Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to Him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
Worship may properly be given only to God; specifically, the Triune God of the Bible. All others are imposters.
Worship may not be given to angels (compare Revelation 22:8-9), saints, or any other creature.
Since the fall of man, worship requires a Mediator. Sinful man may not approach a holy God. The prayers of the unrighteous are not heard apart from One who stands in their stead. Christ is the only mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5). Accordingly, no one may worship God or pray to him apart from Christ.
It is politically incorrect to say so, but this section of the Confession excludes "worship" by non-Christians; by Christians appealing to human intermediaries (e.g., Roman Catholics), and by Christians failing to name Jesus Christ as mediator or attempting to come to the Father apart from the Son. Recall the example of the Pharisee in Luke 18. Under such circumstances, attempts at worship and prayer can be useless.
Tomorrow: On prayer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment