Soli Deo Gloria | #TheSolae

Here we are, the last section of our journey. It is my hope and prayer that you have enjoyed the ride almost as much as I have. I started in October, hoping to have finished by end of November, but it seems I had a lot more to learn and a lot more to surrender to God before I could do every post. Maybe after this post, I’ll do a behind the scenes and breakdown of what more I have learnt, but all in good time.

When I started the Solae, as I do with all other series I have done on this blog, I pray it be for God’s glory. Surprising now I have to do an article on what that is, the glory of God alone. If you’re like me, the glory of God is usually a phrase we hear, sing and speak about, but seldom give much thought to. What is it? Why do we ascribe everything to the glory of God? How do we glorify God? These questions and more begin to rise up once we give them the due attention they deserve, and rightly so.

The word that has been recurring in this series is alone; five things that alone are the pillars on which the doctrine of salvation stands. We are saved from our sinful, dead state and our position as legally guilty before God, and now continually being cleansed of our sinfulness, having been made alive by God to seek Him, and pronounced righteous before Him.

All this came to be through the work of Jesus Christ alone, no other person could have so perfectly obeyed God, and by Him taking our place on the cross, bearing the punishment meant for us, we are justified (having His righteousness covering us), made alive from sin, and effectively being indwelt of the Holy Spirit who constantly makes our consciences desire to please God in all we do, say or think.

If to summarise everything we have gone through, we are justified before God by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ’s atoning work alone for the glory of God alone as authoritatively taught through Scripture alone. In this final article, we will look at how all these tie up to the overarching glory of God.

What is the glory of God? John Piper defines it as, the radiance of His intrinsic worth, beauty and greatness of all His manifold perfections. Let’s try to demystify that. In Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6), the angels cry out,

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.

Isaiah 6:3b, ESV

Before we dive into how holiness and glory relate, let us ask ourselves, what is God’s holiness? When we say God is holy, it means He is set apart from all other created things; His love is unlike any other, it is a holy (separate, God-unique) love. His majesty is holy; His justice is holy. Everything Scripture says to be true about God are what are known as His attributes, His holy attributes. If we were to describe God as a diamond, His attributes would be the facets of the diamond; each individual facet shines forth with holiness, and the brilliance with which all facets collectively shine is His glory. This might be a very weak example, but I hope it somewhat gives a perspective of what God glory is.

If we closely look at all God does, it is with the aim of displaying His beauty and greatness; His glory. A song I love, Creation Sings the Father’s Song, has this line saying, His fingerprints in flakes of snow. Psalm 19:1 says that the heavens tell of God’s glory. Have a look at the stars at night, the phases of the moon, the dramatic sunsets and cries of birds in the morning; all these are testament to His greatness. His glory is also shown in our own redemption (Romans 15:9); the manner with which He wrestles with a sinner’s heart and reveals the worth of Himself to the simple is beautiful. Yet, all these things are inended to give man the most basic idea of God’s grandeur and majesty. If He can create all we see and all that will ever be down to their molecular levels, just how powerful and awesome is He?

So, this points us back to Soli Deo Gloria as a tenet of salvation. How does the glory of God fit into the work that leads to our salvation? For starters, it gives us a hint of His supremacy, His greatness and His holiness above all that ever was and will be. In light of this majesty, we then begin to see the extent of our own inadequacy and depravity. Think of it as walking on a dark, muddy road toward a friend shining a light at the end of it; the closer you get to the light, the more you see the filth with which you are covered. The natural reaction would be to turn away so as to hide the mess you are from whoever will see you, and more so, to hide the fact that you are dirty from yourself. However, we see God’s holy love displayed through Christ in whom we have our sins washed away, and our minds renewed and progressively conformed to His desires and will. In turn, we delight to do what His desires are and find joy in seeking Him through His word.

And that is what He has intended, dear one, that through salvation we may be reunited to Him to enjoy being in His presence and under His love, as it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. The Psalmist says,

You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fulness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forever more.

Psalm 16:11, ESV

God is glorified, that is (as we have inferred), beautified, when those who see His worth and greatness delight and find their source of joy in it. And as we are continually sanctified, we look forward to the day when we too shall become glorified, taking up new bodies that are incorruptible and as intended to be before the effects of sin. That shall be the day when we will fully be satisfied in God, and He will be most fully beautified (glorified) in us.

Why then should we glorify God? It will naturally flow from all we have seen this far. All the other solae are from Him, through Him and to Him. There was and is nothing at all, even if given the opportunity, we could do for ourselves to save us from the wrath of God intended for us; from initiation to execution of salvation, it all was Him and Him alone.

Our response, then? We see our own depravity and corruption, and as much as it grieves us, it shows us that it is only God who can help us, and as such, prompts us to live a life of morality where we, guided by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, carry it out with a keen awareness of accountability to God alone. Our words, our deeds, our thoughts; all are held under the microscope of, how can I daily show the beauty and greatness of God?

My friend Ngome often says, be the walking version of a Bible (or the Gospel) to the non-believer. Show the wonder of God in your life that has been made new by the work of Jesus Christ alone, and not to attribute it to what you are able to do now, but what God has thus far enabled you to do it. This is how we live out Soli Deo Gloria.

The Reformers did much to make known these truths, some even dying for what they knew to be true as taught from Scripture. I must admit, at times I wish it could be as what the Catholic church was fighting against, and still fights against today; to attribute part of the work of salvation to human effort and tradition. It would make salvation feel deserved and rightly won, and easy to attain, right? Pray a prayer, do some rituals, and eventually you will outweigh the bad you’ve done and be granted access back to God’s presence. So easy, and so satisfying to the ego.

However, if I look at the depth of my wretchedness, oh, how I am torn apart! And it suddenly becomes blindingly clear that there is nothing that can wholly and fully cleanse me rather than the blood of Jesus; everything I do is coloured by sinful and selfish pride, a desire to be better than my neighbour and eventually God Himself. That couldn’t save me no matter how many times I would try it.

So I look to Christ. Who else lived perfectly, no sinful ulterior motives in everything He did, thus obeying the command set out by God to a tee? And I pray for you, dear reader, that your state doesn’t cause you to flee from God, but that you may be drawn in by His grace, be cleansed and live out the life full of joy that comes with seeing God’s beauty in His word and walking daily with Him, and showing that beauty to all around you in deed, word and thought.

Thanks for sticking it out this far and walking this road with me. I pray you have come to a fuller understanding of salvation as we followed the guideposts, and a greater appreciation for God’s great work.

What next? Well, as much as I would want to hang up my boots and take a breather… Sounds inviting, but more lies in store. For now, I will take a slight break to prepare an announcement on the future of this blog. Hopefully, it won’t be too long, maybe a week or so. Keep me in your prayers as I chart the way forward.

Grace and peace to you. Stay safe, and remember to wash your hands.