Joh 4:24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
God is Spirit, as such, He cannot be confined and limited in one place for people to go to and worship. The Jews may think that it is only in the temple in Jerusalem that God must be worshiped. The Samaritans may think that God is to be worshiped only in Mt. Gerizim.
Joh 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
The hour has indeed come, the new dispensation of worshiping God has been established. God will no longer be worshiped in Jerusalem's temple exclusively. Since God is Spirit, people can worship Him in every place, as long as it is in spirit and in truth.
"In spirit," that is, inwardly and not just outwardly. The Jews had ceremonies, rituals and external semblance of worship but their hearts were far from worshiping God. They went through the motions but the heart, the inward man, the spirit was not in it.
"In truth," that is, in sincerity and in accordance to God's revelation. The Samaritans established their own standard in worshiping God. They did not submit to the revelation of God in the Scripture as to how to worship Him. The result? It was false worship. It was unacceptable to God.
God is not only concerned about sincere worship (the problem of the Jews) He is also concerned about right worship (the problem of the Samaritans). It must be based on His Word, His truth.
