“Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.” (A.W. Tozer)
I love the next part of this quote by Tozer. “So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and moral standards declines along with it.” The word “necessary” is not hyperbole but a statement of fact. The church must have a lofty concept of God because that is the only concept of God that is according to the truth of who and what God is. Of course we must understand that if God is a God of infinite glory, then a small view of God is really a view of another god altogether. It is not just a little bit necessary, but as Tozer said it is “so necessary to the Church.” Why is it that necessary? It is for at least two reasons: One, because God does not dwell within those who are committed to idolatry and a low view of God is idolatry. Two, it is necessary because the lofty concept of God controls worship and morality. When a church’s view of God is lowered, its worship and moral standards are automatically lowered because those things are controlled by the view of God. Of course the two reasons are linked in that when God withdraws from a church its worship and morality will plunge to the depths.
But how does a lower concept of God lead to a decline in worship? Let us remember that Scripture sets out how worship is to be done. “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (Heb 12:28). Three things here are set out as necessary to true worship. One must have gratitude, reverence, and awe. Without those things, worship is not possible. We also have another text that greatly informs our understanding of worship too: “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). From this text we understand that true worship must be from the inner man and it must be in truth.
Now, how do those two texts fit together? Reverence and awe must come from the inner man, so that is clearly linked. However, even more important is the link between truth and reverence and awe. Reverence and awe must be moved by the truth of the character of God and according to the truth of what God has done in Christ. After all, Christ is the Truth Himself (John 14:6). When we begin to grasp that we can only go to the Father through the truth of the glory of God as set out in Christ, we can understand that a deviation from a lofty concept of God is a deviation from the truth about Himself as seen in Christ. We can understand that truth is a vital issue in worship. But we can also understand that truth is vital to the understanding of who God is so that a person will have reverence and awe. If there is no reverence and no awe, there is no worship of the living God. So if there is no truth and that leads to no reverence and awe which leads to no worship, we can clearly see that a lowered concept of God leads to actual destruction of true worship. There must be a lofty concept of God or there will be no worship of the true God at all.
How does a lower concept of God lead to a decline in moral standards? This should be clear from a few points that are drawn from a few texts of Scripture.
- There is no morality apart from a love for God (I Cor 13:1-8 & Matt 22:37).
- All men are commanded to be holy as He is holy (I Peter 1:15-16).
- All the commandments are really kept by love (Rom 13:9).
Without question, then, if morality is really based on love for God, then to the degree that the concept of God is lowered is the degree that morality is lowered. However, it is also true that the lower the concept of the truth of God goes that the whole standard of morality sinks as well. When the character of God is changed to something that He is not or if the terms are defined differently, then the remaining concept is idolatrous. An idol is something that man has dreamed up in his own fallen mind in order to allow for sin so when the concept of God has been lowered morality has already been lowered. The decline is set out for us in Romans 1:18 through the end of that chapter. There is nothing more important for the churches to do than to get on its knees and into its Bibles in order to set out God in His glory as He really is. The churches must do this as no one else will. This must not be done in order to obtain more numbers, but simply because God’s glory is what the church is to be about. The churches must desire the presence of God more than anything else and return to the truth of God so that it may worship. It is absolutely necessary.
God Loves... Himself 
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