11.28.2006

Jesus not for the Regulative Principle

"We are told, that our Lord was at Jerusalem at the feast of the dedication [John 10:22]... for the commemoration of the restoration of the temple and altar, after its profanation by Antiochus. Now this was certainly a mere human institution, and had no divine image, had no divine superscription upon it [God hadn't commanded in Scripture that this feast must be celebrated]; and yet I do not find that our blessed Lord and Master preached against it; I do not find that he spent his time about this; his heart was too big with superior things; and I believe when we, like him, are filled with the Holy Ghost, we shall not entertain our audiences with disputes about rites and ceremonies, but shall treat upon the essentials of the gospel..."

George Whitefield, sermon on John 10:27-28
Select Sermons, pg 184.

(If the title confuses you, the Regulative Principle is a position held by some conservative Christians, that we should only do in worship what the Scripture has commanded, not adding our own extras.)

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