Other Questions

Some may ask, “If we share all of God’s features, does He have a physical body made of flesh and bone?” John 4:24 has the answer: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” God made man out of the dust of the ground, but He Himself was not created. We have seen that He is eternal, “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3).

When Christ, the God of the Old Testament, came to earth, He gave up His glorified spiritual body to become a flesh-and-blood human being (John 1:14). However, until that time, God was not flesh. Notice how Jesus Christ describes spirit beings: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit…The wind blows where it [wills], and you hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6, 8).

Others may ask, “What shape and form does the Father have?” Notice what Christ said to His disciples when one of them asked Him this same question: “Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He that has seen Me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?” (John 14:9). Christ looked like the Father in character, as well as in form and shape. Once again, the Bible has interpreted the Bible!

God Must Be Worshipped His Way

Now that you understand who and what God is, you must also learn how He is to be worshipped. Some say this is unimportant. However, what men say is irrelevant—what matters is God’s Word.

Notice: “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). It is possible for one’s worship of God to be completely in vain—futile. God does not accept those who worship Him as they choose. He must be worshipped precisely as He instructs.

Notice God’s very specific warning to Israel—and why He warned them as He did: “When the Lord your God shall cut off the nations from before you…and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which He hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods” (Deut. 12:29-31).

Many similar verses could be examined to amplify and strengthen God’s plain command given here. (See Exodus 34:10-17, 23:28-33; Leviticus 20:22-26; Deuteronomy 20:13-18.) All of these passages make it absolutely clear that worshipping God any way other than His way is simply not acceptable to Him. Let’s look at this more closely.

First, consider for a moment all that you have read in the chapter, “Another Jesus,” remembering that we talked about how Israel worshipped Baal and Ashtaroth in a process described as syncretism. It was explained that this is mixing worship of the true God with false customs, practices and worship of other gods.

We are now prepared for a fascinating look into exactly how the entire nation of Israel disregarded all of the instructions referenced in the passages above, and convinced themselves that they were worshipping God. Here is what they were doing: “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there” (II Kgs. 17:33).

Did you grasp this? It appears that Israel “feared” the true God while serving other gods. It is no wonder then that the very next verse explicitly declares that they actually “fear not the Lord” (II Ki 17:34).

This is a crucial point that must be understood by all those who wish to escape the seductive trappings of the trinity and seek to worship the true God. It is impossible for people to follow their own traditions, and serve gods of their own choosing—and be true Christians at the same time. Regardless of what people permit, the God of the Bible does not permit this!

You are urged to carefully ponder what you have just learned!

Some suggest that Christ’s coming changed everything. Is this true? Let’s examine what the New Testament teaches about worshipping God. We have already seen that Christ rebuked the Pharisees for observing their own traditions instead of obeying God’s commandments. Now notice the fuller context of what we quoted several times earlier, regarding what God requires of those who worship Him: “But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). What does this mean?

On this occasion, Christ was explaining to a Samaritan woman that the time had come that those who worship God would do this through the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. We saw people need not come together in a literal, physical temple in order to worship God because their human body was to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19).

Also, since the Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13), those who have it—who are being led by it—will be worshipping God in truth. Real Christians strive to follow the truth in every matter. They would never follow the “instructions” of the trinitarian god, whose “Jesus” teaches that salvation is entirely by grace, with no works required. Notice just a few scriptures:

“And why call you Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). “You are My friends, if you do what I command you” (John 15:14).

“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straight way forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (Jms. 1:23-25).

Those who truly seek to serve the God of the Bible must obey Him—and Him only! If they do, the reward will be incredible, and you are now ready to learn what that is.