Description
This is a book about the most important thing that a human being can do—worship the triune God. Because of sin, we’ve lost that access on our own. But in His grace, God has made a way back, sending His eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only mediator between God and man.
At the center of this book is a simple conviction: God alone defines how He is to be worshiped. Since He is the one we worship, He is the one who tells us what worship looks like. It is not left to preference, tradition, or creativity, but grounded in Scripture. That conviction is often called the regulative principle of worship—the idea that the church’s gathered worship should be shaped by what God has actually commanded in His Word.
The goal is not restriction for its own sake, but faithfulness. God has given everything His people need for worship. When worship is shaped by Scripture, it becomes ordered, full of truth, and aimed at God’s glory rather than human invention.
Endorsements
“In a day of increasing confusion over what churches should be doing when they gather for corporate worship, Tom Nettles provides a refreshingly simple remedy: regulate worship by the Word of God. As Nettles so helpfully elucidates, God alone has the prerogative to determine how he wants to be worshiped, and so it incumbent upon God’s people to worship him according to what he has commanded in Scripture—no more, and no less. In twelve engaging chapters, Nettles explores those instructions, presenting guidelines and principles for a theology of worship grounded in the Bible. Through these principles, Nettles advocates for Scripture-guided worship in which we read the Word, pray the Word, sing the Word, and preach the Word. I pray that church leaders will give careful attention to Nettles’ call to return to the Word in our theology and practice of Christian worship.”
| Scott Aniol
Associate Professor and Director of Doctoral Worship Studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
__________
“The modern era has devastatingly given rise to experiential worship driven more by the carnal desires of the flesh rather than heartfelt longing for communion with the Triune God. In Praise Is His Gracious Choice, Dr. Tom Nettles clearly and succinctly demonstrates that true biblical worship originates with God, not man. Believers worship God because he commands such worship, and we willingly obey out of a desire to please him and be conformed to the image of Christ. This thoroughly biblical and theologically robust work is vital in fostering continued reformation within the church to bring all worship that would be God-centered, Christ-exalting, and Spirit-led into conformity with the truth of Scripture.”
| Dustin Benge
Provost and professor of historical and pastoral theology at Union School of Theology, Bridgend and Oxford, UK.
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“In our church we have a saying that on Sunday mornings we sing the Bible, read the Bible, pray the Bible, and preach the Bible. With this book, Tom Nettles shows us how to do just that–to worship God faithfully according to his Word in a Christ-centered manner for his glory. Along the way, he shows us how the church has worshiped God faithfully which provides important instruction for how we are called to worship him still today–in spirit and in truth, according to the Scriptures. Every preaching pastor and worship pastor should get this book and read it immediately.”
| Jeff Robinson
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and lead pastor, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, Louisville, KY.
Contents
Preface
Prologue: Why Should Worship Be an Expression of Biblical Truth?
Section One: Theological Foundations for Worship Content
1. Salvation Is the Restoration of Praise
2. Spirit and Truth
Section Two: The New Testament Picture of Corporate Worship–God Instructs His People How to Come to Him
3. “I Was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day”
4. Be There And Pray
5. Read the Bible, Confess Its Meaning
6. Repentance and Remission of Sins Should Be Preached in His Name
7. The Congregation Sings
8. O Had I Jubal’s Lyre
9. Giving
10. The Ordinances
Section Three : Coherence in Truth and Practice
11. Historic Doctrinal Definitions
12. Tensions That Keep Us Straight
13. Scripture Index
Book Details
Praise Is His Gracious Choice: Corporate Worship Expressing Biblical Truth
by Tom J. Nettles
©2021 Founders Press
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-943539-25-3
Paperback