sing psalms and the Psalms mention instrumental music, doesn’t this mean we can use instrumental music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend who says it's OK to use instruments in worship because of Psalms. \u00a0He says that we are commanded to sing psalms to which he says how can we sing psalms and not believe what it says when David said to praise God with instruments. What\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":42222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-jesus-is-going-to-return-with-the-blast-of-a-trumpet-cant-instruments-be-used-in-the-worship-of-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":3},"title":"Since Jesus is going to return with the blast of a trumpet, can’t instruments be used in the worship of him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If music is not authorized in New Testament worship, even to the point of sin if it is used, then when the Lord returns and that great trumpet sounds, will we then say that it isn't a time of worship and praise? Are we willing to say that the\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":45601,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-churches-of-christ-not-use-instrumental-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":4},"title":"Why Do Churches of Christ Not Use Instrumental Music?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Allen Webster Churches of Christ love music. Singing is a prominent - and favorite - part of each service. Most congregations dedicate a Sunday night each month to learn new songs and to sing old favorites. Annual singings can draw thousands of people. Many Christians sing daily as they\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":14713,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-in-the-bible-is-instrumental-music-forbidden\/","url_meta":{"origin":58244,"position":5},"title":"Where in the Bible Is Instrumental Music Forbidden?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jerry Fite Nowhere in the Bible does God explicitly forbid the use of instrumental music in worship. Some find implicit condemnation in Amos 6:1-5, where the prophet writes, \"they invent for themselves instruments of music, like David.\" But upon a closer contextual examination, one must conclude that the self-indulgent\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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58244","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=58244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}