What Does the Bible Say About Formalism?

“I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.”

“I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.”

“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”

“I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. mine: Heb. with me”

“If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.”

“Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?”

“Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:”

“And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”

“For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. else: or, that I should”

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

“This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.”

“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.”

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. he goats: Heb. great he goats”

“When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? to appear: Heb. to be seen”

“Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. iniquity: or, grief”

“Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.”

“And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. make: Heb. multiply prayer blood: Heb. bloods”

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”

“Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. proceed: Heb. add”

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?”

“Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”

“To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.”

“When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. in: or, your holy days”

“Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. peace: or, thank offerings”

“Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.”

“Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? of a: Heb. sons of a year?”

“Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? body: Heb. belly”

“A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”

“And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. for: Heb. to”

“Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.”

“Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. and ye have: or, whereas ye might have blown it away”

“But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. which: Heb. in whose flock is”

“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

“But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.”

“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

“When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:”

“Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.”

“But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”

“Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,”

“And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; approvest: or, triest the things that differ”

“And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,”

“An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.”

“Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?”

“Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?”

“Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?”

“For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”

“For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.”

“Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?”

“And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?”

“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:”

“But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.”

“Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:”

“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”

“Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.”

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,”

“Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, false: or, one who foments strife”

“Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;”

“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”