August 21: IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH
“The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23
As the world continues to unravel, Jesus makes clear what His people are to be doing. In fact, the collision course that so many lost souls are choosing only increases the impetus for carrying out the Great Commission: the work of presenting the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6) to the world. Countless souls sincerely hunger and thirst to hear from God. The end-time message is about the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21)—the entire Word—before Jesus returns.
The everlasting gospel is great news for all who worship God, for they will receive His promise [of] new heavens [an unpolluted atmosphere] and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). The true worship of God is accompanied by motivation and inspiration to be living witnesses to His word in all of its fullness. Beloved, are you motivated and inspired to be a faithful witness to the everlasting gospel, preparing yourself and others for spiritual and physical endurance as we await the return of the Lord? Daily invite His Holy Spirit into your life. Believe that His word is truth, and His Spirit will empower you to obey it!
One of our responsibilities is to rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). An important part of worship in spirit and truth is caring for our temples according to His word. But we have an adversary who delights in causing confusion. It is of utmost importance to correctly understand that Jesus willingly took our place when He died for our sins on the cross. He died to redeem us from the curse of sin, which is defined by breaking His law (1 John 3:4). The death of the Lamb of God on the cross ended the sacrificial system of ordinances, called the handwriting of requirements: ceremonial rituals that had pointed forward to Him (see Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14).
But Christ’s death did not bring an end to unchangeable statutes, like the Ten Commandments and His counsel on healthy living and cleanliness. The fixed laws of Creation, when disregarded, lead to tragic outcomes. Gravity is still very real and necessary, as is the need for continuous cleanup of the environment. Christ’s death did not change the purpose of unclean animals, which is to search for dead things and eat them. Scavengers did not suddenly become clean animals when Jesus died. Notice that the LORD brought only a single pair of each type of unclean animal onto the ark (Genesis 7:2). Noah certainly understood that if he, or any of his family, had eaten just one of them, that animal’s extinction would sadly be guaranteed. This is too obvious to miss!
Moses codified in writing many things that had been taught since the beginning of the world. God’s people are responsible for making proper distinctions as they live life each day. And even though many things are self-evident, we have the benefit of the written word.
This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten. Leviticus 11:46-47 (see also Acts 10:9-16, 28; 11:1-18; 1 Timothy 4:3-5)