“And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” –Colossians 3:17
The Bible prohibits actions by one of two ways. One of which is by simply telling us not to do it [e.g., “Thou shalt not….”]. The other is by not giving us the authority to do it in the first place.
Suppose you go to a restaurant and order dinner number three. However, along with dinner number three, the waiter also brings you dinners number one, two and four through ten, and presents you with the bill of $80! You correctly object, “I said I wanted dinner number three. That is all you were to bring me. I did not have to tell you, ‘I do not want dinner one, two, nor four through ten.’ When I told you what I wanted, I did not have to tell you what I did not want.”
So it is with the Bible. When God tells us what He wants, He does not have to tell us what He does not want—in order for it to be prohibited. God made this point abundantly clear in many verses. One such verse is Hebrews 1:13, “But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, ‘Sit thou on my right hand…?’” The Father said this only to Jesus [like our ordering dinner #3]. By the virtue of the fact that He did not say those words to any of the angels [like our non-order of dinners 1, 2, 4-10], no angel had the authority to sit on the right side of the Father. Furthermore, God did not have to say to each angel, “Don’t you sit here” [just as we did not have to say, “I don’t want #1. I don’t want #2. Etc.”]. Of a truth, when God tells us what He wants, He does not have to tell us what He does not want—in order for it to be prohibited.1
Why do we not have hot-dogs and pop for the Lord’s Supper? Because God told us to use unleavened bread and the juice of the grape, and when God told us what He wants, He does not have to tell us what He does not want—in order for it to be prohibited. Why do we (the New Testament church) not use mechanical instruments with our singing in worship? Because God told the New Testament church what to do, and that is sing (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16; et. al).
How we wish that all who seek after God would recognize and abide by this crucial Bible truth. May each consider his every practice and ask, “Does the Bible tell us to do this?”
Gary Henson
1 This truth is also taught in: Acts 15:24; Heb. 7:14; Jer. 19:5; Jos. 6:10; etc.