Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Will-worship is self-devised, self-imposed worship—the rendering to God of worship He has not commanded, springing from the will and imagination of man rather than the appointment of God. The term comes from Paul’s rebuke of the ascetic regulations being pressed on the Colossians: ‘Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.’ The Greek ethelothrēskeia means worship that originates in one’s own will—religion of human invention. Will-worship is the direct violation of the regulative principle of worship, which holds that God is to be worshipped only in the ways He has commanded in His Word; will-worship, by contrast, adds to God’s appointed worship the commandments, ceremonies, and devotions of men. It has a long and varied history: the ‘strange fire’ that Nadab and Abihu offered, which the LORD commanded them not, and for which fire devoured them; the man-made traditions by which the Pharisees made void the commandment of God, worshipping Him in vain by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; and the vast accumulation of unbiblical rites, ceremonies, images, festivals, and devotions that the Reformers found in the medieval church and stripped away as will-worship. The danger of will-worship is precisely that it has ‘a shew of wisdom’—it often appears humble, devout, rigorous, and spiritually impressive (severe fastings, self-denials, elaborate ceremonies, austere disciplines), so that it commends itself to the religious heart even while it dishonors God by offering Him what He never asked. For the heart of will-worship is self-will: it presumes to instruct God how He shall be served, exalts human invention above divine command, and ultimately worships the worshipper’s own ideas rather than the God who has spoken. The remedy is the regulative principle and a humble submission to God’s revealed will in worship: to bring to His altar only what He has appointed, and to refuse, however impressive its appearance, every worship of human devising—for to obey is better than sacrifice, and God will be worshipped as He directs, not as men imagine.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines WILL-WORSHIP as worship according to one’s own will or notions, without divine authority or command.
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WILL-WORSHIP, n. — Worship according to the dictates of one’s own will or notions, or worship not enjoined by God; superstitious observances not commanded.
WILL-WORSHIPPER, n. — One who worships according to his own will, or who institutes modes of worship not authorized by divine command.
📖 Key Scripture
Colossians 2:23 — "Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh."
Matthew 15:9 — "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Leviticus 10:1-2 — "...and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them."
Deuteronomy 12:32 — "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Will-worship is itself the corruption—and it deceives because it wears “a shew of wisdom,” appearing humble, devout, and rigorous even as it offers God a worship He never commanded.
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Will-worship is itself the corruption—the offering to God of a worship of human devising—and its peculiar danger is that it wears, as Paul says, ‘a shew of wisdom.’ Unlike open irreverence, will-worship appears humble, devout, rigorous, and spiritually serious: it shows itself in severe fastings and austerities, in elaborate ceremonies and impressive ritual, in self-denials and disciplines that seem to honor God and mortify the flesh. Precisely because it looks so pious, it commends itself to the religious heart and is mistaken for superior devotion. But beneath the impressive appearance lies self-will: the presumption to instruct God how He shall be worshipped, the exaltation of human invention above divine command, and the worship, ultimately, of the worshipper’s own ideas rather than the God who has spoken. The strange fire of Nadab and Abihu looked like zealous worship; God called it what He had not commanded, and consumed them.
The remedy for will-worship is the regulative principle and a humble submission to God’s revealed will in worship. God has told us, in His Word, how He will be worshipped, and He has forbidden us to add to or diminish from His appointment; ‘to obey is better than sacrifice,’ and the most impressive self-devised worship is, in His sight, vain worship and even an abomination, however sincere or rigorous. The Reformers applied this principle with great force, stripping away the accumulated will-worship of the medieval church—the unbiblical ceremonies, images, festivals, and devotions—and returning to the simple, scriptural worship God commanded. The recovery of the doctrine guards the church against the perennial temptation to improve upon God’s worship with human inventions: it teaches us to bring to His altar only what He has appointed, to distrust the ‘shew of wisdom’ in self-devised devotion, and to render Him the worship He has commanded, in humble submission to His revealed will—for God will be worshipped as He directs, not as men imagine.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
The error is ethelothrēskeia (self-willed worship), the worship men add to God’s command—the strange fire He commanded not.
Usage
"Will-worship is self-devised worship God has not commanded—the direct violation of the regulative principle."
"It deceives because it has ‘a shew of wisdom,’ appearing humble and devout while offering God an uncommanded worship."
"Nadab and Abihu’s strange fire and the Pharisees’ traditions are will-worship—vain worship, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."