Dale Ridge church of Christ

I don’t think I have ever met anyone who disagrees that music is a required part of the worship service, but I was recently told by a member of the church that the Lord hasn’t made clear that instrumental music is sinful and should therefore be allowed as part of the worship service. It is very odd that through ignoring scripture or choosing to interpret it in a more “contemporary” way that so many who have been exposed to the truth choose to worship in error. I have decided to address the matter in this space for my fellow Christians who have recently abandoned the truth and others who desire to know what the Scriptures say.

References to music in the New Testament: (Click to read) Matthew 26:30, Acts 16:25, Romans 15:9, 1 Corinthians 14:15, Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, Hebrews 2:12, James 5:13

We notice in these Scriptures that there is no mention of instrumental accompaniment to singing. The Lord’s church, a New Testament church, is instructed by the New Testament as to what items are appropriate for worship. The absence of any mention of musical instruments should settle the matter for us. If a congregation adds a musical instrument to the worship, it does so without authority of the New Testament Scriptures.

Let’s have a look at the two possible ways to make a command. There is the specific way. For instance, “Make thee an ark of gopher wood”. If Noah had built the ark of pine, God would have surely let it sink in the flood. God did not have to say “Thou shalt not use pine”. It was clear that nothing else would suffice. If God had said “Make thee an ark of wood” then Noah could have chosen any wood he liked under this generic command, the other possible way to make a command. If we apply this logic to our command to sing in worship, we see that the only acceptable form of music in worship is singing. Nowhere in the Scriptures above did God say “make music…” or refer to music generically, which would have open the possibility to using musical instruments.

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Filed under: Butch Adams, Doctrine on February 17th, 2008