To God Alone be the Glory

Ephesians 1:3-6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."

This is the last devotion in our series on the five solas, the great rallying cries of the Reformation. We have considered Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone and Christ alone. Today we come to the one that holds the others together: “Soli Deo gloria”, "to God alone be the glory." If you are new to these phrases, nothing here requires a background in theology, only a willingness to think about why God does what he does.

To help us, I want to borrow a distinction from Jonathan Edwards, the eighteenth-century Reformed pastor and theologian. Edwards observed that we pursue two kinds of goals. A subordinate end is something we pursue for the sake of something further. The ultimate end is the thing everything else is for.

Here is a simple picture. Someone grabs their keys, slips out the front door and slides into the car. Turning the key is never their ultimate end. They are heading to the store, and the store is not the end either. They push a cart down the aisle to pick up groceries, and the groceries are for dinner with the family. The table is where the chain finally arrives, with the family sitting together thanking God for the meal He has provided. The keys, the drive, the store and the groceries all matter, and they would not skip any of them, but each one is there for the sake of something else. For the purposes of our picture, the dinner for the family is the ultimate end, the reason for the whole chain.

Edwards asked the same question about God. When God does all that he does, creating and redeeming and ruling, what is the ultimate end he has in view?

Ephesians 1 Reveals Both the Means and the End

Paul's long sentence answers that question. In the Greek, verses 3 to 14 are a single sentence, and everything in it is moving toward a destination.

Look at what God does. He blesses us "with every spiritual blessing." He chooses us "before the foundation of the world", which is what theologians call election. He predestines us for adoption, welcoming us into his family as sons and daughters. Paul does not shrink these gifts. They are real, they are rich, and they are ours in Christ. Yet each of them is a subordinate end. Each is a link in the chain.

Notice also the motive Paul gives. God chose us "that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us." Nothing in this sentence is cold or mechanical. The chain is forged in love, by a Father who chose sons and daughters, and who gave his own Son so that he could have them. Even so, love is not the last link. Paul takes us one step further, to the reason behind the gift, which is the praise of the One who gave it.

Then comes the ultimate end, and Paul names it plainly in verse 6: "to the praise of his glorious grace." Why did God bless, choose and adopt? So that his grace would be praised. The chain stops there, because nothing lies beyond the glory of God.

That is why the other solas serve this one. Scripture, grace, faith and Christ are the means by which God saves us. The praise of his glorious grace is the end for which he saves us.

Why This Is Good News for Us

At this point someone may object, and it is a fair objection. Does this make God self-absorbed? If the ultimate end of everything is his own glory, where does that leave us?

The answer is that God's glory is not something he takes from us. It is something he gives us. The highest gift God can offer is himself, and we are never more satisfied than when we rejoice in him. Edwards saw that God's glory and our joy are not rivals. As he put it: "God is glorified not only by his glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in." When we delight in God, he is honored and we are blessed, and these are one event, not two.

That carries straight into Wednesday this morning. Paul writes, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Notice how ordinary his examples are. Eating and drinking are about as humble as human activities get. Paul does not say that only the sermon, the hymn or the prayer meeting can bring God glory. He says "whatever you do." There is no ordinary task so small that it cannot be received as a gift and offered back with thanks.

Think of our example of getting in the car to drive to the store, to pick up groceries, to make dinner for your family. The drive, the shopping and the cooking are good things, but they are subordinate ends. When we receive them with thanks, and do them for love's sake, they serve the ultimate end. In the same way, your work, your meals, your conversations and your rest are not distractions from the glory of God. They are ordinary places where his glory can be honored, when we receive each as a gift and do each for him.

Before the Throne: All Five Solas

Now let us gather the whole series together.

Picture yourself standing before the throne of God. Someone asks you, "By what merit do you belong here? What have you brought?" It is the question every one of us will face, and the five solas supply the answer.

How did we even know the way? “Scripture alone” told us. We did not invent the path to God; he revealed it in his Word. How did we come to be saved? “Grace alone”. We had no claim on him, and he gave freely. How did that gift reach us? “Faith alone”. We did not earn it, only received it with empty hands. And on what basis are we welcomed? “Christ alone”. When asked by what merit we belong, we offer nothing of our own, not our good deeds, not our sincerity, not even our church love. We offer only the merit of Christ.

That is why Paul says God chose as he did "so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Corinthians 1:29). In that room there is nothing left for us to take credit for. Every blessing, from our election to our adoption, was given. All that remains is praise, and so it all comes to rest in “soli Deo gloria”, to the praise of his glory.

Paul finishes the thought a few verses later: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31). We do have something to boast about after all. It is not our merit but his mercy, and the more clearly we see that, the more freely we praise. This is the quiet joy at the end of the five solas. We are not left anxious about whether we have done enough. Christ has done it, and so we are free to give God the glory, gladly and without reserve.

With love in Christ,

Pastor Chris