Part 12 of 12

 The 5^th Sola - “SOLI DEO GLORIA”

SOLI DEO GLORIA - “GLORY TO GOD ALONE”

Eph. 3:21 Unto him be GLORY in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

“Soli Deo Gloria” is the doctrinal teaching that all glory is to be due unto God ALONE, since salvation is accomplished solely through His will and action on our behalf. Not only is the gift of the all-sufficient atonement (justification), which is only available by the cross of Jesus Christ, but also the gift of faith in that atonement is created in the heart of the believer solely by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by GRACE are ye saved through FAITH; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is THE GIFT OF GOD: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The GLORY OF GOD is the full “EXPRESSION of God the Father, which is seen in Christ who indwells every believer’s spirit. Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of THE GLORY of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, the HOPE OF GLORY: The believer’s new life and faith that is of the resurrected “Spirit of Christ” is of the GLORY OR EXPRESSION of the Father, now indwelling every believer…as the believer’s only “HOPE (expectation) OF GLORY.”

We speak words to express our self and so it is with God who is fully expressed in Jesus Christ. Jesus was the visible expression of the Father. John 14:9 … Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…? When Jesus was manifested in flesh, He spoke and expressed the exact sentiment of the “fullness of the Godhead” that dwelt within Him ( Col 2:10).

Hebrews 1:1-3 GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners SPAKE IN TIME PAST UNTO THE FATHERS BY THE PROPHETS, ² Hath IN THESE LAST DAYS SPOKEN UNTO US BY HIS SON, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³ WHO BEING THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS GLORY, AND THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Jesus Christ is therefore referred to as “the Word” (John 1:1). Jesus Christ is the GLORY or full expression of the Godhead.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld HIS GLORY, THE GLORY as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1 Peter 1:23-25 BEING BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth for ever. ²⁴ For all flesh (of man) is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower (glory) thereof falleth away: ²⁵ But THE WORD OF THE LORD endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

The believer’s life on earth is lived by the faith that is “of” (Greek, “ek,” meaning “from and with”) the glorious life of Son of God, who as the “Glory of God” indwells every reborn believer.

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of (Gk. ek, from and with) the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Thus Christ as the Son and Glory of the Father lives in the believer as their “hope of GLORY.” The word “hope” here means a “confident expectation.” Every believer can have the confident expectation that they, by the Seed, which is “the Word of God” (Christ) in them, have the inborn life that expresses the glory of their real Father, God.                       

Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be GLORY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST FOR EVER. Amen.

The Reformation reclaimed the Scriptural teaching of the sovereignty of God over every aspect of the believer’s life. All of our life is to be lived to the Glory of God. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to GLORIFY God and to enjoy Him forever.”

This great and all consuming purpose was emphasized by those in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to reform the church according to “the Word of God.”

In contrast to the monastic division of life, into sacred or religious versus the secular perpetuated by Roman Church, the Reformers saw the life of ALL men is to be lived directly under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Every activity of the Christian is to be sanctified unto “the glory of God” as they live in His presence, abiding within.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Peter 4:11b … that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Romans 4:20 He (Abraham) … was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

Romans 15:7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Romans 16:27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever.

Summary: The lies of the evil one win when the truth is not known. Sadly, today the scarcity of the Bible’s pure and simple “words of God” leads to and sustains the lies of Satan that are perpetrated by the many pulpits and religious systems of Christianity – thus so many are deceived so easily. Amos wrote of the scarcity of “the words of God” in the land of Israel . “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: (Amos 8:11). We in our country similarly suffer the scarcity of “the words of God.”

Let us be those who honor and present the pure “words of God” to all who will hear. God’s “Word” has the power to lighten the hearts and minds of all those who will receive God’s salvation that is found in His Word.

Some might say “We stand for the pure word and that we would never fall away from the truth (that’s apostasy).” By this they entertain the notion that apostasy from the truth (falling away from Biblical truth) begins with a denial of one or more of the fundamentals of the faith, such as the infallibility of the Bible, the deity of Christ, or the efficacy of His redemptive work. The moral aspect of apostasy, they suppose, comes about in much the same way. This view is not entirely correct; apostasy generally begins, not with holding, but with condoning spiritual or moral error, such as we see in our day. Eve fell into sin, not by denying what God had said but by listening to the Serpent’s words.

So, beware of the seeming “little foxes” seen in the Song of Solomon, where the Shulamite maiden, doubtless quoting the words of Solomon her beloved bridegroom, notes that the vineyards are in full blossom. Soon the grapes will be ripe for the marriage feast. But a danger threatens the harvest: “the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.” These “little foxes,” such as denying the full sufficiency of “faith alone” (apart from works) as the basis of salvation, must without fail be “taken,” or caught (Song of Solomon 2:15).

These little foxes are subtle but dangerous to the health of the believer and “the faith.” Look at the lesson we have here. How often God’s people have stood at the threshold of great blessing, the refreshing odor of an abundant spiritual harvest in the air when, sadly, all has been lost — not through a frontal attack by the adversary, but by those wily little foxes that had been permitted to spoil the vines. Some doctrine or practice, clearly unscriptural and subversive of spiritual blessing, had been condoned when, like the little foxes of Solomon’s song, they should have been caught and disposed of.

May this be our lesson, warning us that we should always stand for the PURE words of God as seen in these “Five Solas” that we have considered in this study series.                                                  <END SERIES>