"But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets."
This verse (above) is interesting for a few reasons. One, is that Paul avers that his then-current worship of God was according to the New Covenant Christianity that had now utterly and completely fulfilled and superseded the ceremonial forms (of the Old Covenant). And, secondly, Paul affirms that his New Covenant worship is in complete accord with the scriptures of the Old Testament ("believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets").
Therefore, we, who make up the faithful New Covenant church today, should never feel defensive about our worship of Christ--even in the far-less-formal modes in which we do it. Our worship is true, so long as Jesus is at the heart of it, and it is according to God's word.
[Puritan quote of the day: "We have through Christ and by the Spirit not only freedom from what is ill, but advancement to all that is com-
forting and graciously good." --Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]
