Transcript
Ben Fallon: Today's question comes from Ron, who has some concerns about worship songs in church. He writes:
Many lyrics call out to the Holy Spirit to “draw near to us,” or “rain down on me,” or “Holy Spirit come,” or “fall fresh on me.” Acts 2:38; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6: 19, and many other verses in God's Word, say the Holy Spirit dwells in us when we become believers in Christ.
So, I just want to read those out to you quickly for reference. Here's Acts 2:38,”Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” And then, here's 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”
So here's the continuation of Ron's question:
I tend not to sing these songs and close my eyes instead. I believe his Spirit is in me already, so why would I call on him? To me, these songs lean on faithless words. Am I being too particular on this? I'm not trying to be the judge, and I really don't know where others are at in life. So, I would love your thoughts. Thank you for your time.
Paul Tripp: I want to talk a little bit about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit here because I think there are few areas of Christian doctrine that are more confusing and misunderstood, to many Christians, than the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Often, when you hear people talk about the Holy Spirit, it's like they're talking about a thing and not a person. And many people don't understand the essential nature of the Holy Spirit's work in salvation or in their sanctification. So, I want to center in on this Romans 8:9 passage because I think it's one of those “says-it-all” passages:
You, however, (speaking of believers) are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Again, I say unto you.), Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Repetition for emphasis!)
Paul is making it very clear that you cannot be a Christian apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Why is this? Well, it is the Holy Spirit that, in regenerating grace, breathes life into our dead hearts. That's what it means to be born again. It's the Holy Spirit that opens the eyes of your heart to the fact that you are a sinner. It's the Holy Spirit that convicts you of sin, and this grief over sin leads you to confess your sins and to seek God's forgiveness. It's the Holy Spirit who illumines the Bible to you so you can understand it; so you can read it with life-giving and life-changing power. It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to follow God's commands and is called to be part of his work of redemption on earth. It is the Holy Spirit who keeps us and protects us through his teaching, convicting, and empowering grace. It is the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit that awakens us, gives life to us, and empowers us to live as the children of God. If you do not have the Holy Spirit actively living and working inside of you, you're not a Christian.
So, inviting the Holy Spirit into a gathering of worship for me is like me having a friend living with me for a few days and then saying to him, “I would like you to invite you into my house.” He would think I was a bit crazy–he's already there! What I think we should be doing, and what I think is often the intention of things that are said and done but are poorly worded, is that we should always pray at the beginning of a service for an open and willing heart that submits to the work of the Spirit of God who is already with us.
“You're here! We are so blessed this morning that you are here. We celebrate that you are here, but we confess that we can be resistant to your work. Won't you now open our hearts to your work?” What a wonderful way to begin a service of worship as we recognize that he's with us, he's in us, and for us, but our hearts can be resistant, our hearts can be hard. “Won't you open our hearts so we may, in this service, be blessed by your work?”
BF: Well, this resource recommendation that I'm about to give doesn't have to do with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but since Ron's question was about singing songs in church during corporate worship, I want to commend to you Paul's weekly devotional, Sunday Matters: 52 Devotionals to Prepare Your Heart for Church. You can find that at paultripp.com/Sunday.
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