Read the Westminster Standards in a year.

Confession of Faith

Chapter 21: Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.1 But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.2


  1. Romans 1:20

    For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

    Acts 17:24

    The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

    Psalm 119:68

    You are good and do good;
    teach me your statutes.

    Jeremiah 10:7

    Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
    for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.

    Psalm 31:23

    Love the Lord, all you his saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

    Psalm 18:3

    I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

    Romans 10:12

    For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

    Psalm 62:8

    Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us. Selah

    Joshua 24:14

    “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

    Mark 12:33

    And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (ESV)

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  2. Deuteronomy 12:32

    “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

    Matthew 15:9

    in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

    Acts 17:25

    nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

    Matthew 4:9-10

    And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

    “‘You shall worship the Lord your God
    and him only shall you serve.’”

    Deuteronomy 4:15-20

    “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

    Exodus 20:4-6

    “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

    Colossians 2:23

    These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (ESV)

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Copyright © Tim Hopper. Based on Calendar of Readings in the Westminster Standards by Dr. Joey Pipa. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.