Today's post was requested by a follower of the blog. I will go ahead an say in advance that it may be somewhat of a lengthy post but I do believe it will be well worth your time to read.
The issue of instrumental music in worship is something that has been a talked about issue my entire life. There is always the question whether instruments in worship are scriptural or not. I hope that through with post you will be able to see that the bible does give a definitive answer to this question. First, I want to start off by saying that we, as Christians, live under the new law. This law came into effect when Christ rose from the dead. The passage about David playing the harp in his worship to God has been used to say that instrumental music in the church today is permitted. The problem is David lived under the old law and some things were different then (for example animal sacrifices) so this scripture cannot be used to determine how we are to worship today. So, since we know that we live under the new law we must know how we are commanded to worship under this new law. This can be found throughout the New Testament. Let's look at a few of these scriptures. We see in Mark 16:15 and Acts 5:42 that we are to preach and teach the gospel. In Acts 2:42 and Luke 11:1-4 we see that we are to pray. We are commanded to give as we have been prospered in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. We are commanded to partake of the Lord's Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34 and in Acts 20:7. The last article of worship is singing. We see this in Ephesians 5:19 and in Colossians 3:16. Let's look at both of these scriptures: Ephesians 5:19 says, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord." If you read through those two verses (or any other scripture in the New Testament about singing as a part of worship) no where will you find any authorization for instrumental music as part of your worship to the Lord. Now the question is often raised, "But it does not necessarily say that you can't use instruments so; therefore, there is nothing wrong with it." However, this is not the case. God gives us authority for everything we do when it comes to worshiping him. Without the authority to use instruments we simply can not do so. Let's look at the story of Noah for example:
[This example is taken from a excerpt from Dave Miller's book "Richard Hills & Instrumental Music: A Plea to Reconsider] "Noah was instructed by God to construct a large wooden boat. That meant he was not authorized to build some other type of vessel. God's instructions included such details as dimensions, type of wood, a door and window, and decks (Genesis 6:14-16). He was authorized to build a boat, but not authorized to build an alternative mode of transportation (e.g., car, plane, or balloon). He was authorized to make a boat out of wood, but not authorized to make it out of some other material (e.g., plastic, steel, or fiberglass). He was authorized to use "gopherwood," but not authorized to use some other kind of wood (e.g., oak, poplar, or pine.) Noah has authority from God to build a gopherwood boat. He would have been guilty of sin if he has built a pinewood boat or a Plexiglas airplane- not because God forbade him to do it, and not because God said, "Build a gopherwood boat only"- but because he would have lacked God's permission/authority to do so."
The same thing goes for instrumental music in worship. God does not forbid us from using instruments in worship in the scripture and he does not say "sing A Capella only" but he does not give permission/authorize us to use instruments in worship; therefore, we cannot do so. We read in Revelation 22:18-19 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If and man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part our of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." We can see from this scripture that by using instruments in worship, with no authorization from God to do so, we are adding to his book and therefore are sinning against him. The scripture really does lay out for us how we are suppose to worship and the use of instrumental music is simply not found in His word. I hope that this post has been informative and easy to understand. If there are any further questions please feel free to comment on here or if you would rather you can post on The STAND's facebook page in the discussion board. Thank you.
-Ben Stevenson
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