The Sufficiency of Scripture and Sound Doctrine about Unacceptable Worship

The Spirit has inspired key passages about unacceptable worship in each of the books of the Pentateuch, including (but not limited to) the following:

Genesis 4 - God's differing responses to the offerings of Cain and Abel

Exodus 32 - the Golden Calf Incident

Leviticus 10 - strange fire offered by Nadab and Abihu

Numbers 25 - God's people being seduced into idolatrous, immoral worship of the gods of Moab

Deuteronomy 32 - explicit revelation about God's people's idolatrous worship of strange gods such that they sacrificed to demons

A thorough accounting of all the truths that God has given to us in even these 5 passages provides us with a wealth of important teaching about sound doctrine concerning unacceptable worship.

A comparative examination of these 5 passages shows us that sound doctrine about unacceptable worship goes beyond worshiping the wrong object and not having a right heart when worshiping.

We are told that God rejected Cain and what he offered. Many say that God's rejection of Cain was only because his heart was not right toward God. The passage, however, does not say anything that requires that understanding.

There is no basis in the passage that shows that God's rejection of Cain and his offering did not include rejection of what he offered because what he offered was itself something that could not be offered acceptably in worship by anyone.

In that respect, Leviticus 10 plainly teaches us that God put Nadab and Abihu to death because they offered something to God that was itself not acceptable to God. Saying that Nadab and Abihu went against known revelation from God about what had to be offered does not negate the key point that there have been countless numbers of other people who have never received any revelation from God and yet have offered many other kinds of incense that also have been inherently unacceptable to God for any use in worship.

After revealing that God confronted Cain for his unacceptable worship (Gen. 4), Scripture makes no mention of Cain's repenting of his unacceptable worship. Subsequent to his refusal to repent of his unacceptable worship, Cain killed his brother, refused to repent, and was banished by God for doing so.

After he had been banished, what happened to Cain? Scripture does not tell us anything about his repenting from any of his previous sins.

If the sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture must directly say that something took place in order for us to know that it did, we must hold that Cain never repented of his unacceptable worship and of his murdering his brother.

Because Cain never repented, we rightly hold that any worship that he did in the future was unacceptable worship.

Concerning what was true much later chronologically, Scripture reveals, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5).

On that basis, even though we are not explicitly told anything else about unacceptable worship before the Flood other than the account of Cain in Genesis 4, we validly hold that there was widespread unacceptable worship taking place before the Flood.

Whatever God has revealed in His Word about a subject, person, event, etc. is perfect divine wisdom that is sufficient for accomplishing God's objectives for that revelation. Concerning the unacceptable worship by Cain ("Cainic" worship), the Spirit could have prevented all debates and disputes about why God rejected Cain and his offering by giving us more information and specific information about what happened.

The Spirit, however, has chosen not to do so. His not doing so instructs us about what sound doctrine about unacceptable worship comprises.

Giving all the specifics and explaining exactly all that people demand to know about why such-and-such is not acceptable to God for use in worship is not in keeping with what God has revealed through what He has and has not revealed in various passages about unacceptable worship. Regarding something as "Cainic" worship does not require that we prove fully and only explicitly from Scripture and with all the details specified why such worship is unacceptable.

2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. 16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

These two verses teach us profound truths about sinful human creativity in making, using, and doing things that are not pleasing to God in worship. A proper understanding and application of them to many of the disputes about sinful worship practices shows that we do not have to know the specifics of what sinful worshippers did in their sinful worship in order to know that what they made, used, and did in their sinful worship was not acceptable to God.

2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. 16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

This inerrant, infallible divine revelation teaches that God's own people actively, intentionally, and comprehensively disobeyed all that God had commanded them to do. Instead of comprehensively obeying God's commandments that He had commanded them, they "went after the heathen" who were around them to "do like them."

Based on the force of both of these realities, we can say with certainty that the heathen who were around about God's people were in a multitude of ways doing things that were unacceptable to God. It was not just that they were people with wrong hearts who worshiped the wrong objects of worship--what they did in that unacceptable worship was itself unacceptable to God!

In particular, we can say with certainty that the making of the two molten calves and the grove and all the worship that was directed to the calves and to the grove was worship that was utterly unacceptable to God not just because of worship that was directed to the wrong objects but also because what was made for, used in, and done in that worship was unacceptable to God.

Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

The Spirit reveals through David that there are idolaters who have offered drink offerings of blood in their idolatrous worship.

God has never authorized any people to offer any blood as a drink offering in any sacrifices in worship that was acceptable to Him. Multitudes of worshipers of other gods who have never had any exposure to any divine revelation have originated and/or engaged in this worship practice that is categorically unacceptable to God.

Unlike Nadab and Abihu did when they went against known divine directives, these worshipers have independently originated an unacceptable worship practice that has itself been unacceptable to God--it has not been unacceptable just because it has been directed to wrong objects of worship by people whose hearts have not been right with God.

2 Chronicles 36:14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

Whereas 2 Kings 17:15-16 reveals that God's people engaged in active, intentional, comprehensive disobedience of God's commandments, 2 Chronicles 36:14-15 teaches that their sinfulness at a later time extended to their being comprehensively conformed to the abominations of the heathen. In addition, the passage emphasizes just how sinful they were: they "transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD."

Based on combined force of the teaching of 2 Kings 17:15-16 and 2 Chron. 36:14, we have full certainty that the wickedness of God's own people prior to Babylonian captivity included unacceptable worship that went far beyond what the Spirit in Scripture has explicitly specified and given details about the unacceptable worship of evil people.

Properly holding to the sufficiency of Scripture concerning sound doctrine about unacceptable worship includes accepting that God has not given us in Scripture comprehensive information about all the evil practices of sinful peoples in their unacceptable worship.

Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

These verses point to the true bottom line in all the Christian debates, discussions, and disputes about unacceptable worship--the existence of evil non-human, supernatural spirit beings who seek to get humans to worship them instead of the one and only living and true God.