Soli Deo Gloria
To God Alone Be the Glory
FROM R. C. SPROUL
Soli Deo gloria is
the motto that grew out of the Protestant Reformation and was used on every
composition by Johann Sebastian Bach.
He affixed the
initials SDG at the bottom of each manuscript to
communicate the idea that it is God and God alone who is to receive the glory
for the wonders of His work of creation and of redemption.
At the heart of
the sixteenth-century controversy over salvation was the issue of grace.
It was not a
question of man’s need for grace. It was a question as to the extent of that
need.
The church had
already condemned Pelagius, who had taught that grace facilitates salvation but
is not absolutely necessary for it.
Semi-Pelagianism
since that time has always taught that without grace there is no salvation.
But the grace
that is considered in all semi-Pelagian and Arminian theories of salvation is
not an efficacious grace. It is a grace that makes salvation possible, but not
a grace that makes salvation certain.
In the parable of
the sower we see that regarding salvation, God is the one who takes the
initiative to bring salvation to pass. He is the sower.
The seed that is
sown is His seed, corresponding to His Word, and the harvest that results is
His harvest. He harvests what He purposed to harvest when He initiated the
whole process.
God doesn’t leave
the harvest up to the vagaries of thorns and stones in the pathway. It is God
and God alone who makes certain that a portion of His Word falls upon good
ground.
A critical error
in interpreting this parable would be to assume that the good ground is the
good disposition of fallen sinners, those sinners who make the right choice,
responding positively to God’s prevenient grace.
The classical
Reformed understanding of the good ground is that if the ground is receptive to
the seed that is sown by God, it is God alone who prepares the ground for the
germination of the seed.
The
biggest question any semi-Pelagian or Arminian has to face at the practical
level is this: "Why did I choose to
believe the gospel and commit my life to Christ when my neighbor, who heard the
same gospel, chose to reject it?"
That question has
been answered in many ways. We might speculate that the reason why one person
chooses to respond positively to the gospel and to Christ, while another one
doesn’t, is because the person who responded positively was more intelligent
than the other one.
If that were the
case, then God would still be the ultimate provider of salvation because the
intelligence is His gift, and it could be explained that God did not give the
same intelligence to the neighbor who rejected the gospel. But that explanation
is obviously absurd.
The other
possibility that one must consider is this: that the reason one person responds
positively to the gospel and his neighbor does not is because the one who
responded was a better person.
That is, that
person who made the right choice and the good choice did it because he was more
righteous than his neighbor. In this case, the flesh not only availed
something, it availed everything.
This is the view
that is held by the majority of evangelical Christians, namely, the reason why
they are saved and others are not is that they made the right response to God’s
grace while the others made the wrong response.
We can talk here
about not only the correct response as opposed to an erroneous response, but we
can speak in terms of a good response rather than a bad response.
If I am in the
kingdom of God because I made the good response rather than the bad response, I
have something of which to boast, namely the goodness by which I responded to the
grace of God.
I
have never met an Arminian who would answer the question that I’ve just posed
by saying, “Oh, the reason I’m a believer
is because I’m better than my neighbor.”
They would be
loath to say that. However, though they reject this implication, the logic of
semi-Pelagianism requires this conclusion.
If indeed in the
final analysis the reason I’m a Christian and someone else is not is that I
made the proper response to God’s offer of salvation while somebody else
rejected it, then by resistless logic I have indeed made the good response, and
my neighbor has made the bad response.
What Reformed
theology teaches is that it is true the believer makes the right response and
the non-believer makes the wrong response.
But the reason
the believer makes the good response is because God in His sovereign election
changes the disposition of the heart of the elect to effect a good response.
I can take no
credit for the response that I made for Christ.
God not only
initiated my salvation, He not only sowed the seed, but He made sure that that
seed germinated in my heart by regenerating me by the power of the Holy Ghost.
That regeneration
is a necessary condition for the seed to take root and to flourish. That’s why
at the heart of Reformed theology the axiom resounds, namely, that regeneration
precedes faith.
It’s that
formula, that order of salvation that all semi-Pelagians reject.
They hold to the
idea that in their fallen condition of spiritual death, they exercise faith,
and then are born again.
In their view,
they respond to the gospel before the Spirit has changed the disposition of
their soul to bring them to faith.
When that
happens, the glory of God is shared. No semi-Pelagian can ever say with
authenticity: “To God alone be the glory.”
For the semi-Pelagian,
God may be gracious, but in addition to God’s grace, my work of response is
absolutely essential.
Here grace is not
effectual, and such grace, in the final analysis, is not really saving grace.
In fact,
salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end.
Yes, I must
believe. Yes, I must respond. Yes, I must receive Christ.
But for me to say
“yes”
to any of those things, my heart must first be changed by the sovereign,
effectual power of God the Holy Spirit. Soli Deo gloria.
Are you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future
will play out?
Why not talk to the God of the universe and let Him work in your
behalf?
He says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way
you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask God to show you what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly Father,
I admit that I am a sinner
and my sins have separated me from You. I now want to turn away from my past
sinful life and begin a new life with You.
Please forgive me. I now
receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my Lord. I believe
and confess that Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and rose from the
dead.
I want to receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my
Savior. Your Word says, ‘Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
I believe and confess that
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes unto the
Father, but by Him.
Lord Jesus, I pray and ask
You, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. I thank You that you have
given me eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am born again.
Heavenly Father, thank You
for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is in me now. I surrender my life to You. I
promise to study Your Word – the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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1 There's a church in the valley by the wildwood,
No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
Come to the church in the wildwood,
Oh, come to the church in the vale;
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
3 How sweet on a clear Sunday morning,
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.
“The Little Brown Church”
William S. Pitts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io6vlgHg4PsGaitherVEVO(live)
CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . .
.
lyrics
1 There's a church in the valley by the wildwood,No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
Chorus:
Come to the church in the wildwood,
Oh, come to the church in the vale;
No spot is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale.
2 Oh, come to the church in the wildwood,
To the trees where the wild flowers bloom;
Where the parting hymn will be chanted,
We will weep by the side of the tomb.
To the trees where the wild flowers bloom;
Where the parting hymn will be chanted,
We will weep by the side of the tomb.
(Chorus)
3 How sweet on a clear Sunday morning,To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.
(Chorus)
4 From the church in the valley by the wildwood,
When day fades away into might,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light.
When day fades away into might,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light.
(Chorus)
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