If we wish to be faithful to the biblical doctrines recovered in the Protestant Reformation, then our worship must be according to Scripture alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone. Indeed, when we draw near according to Scripture, by grace, through Christ, we are entering the very presence of God in heaven for communion with him.
However, although drawing near to the heavenly sanctuary is a very real reality in Christ, it is not yet a physical reality. Our bodies are still here on earth, while we really are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. What this reveals is the important spiritual essence of our participation in the heavenly worship of God through Christ. As Paul says in Ephesians 2, we have access to the Father through Christ in one Spirit. The Spirit of God is the agent who makes this possible because it is a spiritual reality.
The problem is that physical human beings naturally tend toward defining the essence of our communion with God in physical terms. This was the challenge for the Hebrew converts to Christianity that the author of Hebrews was addressing.
As Jews, when they thought of worship, they thought of it in terms of the physical temple, animal sacrifices, and ceremonies. These were physical rituals of worship established by God at Sinai, but the author of Hebrews emphasizes in verse 18 that we have not come to that mountain that may be touched. Those physical rituals of worship were but a mere copy and shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, he says in Chapter 10. Now, we come to a better mountain, we come to the heavenly mountain through Christ alone.
Although drawing near to the heavenly sanctuary is a very real reality in Christ, it is not yet a physical reality.
But since the true form of these realities is something that we experience spiritually now and not yet physically, these Hebrew Christians struggled. Those Old Covenant external forms of worship “felt” more real, and so they were being tempted to forsake spiritual worship in the heavenly temple in favor of earthly, physical forms of Old Covenant worship.
And many Christians throughout history have likewise failed to understand the spiritual reality of our participation in heavenly worship. Many medieval Christians wanted to experience the worship of heaven tangibly here on earth, either expecting that heaven came down to them while they worshiped or that they were experientially led into the heavenly temple through the sacramental ceremonies. They desired a heavenly worship “that can be touched.” And so they drew much of their worship practice from the Old Covenant, introducing into their worship an altar and priests with beautiful robes and trappings, and the lighting of candles and incense, and elaborate processions and ceremonies.
But the seventeenth century Reformers progressively broke away from those Old Covenant forms of worship because they contradicted a biblical theology of worship by grace alone through Christ alone. In commenting on medieval worship, Calvin said, “What shall I say of ceremonies, the effect of which has been, that we have almost buried Christ and returned to Jewish figures?” He complained, “A new Judaism, as a substitute for that which God has distinctly abrogated, has again been reared up by means of numerous puerile extravagances.”
And likewise, much of contemporary worship today is filled with similar extravagances. Many times in worship today, Christians expect to be able to tangibly feel the manifest presence of God when they worship, whether through a visible display of his glory, miraculous gifts, or emotional euphoria that is carefully engineered through manipulative extravagances. The goal of music and the “worship leader” is often to “usher worshipers” into the presence of God in heaven. This has resulted in a new understanding of the place of music in corporate worship, where music is now considered a sacramental means through which people experience God’s presence in worship. We want to be able to “feel” God’s presence; we want to tangibly experience communion with God.
When we’re asked the question, how do you know that you’ve worshiped, we want to be able to say something like “I felt God.” I experienced his presence.
But here’s what we need to remember: while we truly are in God’s presence through Christ, it is in the Spirit, and it is not yet a physical reality. It will one day be a physical reality. But that time has not yet come. We are already there spiritually, but not yet bodily.
While we truly are in God’s presence through Christ, it is in the Spirit, and it is not yet a physical reality.
Worship by Faith, not Sight
This is why faith alone is necessary for drawing near to worship God in his heavenly temple.
Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Faith is the means by which we are able to draw near to communion with God through Christ in the heavenly temple, though we do not yet experience that communion in physical ways. The author of Hebrews defines faith in chapter 11 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” He says in verse 6 that without faith, “it is impossible to please [God] (same word translated “acceptable” in our text), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We worship by faith and not by sight. We worship by faith and not by feeling.
We worship by faith and not by sight. We worship by faith and not by feeling.
Drawing near to God through Christ by faith alone means that we do not depend upon any physical evidence to give us assurance that we are truly worshiping. To worship by faith alone means that we do not define worship by a physical experience, feeling, or any other tangible proof.
To worship by faith alone means that we believe in the sufficiency of Christ’s death on our behalf to gain us acceptance into God’s presence, we follow his Word for how he wants us to draw near to him through reading and preaching the Scriptures and prayer and singing, and then we simply trust that we are truly worshiping regardless of any physical factors. Worship is not tied to any physical location, ritual, ceremony, or feeling. Worship is simply a spiritual drawing near to God through Jesus Christ, and in order to do this, we must have a full assurance of faith alone.
When we’re asked the question, how do you know you’ve worshiped, we ought to answer: I know I’ve worshiped, because I drew near to God, according to Scripture alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith alone.
If you do that, then you have worshiped God acceptably.
