True Worship in Spirit and Truth (John 4:23-24)
Today, we turn to John 4:23-24, where Jesus declares to the Samaritan woman, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” From a fundamentalist Christian perspective, this passage is a clarion call to abandon worldly distractions and embrace a pure, biblical form of worship that honors God alone. First, let us understand the context. Jesus speaks to a Samaritan, a people despised by the Jews for their mixed heritage and false worship. Yet, He reveals a profound truth: the time of true worship has arrived through Him. As fundamentalists, we believe Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), and His words here establish a new covenant where external rituals—whether on Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem—are secondary to the heart’s devotion. “Worship in spirit” means our wo...