Site Logo

Question #324

Shouldn’t we study songs before we use them in worship?

Thank you for this information on songs. I have been researching this very thing for about 2 years. I would like more information. It is so hard to get someone to understand this. I feel like we should study the songs before we use them in worship and praise to our God and Father. Some of the song writers themselves are known Catholics. Not that I want to treat them wrong but, when we worship our God and Father shouldn’t the worship be pure and in truth. How can we sing words of men that do not believe in the truth to worship in truth? Colossians 3:16 says " 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."

The Answer:

Thank you for your comments. You are to be commended for you concern about worshipping God in a manner that is acceptable to him – in spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24. If you will go through “Questions and Answers” you will find numerous comments concerning the importance of “vetting” our songs against scripture. However, a song should not be excluded because it was written by one who is not a member of the Lord’s church. A number of the songs objected to on this website were written by members of the Lord’s church. The correct standard is not who wrote the song; rather it is whether the song comports with scripture. Moreover, the fact that an author misses the mark on one song does not mean that the mark was missed on all of the songs by that author. For example, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church wrote some scriptural hymns. John Calvin, the father of Calvinism which is foreign to scripture, also wrote much that is scriptural. Our task is to know the scripture well enough to distinguish between truth and error, reject the error and rejoice in the truth.

Do you have more questions about the Bible? Then you have come to the right place! We have hundreds of answers to submitted questions, we have thousands of pages of detailed notes on Bible books (including Daniel, Zechariah, Revelation, Hosea, and Joel), we have hundreds of audio and video Bible classes, we have thousands of sermons (many in video), and we have much, much more! Please take a few minutes to look around, and don't forget to bookmark the site! Thanks for visiting!

God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)