Singing
From: TFTW Bible College
Singing is a way to musically talk to God and give Him our worship. Remember, that when we worship, we are approaching God to give Him our love, honor, and respect.
Another purpose of singing is to teach each other. God saw fit for us to come together as an assembly, so there must be a good benefit to being together. Besides praying for each other, we can teach, admonish (warn or correct), and remind each other of biblical truths through song. “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.” (Colossians 3:16) Paul told the church in Colossae to put the word of Christ in them, and then he told them how to do it, by teaching and admonishing each other with songs. Singing has the purpose of teaching because the words are what is important. Great songs teach us great lessons about how to live and how to treat each other. Great songs teach and remind us about the love of Jesus and what our sin cost. Great songs remind us to be faithful because a great home in Heaven is waiting for us. Not only do we remind each other in a song about these important lessons, but putting them to music helps us to remember them throughout the week. “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” (James 5:13) You may still remember a song about the alphabet, and can sing your “A-B-Cs.” We can also remember the words of songs as we go through life, and if the songs teach Biblical truths, they are a way to remember the truth of God’s word and take it with us.
We do not use instruments of music with our singing for three main reasons: 1) We do not see the authority for it in the Bible. The verse right after the one talking about teaching with singing is, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” (Colossians 3:17) “In the name of” means by the authority of. A common example of the phrase is, “Stop, in the name of the law!” If a policeman says that, it means he is telling you to stop and the law gives him the authority to say that. When we approach God in worship or live our lives, we had better do what we can find authority for in His Word, the Bible. We find authority for singing, so we sing. Nothing more, nothing less. The instrument we are to use when singing is already defined in the Bible. It is the heart. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” (Ephesians 5:19) 2) The purpose of singing is to teach and admonish. “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.” (Colossians 3:16) Words can teach and admonish, but the sounds that come from musical instruments cannot. I do not become more knowledgeable about God’s word by listening to someone bang on a drum, strum a guitar, or play a piano. 3) Since we are trying to be the church we read about in the New Testament and follow 1st-century example, we want to sing “a cappella.” “A cappella” means without instruments, but the Latin has a meaning of “in the manner of the church.” This seems to indicate that a cappella music was what the church originally had. A study of history indicates that other religions besides the church of Christ, also did not originally have instruments of music, but they were eventually introduced into their worship.
If we want to be like the 1st century Christians, and like other religions used to be, we will be “like the music of the church” and be a cappella and not use mechanical instruments. Besides, the Bible has defined the instrument to use, and that is our heart. When we sing we are speaking and praising God. God would be more concerned with the love we show Him and our sincerity, and willingness to follow His word, rather than the correct attuning of our voice, or the “entertainment value” of our musical performance. Remember, when we, the inferior, approach the superior, we do it according to His terms, not ours!
There are several examples of music to edify each other and to praise God mentioned in the New Testament.
In all instances, we notice that the music used or commanded was singing. |
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