“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh 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

The context for the passage was the Lord Jesus Christ’s trip from Judea to Galilee to avoid trouble with the Pharisees during the first year of His earthly ministry. The trip took Him and His disciples through Samaria (cf. John 4:1-4). Their journey brought them to Sychar, which was close to a piece of real estate that Joseph had given to Jacob. When they reached the site of Jacob’s well, it was twelve noon and Jesus being tired sat down by the well to rest, His disciples went into the city to buy food for lunch and He soon was talking with a Samaritan woman (cf. John 4:5-17). When Christ revealed some personal information about her, she identified Him as a prophet and the subject turned to worship (cf. 18-20). 

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh 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

The context for the passage was the Lord Jesus Christ’s trip from Judea to Galilee to avoid trouble with the Pharisees during the first year of His earthly ministry. The trip took Him and His disciples through Samaria (cf. John 4:1-4). Their journey brought them to Sychar, which was close to a piece of real estate that Joseph had given to Jacob. When they reached the site of Jacob’s well, it was twelve noon and Jesus being tired sat down by the well to rest, His disciples went into the city to buy food for lunch and He soon was talking with a Samaritan woman (cf. John 4:5-17). When Christ revealed some personal information about her, she identified Him as a prophet and the subject turned to worship (cf. 18-20). 

Christ immediately began to explain to her that all true worship of God was about to change. This woman was unsaved, but before Jesus left the well she and many of the townspeople would be saved (cf. John 4:28-29 with vv 39-42). He introduced to her new revelation which revealed Jehovah to believers by the name Father (Greek: Pater). God the Father was seeking people who would give Him spiritual worship in accordance with the truth of the Word of God (cf. John 4:21-24). Why is it that believers have little interest in the doctrine of the Father?

Our Lord Jesus Christ told the Samaritan woman that God the Father was now ready to introduce worship of Himself by believers at any time and in any geographical location. The center of worship previously was at the temple in Jerusalem, where Jehovah was revealed through the sacrifices, offerings, and the teachings of the Scripture. The worship was centered upon God under His revealed name as Jehovah Elohim of Israel. God through Jesus revealed His name of Father.

The divine name of Father is not a politically correct term in 21st Century America. The fact that it is a name chosen by God to reveal Himself to us means that it is an important name and the more we understand about our Heavenly Father the more we will understand about our Triune God. The feminist crowd and the politically correct Christian cowards would take the very name of the Father out of Scripture. We must never allow God to be blasphemed by those who would deny the existence of the Father. Jesus revealed the name of Father, man did not invent it.

“Worship” (Greek: proskuneo) comes from “pros” meaning “towards” and “kuneo” meaning “to kiss”. It means to worship, reverence, to prostrate oneself in homage, to express praise, adoration, fear, respect and devotion.

To worship “in spirit and in truth” is not two different types of worship. They are interlocked and true worship demands conformity to both at the same time. If not, there is no real worship. The text has an emphatic “must” and leaves no room for any bonafide worship that is not from the human spirit and is not in conformity to the Word of God. This passage does not establish a legalistic ritual for worship and leaves full room for the worship of spiritually baby believers, spiritually adolescent believers, and spiritually adult believers.

“To worship in spirit” requires that the person be born again and therefore be spiritually alive (cf. John 3:1-18). It also requires that the believer be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that it is not carnal, fleshly, worship (cf. Ephesians 5:18 with I John 1:3-10 compared to Romans 8:8). Worship comes from the new nature (cf. II Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) and not from the old nature of corruption (cf. Isaiah 64:6 with Proverbs 15:8). Worship of the Father is to come from the whole being of the redeemed, Spirit filled believer (cf. Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).

To worship “in truth” is to worship through Christ, who is “the Truth” (cf. John 14:6) and to worship in accordance with the instructions of the Word of God (cf. Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 29:29 with Exodus 40:34-35 and Leviticus 1:1-7:38). True worship must conform to the nature and attributes of God. Christ is the Redeemer and every person who has not made an individual decision to believe in Christ as their personal Savior cannot worship God at any time under any circumstances (cf. Acts 16:30-31 with 4:12). The Father does not accept the religious worship of any person who does not come to Him through Christ by the power of the Spirit, no matter what religious group they may have joined.

The worship of the Father comes forth from within the human spirit of the believer but it encompasses the entire person (i.e. body, soul, and spirit cf. I Thessalonians 5:23). Only a born-again believer can worship the Father because worship is the spiritual activity of a redeemed people (cf. Exodus 15:1-2). Israel did not worship Jehovah Elohim while in slavery in Egypt but only when they were brought forth as a redeemed people (cf. Exodus 2:23-24).

True worship is not some ritualistic system of singing, praying, talking or placing the body in some specific position. It is the believer pouring out his love, adoration, devotion, praise, and respect to a personally known God whom they are occupied with at the time of worship. In worship, we must control our thinking so that our hearts and minds are occupied with God.

The more of the doctrine of God a believer has learned, then the more understanding and appreciation he can have for the Triune Godhead. Spiritually mature worship of God demands a personal understanding of the essence and attributes of God and of the Trinity. The more of the doctrine of Christ the believer has learned, the more He can give praise and adoration to our Savior. The more of the doctrine of Pneumatology the believer has learned the more he is able to appreciate the Spirit without distorting His person or His work.

The Son came to explain the Father (cf. John 1:18) and to lead us into worship of the Father (cf. John 4:23-24). The Spirit came to teach us about Christ (cf. John 16:13-15). The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to permanently indwell every believer from the moment of salvation (cf. John 14:16, 26; 15:26).

