Yes, To God Be the Glory!

“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph 4:6

When we say that all glory and praise goes to God, what does that really mean? Do we see ourselves as the giver or respondent? Do we determine what is worthy to be praised and what is not? If not, why do we complain to God? Or do we, by faith, accept all that happens to us, whether good or evil, as a gracious and kind act that God intends only for our good and His glory? When our spirits are brought low, do we cry out, ‘Help thou my unbelief!’ Such a cry does not discredit or dishonor Him (perhaps us, in our own vanity) but it invites Him to fully and miraculously deliver us in the fulness of His time and purpose.

Truly, if all glory goes to God, then… what of us? How should we proceed but by His Spirit; His light ever guiding us through the wilderness? Will the Spirit take us where His Scriptures do not lead us? What doctrines and interpretations from His Word would the Spirit teach except those that ascribe to God, through Jesus Christ, all sovereignty, power and might? Do we pray, as our Lord instructed, that His will be done?

Yet, even in our prayers and doctrines, we hold back, as Ananias and Sapphira, what we said that we’d surrender; even our heart, soul, mind and might. Sounding and seeming ‘spiritual’ on the outside, we think to secretly reserve, if it was possible, our own place at His table by advancing ourselves; taking a seat at the front of the banquet. How do we do so? By saying and evangelizing that a man decides through his free will and self-determination who is saved. We do so by holding up faith as if it was a marketing tool for economic and personal benefit. Others restrict the true liberty that we have in Christ to bind others still to a rigid set of rules and dead works. All of these we do and more to insert ourselves farther up the line, and all of this to bring us a taste of what we imagine is a heavenly pie. However, worms as we are, so we eat from the dung heap.

How does the Spirit interpret the Scriptures? He passes on to us what is heard between the Father and Son; no more and no less. We are not His counsel; He is our helper; not vice versa. If it is true that God works in us both to will and to do, then His will must be kept by faith sovereign above all; manifest through all; that is, as Paul knew of the Ephesians, if He resides in us at all. If so, His sovereignty and will must be applied in our study, meditation and prayer. And what is man apart from those sacred duties? We are simple benefactors; respondents… we take no credit… crowns bestowed are cast back. Why? Because He alone is worthy of all glory, honor and praise.