“Only The Best Pt. 2”

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

(This post is in response to “Only The Best”.)

     Does your local congregation use incense in your worship service?  If the "pure offering" referred to in Mal 1:11 is the lives of the people of the New Testament Church (as you say), then when does your congregation "offer incense" in God's name?  Remember, you have previously stated, "If you avoid or ignore verses, that is just as bad as adding to the Bible (Rev 22:18-19).  We have to take every Bible teaching, no matter how unpopular, and accept it in order to truly call ourselves a ‘Bible-only’ congregation."

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Burning To Know

Dear Burning To Know,

Just like the offerings mentioned in the previous post aren’t literal animal sacrifices, the “incense” that the church sends up to God isn’t literally on fire.  Mal 1:11 is a verse dealing with general principles of the church’s behavior in the way that an Old Testament Jew acquainted with Old Testament worship could understand.  The Bible says that the lives of the righteous are like the sweet smell of incense before those that are perishing (2 Cor 2:14-16).  Rev 8:3-4 also compares our prayers to burning incense.  In either case, nowhere is the church asked to burn incense as a part of worship.  Mal 1:11 would have to be taken out of context to use it as a proof text for incense as an act of New Testament worship.

Share