How can people worship the Father when the doctrine of the Father is the most undeveloped and untaught doctrine in all of theology?

Evangelical Christians spend most of their time singing and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ and most of their singing is about His Kingship, which relates to Israel and not to the church (cf. Zechariah 14:9ff with Isaiah 2:1-4). Christ is called our Head (cf. Eph. 1:22) and our Bridegroom (cf. Ephesians 5:31-32 with Matthew 9:15). Christ has promised to come back and claim His mystical body (i.e. the church universal) which is also His bride before the coming age of the Tribulation of Israel (cf. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 with Revelation 3:10).

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords so we can sing about Him as King but we have a more intimate relationship with Him than that of servant to Master. We are His servants (cf. John 13:13), His friends (cf. John 15:15), His brethren (cf. John 20:17), members of His mystical body (cf. I Corinthians 12:13), and His bride (cf. Ephesians 5:31-32). The Father has commanded worship of the Son (cf. Hebrews 1:6). The problem is that believers are not being taught the doctrine of Christology and therefore have little true understanding of the one they seek to worship.

Pastors need to be teaching the doctrines of Christ. Every believer needs to come to a spiritually mature understanding of Christ’s deity, humanity, hypostatic union, person, fullness, radiance, condescension, subsistence, servitude, despisement, spiritual death, wrath bearing, physical death, resurrection, ascension, session, glorification, earthly kingdom, eternal kingdom, calling, helpfulness, rest, yoke, quintessence, leadership, mystical body and second coming. We all need to understand His Saviorhood, His work as our Redeemer, His work as our Defense Attorney, His High Priesthood, His Headship, His Lordship, His Judgeship, His Kingship, and His Warriorhood. This short list by no means covers all of the doctrine of Christ but each one of these doctrines opens the door for us to expand our ability to reverence and worship Christ.

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him.” John 1:18

The Son came to reveal (explain) the Father. He came to provide salvation so that we could worship the Father. A part of Christ’s mission was to open the doorway for understanding of the doctrine of the Father (Paterology). Yet, believers not only know little about the Father but they don’t really care to study about Him.

God has chosen to reveal Himself to us as a single God who dwells eternally as three distinct persons (cf. Matthew 28:19 with Deuteronomy 6:4). Each person of the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) shares equally and in totality all of the essence and attributes of God. However, there exists within the Godhead an eternal distinction of position without loss of glory.

The Son is the eternal begotten of the Father (cf. John 1:14, 18). He is the eternal equal of the Father (cf. Philippians 2:6) and possesses in totality all of the fullness of God (cf. Colossians 2:9). The name Father by definition demands the existence of the Son and the name Son by definition demands the existence of the Father. Neither name is logical without the existence of the other name. The Triune God is immutable (i.e. unchangeable – Malachi 3:6a). The Father (the 1st Person of the Godhead) is immutable (cf. James 1:17), the Son (the 2nd Person of the Godhead) is immutable (cf. Hebrews 13:8) and therefore the Eternal Spirit is immutable (cf. Hebrews 9:14).

The Son proclaimed at His incarnation that He came to do the will of the Father (cf. Hebrews 10:7). Therefore, the immutable Son declared that He came in a role of submission to the directive will of the Father. The Spirit also comes forth in a role of submission to the directive will of the Father because He does not speak from His own volition but what He is told to speak by the Father (cf. John 16:13). Since each member of the Trinity is immutable, then the fact that the Son and the Spirit come in submission to the will of the Father demonstrates that an eternal interdependency and not independency exists within the Godhead.

The Father is the author of the eternal comprehensive grace protocol plan of the ages (cf. Isaiah 46:9-10). The plan came forth from the decretive will of the Father and is summed up in the eternal glorification of the Son (cf. Ephesians 3:11 with 1:9-10). The Father’s eternal purpose includes establishing a heavenly family to worship Him (cf. Ephesians 3:15 with John 4:21-24). The moment we believed in Christ we became a child of the Father (cf. John 1:12). We were also made a priest in a kingdom of priests (cf. Revelation 1:6) so that we can worship the Father as a holy priest (cf. I Peter 2:5) through our High Priest (cf. Hebrews 4:14).

Christ is a true and real High Priest and not just a figurative Priest. In His human nature He was a true man, who was appointed by the Father to represent men before God and only God can call a man to be His high priest (cf. Hebrews 5:1-4 with I Timothy 2:5). A high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices to God and Christ offered Himself to the Father in atonement for our sins (cf. Hebrews 10:1-18). A high priest makes intercession to God for His people and Christ is our heavenly Intercessor (cf. Hebrews 4:14-16). Christ performed the functions of mediation, sacrifice, and intercession and is the ultimate High Priest because His sacrificial work is complete (cf. Hebrews 10:15-18 with John 19:30) but His Priesthood is eternal by the Father’s divine decree (cf. Hebrews 5:6; 7:17. 21; Psalm 110:4).

The eternal nature of His High Priesthood manifests His eternal calling to explain the Father to the Father’s children (John 1:12-18 with 14:1-12). The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal High Priest of the Father over an eternal kingdom of priests.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” Ephesians 3:20-21

The dispensation of Omega (eternity future) is the eternal day of the Father. The Son will have delivered His kingdom to the Father to manifest the eternal unity of the Triune Godhead (cf. I Corinthians 15:24). The Son’s kingdom is eternal by nature so this does not mean that He will cease to reign over it. It means that the Father will begin at that moment to unveil new and wonderful blessings that will allow the church (the mystical body of Christ) to glorify the Father through Christ in ways not yet known to us.

“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:3-5