11. Reformed Baptist Distinctives: Regulative Principle

The Regulative Principle of Worship

It's called the Regulative Principle of Worship, and you see how I put the C in it so you remember. The Regulative Principle of Worship is a teaching primarily emphasized in the Reformed churches that the public worship of God should include only those elements that are instituted, commanded, or appointed by command or example in Scripture.

So the Scripture, when we worship God, we have to do so based on what the Scriptures tell us. They tell us how to worship God. This is in distinction, contradistinction, to the normative principle of worship, which we're going to go over in a second.

Can anybody give me an example from the Scriptures of somebody who worshiped God not with the Regulative Principle of Worship? Strange fire, Nadab in a bayou. They saw God consume the sacrifice, and then all of a sudden they're like, oh, let's do.

That again.

And they brought strange fire to the altar, and God consumed them. They did something that was not authorized by God. So our confession, the 1689, says this, the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan under any visible representations or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.

So this is the benefit of having a confession. I could point you to the confession and say, this is what we hold to as a church. It's spelled out clearly. By contrast, the normative principle, which is what most other churches do, teaches that worship must consist of that which is commanded by God, but also may include that which is not specifically prohibited by Scripture, so long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the church.

And peace and unity of church is going to be subjective to the pastor and the congregation, so they can bring in all kinds of stuff. You have people doing dances and movie themes and all kinds of stuff on the altar of God that are not prescribed by Scripture.

You have to be wary of that.