The Beauty of Holiness: A Guide to Biblical Worship

Contemporary! Traditional! Divisive words – particularly when referring to methods of worship. Unhappily, the whole controversy about worship styles has degenerated into arguments based on personal preference. Given the intensity of this worship controversy that is increasingly dividing professedly Bible-believing churches into distinctive camps, I have felt inclined to make my contribution to the concern. I am convinced that the Bible does establish clear guidelines for both what we are to believe (issues of faith) and what we are to practice (issues of obedience) and that this direction includes matters of worship. If there is any overriding biblical truth that must circumscribe every worship practice, it is that worship is all about God and not about us. There is little hope of worshipping in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord if we do not start with the Bible and stress what it stresses. The Beauty of Holiness is a guide to what the Bible says about the object, manner, and the heart of worship. We must never shy away from what the Bible says regardless of how out of sync with culture it seems to be. God’s Word not culture – whether modern or medieval – defines the way of worship.