The Regulative Principle of Worship, Part 2

Jim ButlerDeuteronomy 12:32

What authorizes the church to add, subtract, or substitute elements in corporate worship? Tracing the divine appointment of worship from Exodus and Leviticus through Deuteronomy 12:32 and into the books of Chronicles, this sermon demonstrates that Old Covenant Israel worshiped according to explicit divine command — not human creativity, cultural accommodation, or felt need. The same God who consumed Nadab and Abihu for offering strange fire, who filled Solomon's temple with his glory when worship was ordered according to his word, has not relaxed his standard in the New Covenant. The regulative principle is not a straitjacket but a guard against idolatry, and the New Covenant church is called to the same obedience: asking King Jesus what he has commanded, and doing that.