Religious Worship and the Sabbath
Learn the Confession's teaching that God appoints how He is to be worshipped, and how the Lord's Day is to be kept holy.
Liberty of conscience leads naturally to worship, for it is God Himself who has the right to determine how He will be approached. The Confession lays down the principle, the parts, and the appointed day of Christian worship.
The acceptable way of worship
The Confession teaches that the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself and limited by His own revealed will. He may not be worshipped according to human imaginations or devices, but only as He has commanded in Scripture. This is often called the regulative principle: what God has not appointed in worship, we have no warrant to offer.
The Confession then names the parts of religious worship, including prayer, the reading and preaching of the Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and the singing of psalms with grace in the heart. Worship is due to God alone, and to be offered through the one Mediator, Christ, and in no other name.
The sanctification of the Lord's Day
A due proportion of time is to be set apart for the worship of God. As a moral and perpetual commandment, God has appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, kept holy to Him. From the resurrection of Christ, this day is the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath or Lord's Day, to continue to the end of the age.
The Sabbath is sanctified by a holy resting, all the day, from worldly employments and recreations, and by spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy. So the day is not mere idleness but a feast of communion with God and rest in His finished work.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WCF 21.1 (section 104) and state the regulative principle in your own words.
- List the parts of worship named in sections 105-107 and find a proof text for each.
- Compare sections 109 and 110 on the change of the day and how the Lord's Day is to be kept.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
Religious Worship and the Sabbath →