The Use and Limit of the Regulative Principle of Worship

The regulative principle of worship teaches that we can only worship God in the way that He has commanded. We cannot invent our own worship ceremonies and rites. This is stated in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which says, "The Scriptures forbid the worshipping of God by images, or in any other way not appointed in His Word" (Q/A. 50). This is foundational for any conception of worship to God.

I believe in the regulative principle of worship because it is Biblical. The Bible teaches us that the Scripture fully equips the man of God for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Since that it is the case, any attempt to worship God in a way that it is not appointed in His Word is not a good work and so should not be added to worship as if it were (Dt. 12:32).

The Bible expressly says that worship invented by man is vain and forbidden. Nadab and Abihu were struck down because they offered "profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them." The problem was that God had not commanded it. In Mt. 15, Jesus quotes Isaiah as saying, "In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (v. 9). Paul criticizes the Colossians for adopting "commandments of men" and "self-imposed worship" (2:22-23). Thus, the rites, duties, and ceremonies that men would invent in worship are forbidden, cannot profit, and, indeed, are harmful.

Let's make this concrete. The best example of the violation of this principle is the Church of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. They add a multitude of ceremonies that are not in Scripture and some which are even explicitly forbidden by it. They invent holy days, processionals, candlelight services, and burning of incense. They add innumerable ceremonies to the Lord's Supper.

In the case of Eastern Orthodoxy and Rome, it is not hard to see why they add so many ceremonies. They simply do not adhere to the principle of Scripture alone (sola Scriptura). Sadly for them, Scripture is the only authority for faith and life, whether they like it or not. Consequently, they have become idolaters.

This principle is also helpful in our debate with the Lutherans and Anglicans. Many of them retain the ceremonies of Rome. This is rather surprising, since they, in other respects, hold to the principle of Scripture alone. The problem is that they have in many cases adopted a worship that is not based on that principle. Consequently, they still have a worship that is infested with human rites and ceremonies, even while expunging it of some of the grosser idolatries of the Roman Catholic Church.

The regulative principle of worship (RPW) has its use in the cases mentioned above, but I fear that it becomes more limited in our debates with much of contemporary evangelicalism and in the worship wars within the Reformed Church itself. While we certainly do see certain ceremonies and acts of worship that are added to the Scripture, many of the problems in contemporary American Christianity are not addressed as explicitly by the RPW. The problem is often not the elements of worship but the way we pray, sing, and preach.

This presents a twofold problem. On the one hand, I think that there is the temptation to overreach to solve all the problems of worship by the RPW. We are tempted to think that the RPW is a cure all for problems in worship, so we try to make the RPW stricter than the Scripture itself. An obvious example is exclusive psalmody. Some think that if we only would sing Psalms, then our worship wars would be over. This is problematic on two counts. First, the Scripture does not command us to sing only psalms. Second, even if we only sang psalms, there would still be problems. You could still do a light, happy-clappy type worship just singing psalms. Indeed, many of the modern praise choruses are simply portions of psalms. Thus, I think that trying to use the RPW to solve everything is a dead end.

The other side of the problem is how we interact with evangelicals who have a worship style with which we disagree. We think that we can convince them to have Reformed worship by getting them to acknowledge the RPW. Then, we are dismayed because they still worship like they used to. The reason is that the root of many (not all!) of the problems in American, evangelical worship are rooted in other errors, not in having the wrong elements of worship.

Consequently, we must see that the RPW has its use, is extremely important, but is incomplete in defining every aspect of worship. We need other principles. A good example of these principles is found in Chapter 47 of the PCA Book of Church Order. This is the first chapter in the Directory for the Worship of God. For example, consider 47-8:

It behooves God's people not only to come into His presence with a deep sense of awe at the thought of His perfect holiness and their own exceeding sinfulness, but also to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise for the great salvation, which He so graciously wrought for them through His only begotten Son and applied to them by the Holy Spirit.

This teaches us the attitude that we should have in worship. I would say that most of our problems (and include "us" in the "our"!) relate to a failure in this regard. We do not come with a recognition of God's majesty, our sinfulness, and the grace of God in Christ. Such an attitude and frame of spirit would immediately transform our worship.

In conclusion, the regulative principle of worship rules out the ceremonial worship of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy and also that of Lutheranism and Anglicanism. Once we have rid ourselves of the unscriptural ceremonies, we must also fortify ourselves with other principles of worship. This will help us come to greater unanimity amongst ourselves in the way we worship and help us to explain more of why we think the way worship in the Reformed Churches is the right way to worship. We may have the same elements, but we want those elements to be exercised in a way that is reverent, humble, and with a strong emphasis on the fact that we can only worship because of our mediator, Jesus Christ.