God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Parallel translations
- KJV God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
- BSB God is Spirit, and His worshipers 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 liberty.
- Matt 15:8–9‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh;
- Ps 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- 1 Sam 16:7But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”
- 1 Tim 1:17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- Ps 66:18If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened.
- Ps 50:23Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
- 2 Cor 1:12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
- Ps 50:13–15Will I eat the meat 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
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