November 18, 2017 - Church at Worship

Sermon: "Soli Deo Gloria" Here We Stand (Part 5 of 5) by Randy Roberts

Pastoral Welcome: Doug Mace

Baptism: Daniela Chavez de Paz Solis

Scripture Reading: Taken from Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Revelation, TNIV read by Audrey and Allison Kim

Sermon Notes:

For five weeks, our focus has been on the five solas of the Protestant Reformation. The last of the five solas is soli Deo gloria: “glory to God alone.” I suspect that if one were to ask fellow Christfollowers whether or not they agree with that statement, the response would be universal: “Absolutely.” We might be hard-pressed, in fact, to find a Christ-follower anywhere who disagrees with it. After all, doesn’t the Bible contain statements such as this one, penned by the apostle Paul: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31)? And doesn’t The Westminster Catechism famously say that the chief purpose of human life is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever”? And doesn’t even Jesus himself, in speaking of the purpose of living righteous lives, say, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16)? So the answer seems clear. But upon further thought, another question emerges: Why did the leaders of the Protestant Reformation focus on this concept? Why does it emerge out of doctrines such as justification by faith? The answer might be as simple as this: a cardinal truth of the Reformation was that salvation was God’s gift of grace, received by faith. If that is true, then God gets the credit for our salvation. On the other hand, if salvation is achieved by our own efforts, then the credit, the acclaim, the glory for our salvation belongs to us. If, however, salvation is fully a work of God, then God receives the glory for what has been accomplished for human beings. soli Deo gloria. Randy Roberts Senior pastor