Glory To God Alone Series

Scripture

During this fall, we are focusing our attention on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation began when an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. His propositions sparked a debate that eventually gave us five key Reformation doctrines that are usually referred to by their Latin names: sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), and soli deo Gloria (glory to God alone). Today, I would like to examine glory to God alone.

Let’s read Romans 11:36:

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)

Introduction

Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses sparked a debate that eventually gave us five key Reformation doctrines.

First, the Reformers gave us sola Scriptura, which means “Scripture alone.” Their concern in using this phrase was with authority. They insisted that the Bible alone is our ultimate and supreme authority. They did not agree that other authorities, such as the pope, councils, traditions, the church, or even subjective feelings were equal in authority to the Bible. These other sources of authority may have a place, but in the end, the Bible alone is the supreme authority. Therefore, if there is a question to be answered, or a matter to be addressed, the supreme and final authority is the Word of God, and not anything or anyone else.

Second, the Reformers gave us solus Christus, which means “Christ alone.” They were saying that salvation has been achieved for us by Jesus Christ alone. Moreover, Christ accomplished our salvation apart from anything we have done or might do. Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross as our substitute has completely satisfied the justice of God the Father. There is nothing that we can do or contribute to our salvation.

Third, the Reformers gave us sola gratia, which means “grace alone.” They insisted that we sinners have no claim on God at all, that God owes us nothing but punishment for our sins, and that, if he saves us, it is only because he is pleased to do so. Our salvation is entirely due to the grace of God, and not because of anything in us at all.

Fourth, the Reformers gave us sola fide, which means “faith alone.” They were concerned with how God saves sinners, and affirmed that sinners are justified—declared “not guilty”—by faith alone. No merit saves, no good works saves, no obedience to God’s Law saves; only faith alone in Christ saves. Justification by faith alone became the hallmark doctrine of the Reformation.

And fifth, the Reformers gave us soli deo Gloria, which means “glory to God alone.” There is a sense in which each of the previous four solas leads to and, indeed, is even contained in this final sola. Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Because all things really are “from him and through him and to him,” we say, “To him be glory forever. Amen.”

David VanDrunen notes in his book, God’s Glory Alone, that the Reformers did not actually coin the five terms of these five Reformation doctrines. He writes:

The Reformers may not have spoken explicitly of “the five solas,” but the magnification of Christ, grace, faith, Scripture, and God’s glory—and these alone—suffused their theology and ethics, their worship and piety. Christ alone, and no other redeemer, is the mediator of our salvation. Grace alone, and not any human contribution, saves us. Faith alone, and no other human action, is the instrument by which we’re saved. Scripture, and no merely human word, is our ultimate standard of authority. God’s glory alone, and that of no creature, is the supreme end of all things.

Lesson

Romans 11:36 shows us that God alone is to be glorified.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Paul Begins with a Theological Affirmation (11:36a)

2. Paul Concludes with a Doxological Ascription (11:36b)

I. Paul Begins with a Theological Affirmation (11:36a)

First, Paul begins with a theological affirmation.

The Apostle Paul has given a comprehensive analysis of the gospel in the first eleven chapters of Romans. As John Stott says, “Step by step he has shown how God has revealed his way of putting sinners right with himself, how Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification, how we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection, how the Christian life is lived not under the law but in the Spirit, and how God plans to incorporate the fullness of Israel and of the Gentiles into his new community. Paul’s horizons are vast. He takes in time and eternity, history and eschatology, justification, sanctification and glorification. Now he stops, out of breath.” Before he concludes with a doxological ascription, he begins with a theological affirmation about God in verse 36a, “For from him and through him and to him are all things.”