God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
Parallel translations
- WEB God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
- KJV God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
- NKJV God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
- NASB God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
- NLT For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because God is spirit, those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The nature of God determines the nature of acceptable worship.
Overview
Jesus states a foundational truth: God is spirit, not confined to any place or material form. Therefore worship must be inward and genuine, energized by the Holy Spirit and conformed to the truth made known in Jesus. This reorients worship from external location to spiritual reality centered on Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Theme
- Worship"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Cor 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
- Matt 15:8–9‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
- Phil 3:3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- Ps 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- 1 Sam 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.”
- 1 Tim 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Ps 66:18If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
- Ps 50:23He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- 2 Cor 1:12And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.
- Ps 50:13–15Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 4:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.