Afterthought
Puritan Board Senior
Here's something I've sometimes wondered about. Oftentimes, I hear that technically speaking, worship is what happens when people gather together, i.e., public worship. And hence, the regulative principle applies only to public worship (and I've also heard that the regulative principle of worship is actually just a subset of church power, and so only applies to public worship). But if the principle of worship is tied to the second commandment, how can it only apply to public worship? Is the difference merely that in public worship, we are required to do all commanded, while in private worship, we are not required to do all but are still forbidden to do what is not commanded? Or perhaps something else?
It certainly seems odd to only worship God as He has commanded in public worship, but to have....what exactly?....during family worship, individual private worship, and/or worship with friends or with other families not in a church setting. After all, I'm not sure proponents of the above view would allow for worshipping God by images outside of the public worship sphere. And also, other passages (along with the Second Commandment) speaking of "will worship" seem to apply more broadly than the public worship sphere (e.g., the passage in Colossians, or the hand washing of the Pharisees). I suppose there's the example of Mary annointing the feet of Jesus for unregulated private worship though?
It certainly seems odd to only worship God as He has commanded in public worship, but to have....what exactly?....during family worship, individual private worship, and/or worship with friends or with other families not in a church setting. After all, I'm not sure proponents of the above view would allow for worshipping God by images outside of the public worship sphere. And also, other passages (along with the Second Commandment) speaking of "will worship" seem to apply more broadly than the public worship sphere (e.g., the passage in Colossians, or the hand washing of the Pharisees). I suppose there's the example of Mary annointing the feet of Jesus for unregulated private worship though?