Musical Instruments & the "Regulative Principle of Worship"

Have you ever been to a church that did not believe in praising the Lord with musical instruments? Do you wonder how they can teach that, when all through Psalms we are commanded to praise the Lord with both singing and instruments? Well, there’s a teaching out there called the “regulative principle of worship,” which Wikipedia defines as follows:

“The regulative principle of worship is a Christian doctrine, held by some Calvinists and Anabaptists, that God commands churches to conduct public services of worship using certain distinct elements affirmatively found in Scripture, and conversely, that God prohibits any and all other practices in public worship. The doctrine further determines these affirmed elements to be those set forth in Scripture by express commands or examples, or if not expressed, those which are implied logically by good and necessary consequence. The regulative principle thus provides a governing concept of worship as obedience to God, identifies the set of specific practical elements constituting obedient worship, and identifies and excludes disobedient practices.

The regulative principle of worship is held, practiced, and vigorously maintained by conservative Reformed churches, the Restoration Movement, and other conservative Protestant denominations. Historic confessional standards stating the doctrine include the Westminster Confession of Faith,[1] the Heidelberg Catechism,[2] the Belgic Confession,[3] and the London Baptist Confession of Faith.[4]

The regulative principle contrasts with the normative principle of worship, which teaches that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permitted in worship, as long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the Church. In short, there must be agreement with the general practice of the Church and no prohibition in Scripture for whatever is done in worship. The normative principle of worship is the generally accepted approach to worship practiced by Anglicans, Lutherans, Evangelicals, and Methodists.”

In a nutshell, the regulative principle teaches that if something is not mentioned in the Bible, we shouldn’t do it, when really we should be avoiding things that are actually prohibited, which is what the “normative principle” teaches. The normative principle as explained here by Wikipedia seems to be the normal, logical position.

This is not to say that independent Baptists have an “anything goes” mentally about how we conduct our church services (far from it.) Obviously, we must use common sense when deciding what is right and wrong. If something is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, we look at biblical principles when making our decision about whether or not something is expedient. For example, smoking is not specifically prohibited, but gluttony and drunkenness are, and the Bible says our body is the temple of the Lord. For this reason, most preachers will at least advise against smoking.

Churches that do not allow musical instruments will bring up the fact that the New Testament doesn’t mention musical instruments being used in the early church. They somehow go with their man-made regulative principle, even though in this case their conclusion contradicts clear Old Testament scripture. The commands to praise the Lord with stringed instruments, etc. were never amended or done away with in the New Testament. We don’t get our doctrine from what IS NOT mentioned in the Bible but from what IS mentioned.

It’s not just the denominations listed in the above Wikipedia article that prohibit musical instruments in church. Most Church of Christ denominations are also against using any musical instruments in their services.

I know that the churches that hold that position have a lot bigger problems, but I still find this interesting. For some reason, they choose the regulatory principle over common sense. For example, a buddy of mine actually heard Psalm 150 being read in a Presbyterian church that did not allow musical instruments. He obviously found it ironic, but it’s really not that surprising since most Christian denominations don’t like to admit that they shy away from certain passages.

I know this isn’t a salvation issue, but when someone believes something as weird and unscriptural as banning musical instruments from church, I can’t help but doubt their salvation. The only way I can see a saved person agreeing with something like that is if they’ve never read the Bible because, over and over, God commands us to praise the Lord with various instruments. If anything, churches should be adding more musical instruments.

Stringed instruments, in particular, are emphasized in the Bible, yet many churches won’t allow so much as a piano. If a saved person believes this strange doctrine out of ignorance, I bet they are going to be surprised when they get to Heaven and at some point are issued a harp!

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." - Revelation 15:2

Here is a video where I preach about this