Music Matters

Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him..." (John 14:21). He also said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love..." (John 15:10). Plain talk. Hard to swallow, maybe, but not hard to understand. Simply, love and obedience are inextricably linked, each following on the heels of the other. According to Jesus, to love Him is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to be loved by Him.

But one cannot begin to experience this mutual love without knowledge of His commandments.

The commandments of Jesus exist throughout the pages of the New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation, not just in the "gospels" (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) as some have supposed. For Jesus made His commands not only verbally, but vicariously. He spoke not only by His own mouth, but by the mouths of His apostles (Matthew 28:20; 2 Corinthian 13:3). Their commands are His commands. The apostle Paul was appealing to this very truth when he wrote: "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37).

Jesus never gave a command concerning music in the Christian assembly-the time for such instruction had apparently not yet come. His apostle, however, did speak on the subject. In his writings we find Jesus' will on the subject.

Paul wrote: "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-19). He also wrote: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Colossians 3:16). Still again, he wrote: "I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding" (1 Corinthians 14:15). What was the apostle's consistent instruction to the church concerning its music? Sing!

"Sing," he says...not play. And with this instruction the entire New Testament agrees. Search the New Testament for all passages relating to music in the Lord's church, and no references to instrumental music will be found (a striking contrast with the Old Testament! Surely such a shift in God's revelation should be given careful consideration). The only New Testament appearances of instruments in non-secular music are to be found in Revelation (5:8; 14:2; 15:2), a book featuring apocalyptic symbolism clearly not to be taken literally (and even if it were to be taken literally, there would still be no mandate for instruments in the church, since all the passages describe events in heaven).

So what does this all mean? Some would say it means nothing. They would argue that since the use of instruments was commanded by God for the Jews under the Law of Moses (2 Chronicles 29:25), instruments in corporate worship are acceptable for the church in the Christian era-never mind their absence in the New Testament Scriptures. But is this "rightly handling the word of God" (2 Timothy 2:15)? Would we be willing to bring incense-burning into our assemblies? Would we view with appreciation the stoning of a rebellious son? Certainly not, yet both were commanded under the Old Covenant just like instrumental music. It is evident that the Law of Moses was for a different time, the New Testament for ours. In fact, the New Testament says concerning the Law of Moses that Jesus "has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14).

Church history acknowledges the absence of instruments in Christian assemblies until the seventh century A.D., some six hundred years after the death of the apostles! The writings of men living during those intervening centuries are instructive:

Employing instrumental music in the assembly puts a congregation in the position of practicing something foreign to the New Testament and to its earliest followers. What's more, it results in a church offering to God a sacrifice that neither Jesus nor His apostles ever authorized. Can one be confident that an unauthorized sacrifice will be accepted?

On the other hand, by practicing unaccompanied (a cappella) singing-worshiping God with the instrument He made-a congregation can be absolutely certain that it is obeying the Lord's command, giving Him exactly what He asked for. Such obedience comes with a promise: "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love..." (John 15:10).