Thanks for getting back with me. I spent some time reviewing your responses. I understand your remarks in response #1) concerning ambiguous passages and Calvin's use of them.
I also read the material that you suggested in response #2 regarding the use of musical instruments and your attempt to connect that thinking with various old testament examples.
I must say, you have certainly jumped through a lot of hoops, but in the end we seem to be right back where we started. Let me take a moment to explain.
1) Lets tackle a couple of the old testament examples that you are attempting to equate to your conclusion about the absence of the mention of musical instruments in the Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 passages.
In the example of Saul, God had given Saul clear instructions, He said "do this"......Saul instead did this, as you have stated in your example........
God instructed Saul to "utterly destroy" the nation of Amalek. But, Saul saved the king of Amalek, and he saved animals for sacrifices to the Lord.
Saul disobeyed clear instruction from the Lord.
In the example of UZZAH, God gave clear instructions for how the ark was to be handled, on poles.....David and his men did it another way and as stated in your example.......
He did break God's command to not touch the ark (Numbers 4:5-6, 15),
UZZAH disobeyed clear instruction from the Lord.
Now lets look at the instructions that Paul gives in regards to the Ephesians and Colossian passages again:
Paul wrote:"speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Ephesians 5:19
"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
To disobey these passages one would have to
Not speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs....one would have to
Not sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord.......One would have to
Not let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.....and
Not teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs......and
Not sing with grace in your hearts to the Lord
That would be the way to disobey what Paul is saying in these passages, not playing musical instruments that are not addressed at all.
Lets look at this again from another angle:
Lets look at the passage that you quote on Jesus saying "Go and preach the Gospel.......As you have noticed, He does not mention the MODE of going, nor does He mention the MODE of preaching.
Do we walk, with or without shoes........do we ride a camel or a horse......do we run or crawl
And how do we preach, Do we stand on the hillsides, or by the roadside, do we speak softly or passionately.......are we mono-toned or multi-toned....
Now lets move this thinking into the 21st century.
How do we preach, what
instrument do we do use to accomplish this task of preaching........do we use a podium or not.....how about a microphone and a sound system......how about preaching over the television....how about recording to VHS or DVD......how about by letter or a book........paper and a pencil or pen......how about a computer and the internet, maybe a web site........
None of these instruments are mentioned in the passage "Go and preach the Gospel"........and yet I think we could agree that they are all viable in preaching the gospel
Likewise......in the Ephesians and Colossian passages, do we sing accapella, or three part harmony......how about four part harmony.......perhaps only in soprano.....or maybe barbershop quartet is the way to go.......and what
instruments do we use to accomplish this task of singing...... television, CD's, vhs, musical ones, etc
I think you have made the same mistake that others make, such as Calvin......and what we have here is a new
ISM........lets call it
M273P15CISM....cleaver huh......
A m273p15cist would make sure that his followers do not play any musical instruments in a worship service, and he would base this on m273p15c's interpretation of the Ephesians and Colossian passages.....in clear violation of m273p15c's own principal of not adding or taking away from scripture, as m273p15c has clearly added to the Ephesians and Colossian passages to include a
NOT TO USE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS clause to the passages in question......ouch.
I think you need to seriously rethink your position on this one.....unless of course, I have just seriously missed out how you have arrived at your current position.
You do have me wondering why you have an apparent aversion to the use of musical instruments in worship.
Thanks, and let me know how it goes,
Sincerely.
(It just occured to me, do you think these passages in Ephesians and Colossians from Paul are in the form of instruction, suggestion, exhortation, or command.....and do you think that it carries the same weight as a command from the Lord ?)