This public reading of the Scripture is treated with such seriousness because it has the capacity to bind the whole community to the same principles—the principles operative for life under the new covenant. By the reading of Scripture, the people are bound together by the public pronouncement of their God-given principles and beliefs. They are together brought under the bonds of the new covenant people of God. Through the official reading of the inspired Scriptures, God speaks to renew his covenant commitments to his people, and the people respond by receiving the terms of their covenantal commitment to the Lord. Whatever portion of Scripture is being read, it has the same effect. For the whole of the Bible exists as a unified and coherent covenantal document.

It is generally recognized by evangelical Christians that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God. But it is not so broadly understood that the Bible consists altogether of documents that bind them to God and to one another for life and death by the commitments of the covenant. This perspective introduces a sense of awesomeness into the moment of public reading of Scripture in every worship service. The God of the Covenant commits himself in a bond of life and death with his people.

But…who should read the Scriptures? Who should be given this solemn responsibility of publicly reading God’s Word to God’s assembled people? Who should perform the reading that plays such a vital part in the covenant renewal ceremony being regularly enacted in the worship services of the church? read more

O. Palmer Robertson, Who Should Read the Scriptures in Worship?