Worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth

[churchmouse]

In John 4:23-24, Jesus said, "the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

What did Jesus mean by worshiping God in spirit and in truth? Was he referring to the way we worship on "the Sabbath," worshiping a certain way on the first day of the week (or whenever the church chooses to assemble), or how we live before God in our daily lives?

TIA!

[m273p15c]

I think the preceding verses are also helpful (quoting all here for context):

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:19-24 NKJV)

The original question was the location of worship, which was supposed to be in Jerusalem. That did not mean the Jews did not worship anywhere else, neither did they only devote their lives to God while at Jerusalem, but God did have a specific place, where the Jews were supposed to offer sacrifices by the priests, and all of their feasts were observed there (Deuteronomy 12:5-21; 14:23-24; 16:2-11; 26:2).

In the context, God is described as being a "Spirit", so when we worship God, we must do so in our "spirit". It should not be just outward form that does not include our soul. However, we are not free to worship God any way we please. We must worship Him the right way, "in truth", just as the Jews were correct in worshipping God in "in Jerusalem". The distinction is that the location no longer matters. One can worship God correctly and in his spirit any where. However far God has directed us to worship Him in other passages, that is how far this verse reaches.

Make sense?

[churchmouse]

Yes, it does make sense. It's surprising how simple it is when you explain it. I've been confused because in the previous church I attended, people believed their church was the only right way due to how they worshiped on Sunday morning and how the ministry preached the gospel. But, when influential people in the church disobeyed the gospel, the church's message would change and eventually I discovered the corruption and immorality they were concealing (including child abuse). I came to the conclusion that, because our bodies are the temple of God, we worship God everywhere we go when we obey His will and that where we worship Sunday morning is insignificant as long as we study the Word diligently so as to recognize false doctrine when we hear it. Although I've found a congregation that I believe preaches a more precise gospel, it's not perfect so sometimes I start feeling discouraged again when certain people try to garner support for doctrines that (to me) are clear misinterpretations of the scriptures. The congregation has already dwindled in number from older members passing on and from divisions.

Thank you for clarifying this passage for me.