Worship in Spirit and Truth

Worship in Spirit and Truth

John 4:23-24 tells us that God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We know that Jesus is the Truth, so clearly He is in view here.

There's another interesting point being made in this passage, however. Jesus is talking about the sea change of the coming New Covenant. The Hebrew people worshipped in shadow, type, or example. They followed rituals, rites, and ceremonies.

Jesus is talking about the fact that we worship the real thing. We don't need shadows, types, examples, rituals, rites, and ceremonies.

Jesus is God, not merely a shadow.
Jesus is full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the substance of things the Jews only saw in examples.
Jesus is the Spirit within us.
Jesus and the Father are One.

This is the reason we do not worship God by keeping rules, performing rites, or conducting ceremonies.

We are in Christ, and we have Christ in us.
We are in the Spirit, and we have the Spirit in us.
We are in the Truth, and we have the Truth in us.

That's the way of grace. Resting in the reality rather than chasing after shadows.