WORSHIP IN SPIRIT, BY THE SPIRIT
In Philippians 3:3, Paul encourages the Philippian church with the following statement:
“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh- “(ESV).
Furthermore, Jesus speaking in John 4:24, declares, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (NKJV). These two passages of Scripture provide believers with instructions on how to worship: “in spirit. . . by the Spirit.” We can surmise then that the Spirit is vital in worship, as he is the third person of the Godhead that leads us in and empowers, enables and equips us for worship. He is fully God and equal with the Father and the Son. He has a distinct personality and nature, and is called by various names, including the “Spirit of the Lord,” the “Helper,” and the “Spirit of Truth.”
The Spirit of Truth: Our Real Worship Leader
John 16:13 speaks of the Spirit’s leadership or guidance, saying: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. . .” (ESV). We can’t come into “all truth” without the Spirit’s leadership, and truth is a necessary component of worship, as articulated in John 4:23-24, the Father is seeking worshipers that worship in spirit and truth. The Spirit is the person of the Godhead that reveals the truth about God — bearing witness about Christ (John 15:26), searching the depths of God (1 Corinthians 2:10), teaching us all things and helping us remember the word of God (John 14:26), and dwelling with and in us (John 14:17). Therefore, the Spirit of truth is the real worship leader — igniting and energizing our spirits in worship. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is the source of our unity with Christ and His Church and guides and authorizes the various aspects of the corporate worship service — from prayer to singing to the preaching of the Word, as we will see from an examination of various biblical texts.
The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
In speaking of one of Paul’s most famous benedictions, found in 2 Corinthians 13:13 — “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” Morgan and Peterson conclude: “Christ is the source of grace for God’s people, the Father is the source of love, and the Holy Spirit is the source of fellowship” (Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson, Christian Theology: The Biblical Story and Our Faith (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2020). While the New Testament doesn’t reveal a great deal about the early Church’s worship structure and liturgy, Acts 2:42 does give a small glimpse into the inner life of their worship gathering, and one of their worship elements was fellowship. Hence, Christian fellowship, or what the Greek New Testament calls “koinonia,” is the Spirit’s gift to the Church and essential for and to the worship gathering. The Holy Spirit is the person of the triune Godhead that forms the basis of our partnership, communion, and fellowship with the Godhead and other believers. This fellowship should affect everything we do in ministry.
The Spirit in Our Worship Actions
Christian fellowship finds its expression in the numerous liturgical actions, such as singing, praying and preaching, and the Spirit works in all of them. According to Ephesians 5:18–19, the Holy Spirit’s in-filling enables us to “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in (our) heart to the Lord” (NKJV). Additionally, the Spirit leads us into effective prayer, as expressed in Romans 8:26–27: “. . . we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. . . in harmony with God’s own will” (NLT). Moreover, the Spirit works in the preaching or imparting of the Word. Paul illustrates the Spirit’s significance to the preached word in 1 Corinthians 2:13, saying: “We impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual,” and in 1 Corinthians 2:4 where he asserts, “My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.
In conclusion, genuine, biblical worship is only materialized in spirit. . . by the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that illuminates the way into God’s presence, for it is the Spirit of adoption that enables us to come into God’s presence as sons and cry out, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Likewise, the Holy Spirit is the source of our unity with Christ and fellow believers in worship — He animates our spirit and brings us into communion with Christ and His Church. The Spirit of God was present in the beginning (Genesis 1:2), and His ministry is vital in the New Testament Church — leading us in and empowering, enabling and equipping us for worship.
