Earlier I noted how the theme of soli Deo gloria, in popular parlance, has often come to focus upon the idea that we are called to do all things for the glory of God. I claimed that although we are indeed called to do all things for God’s glory, when this becomes the principal focus, we run the risk of making soli Deo gloria primarily about us and our agendas, rather than about God and his glorification of himself— an odd and ironic result. For this reason, the past parts of our study have focused upon God and how he glorifies himself through the pillar of cloud and fire, through the humiliation and exaltation of his Son, and through the glorification of his people, among many other themes. But having laid this foundation— which surely must lie at the center of our confession that all glory belongs to God— I now turn back to this idea: God calls us to glorify him in all we do. Or perhaps to put it more precisely: one of the great ways that God glorifies himself is by calling and enabling us, his people, to glorify him through our holy conduct.
First, we glorify God by our faith. Since our salvation in Christ comes by faith alone, and since faith is the root from which all of our good works flow (see Romans 14.23; Hebrews 11.6), we would expect to find an indelible connection between faith and giving glory to God in all of our conduct.
A second— and seemingly primary— way by which Christians glorify God is worship. Faith in God’s Christ-centered promises gives glory to God, and thus it is no surprise to find that Scripture describes the fruits of faith— our good works— in similar terms. Are there some fruits in particular that receive special attention? Yes, there is one activity that Scripture associates far more than any other with glorifying God, and that is worship. At its heart, worship ascribes all glory to God alone. We can glorify God in many ways, but Scripture indicates that nothing we do delights God more than calling upon his name with sincere hearts and declaring that all glory belongs to him. To clarify one matter initially, when I refer to “worship,” I am referring to a distinct activity. Sometimes people speak of all of life as worship, such that going to work is worship, playing basketball is worship, or practicing the piano is worship. It is indeed proper to honor God in all of our endeavors, as we’ll consider below, but worship is a distinct activity in which we set aside other tasks and set our minds and hearts fully upon the Lord, in order to receive his word and to respond to him with prayer and song— in private, in families, and especially in the corporate worship of the church on the Lord’s Day.
Our third and final way in which the New Testament speaks of Christians glorifying God: glorifying God in all that we do. Although this is not a major theme in Scripture, contrary to what conventional wisdom might lead us to expect, the New Testament clearly does exhort us to glorify God in all of our conduct, especially that which builds up the church, the body of Christ. The pattern seems to be this: as we believe in Christ to the glory of God and declare his glory in our worship, grateful obedience in all of life flows forth from us unto God’s glory, especially in works of service that bless Christ’s church.
Scripture’s primary emphasis upon glorifying God through worship is an important reminder of just how central worship ought to be in our Christian lives. Compared to so many other activities, worship may sometimes strike us as dull and unproductive. But while we ought never be lax in works of service to our neighbors, the Scripture urges us to remember that nothing glorifies the Lord more than bending the knee and calling upon his name.