The Reformation phrase of Soli Deo Gloria is rich with history and even richer in meaning. One writer said that Luther’s Bondage of the Will was the greatest Soli Deo Gloria sung during the Reformation. In other words, that writer perceived that Soli Deo Gloria was something that guided the thoughts and practices of Luther. On the one hand the Gospel is the glory of God displayed in the face of Christ, but if we could theoretically separate the glory of God from the salvation of human souls, we would see that salvation for human beings would be of no real importance apart from the glory of God. Apart from the glory of God the only reason that human beings would desire salvation in any way would be to escape hell. Wait a minute, isn’t this the main reason that is presented to human beings for salvation these days. Escaping hell is the main reason given to us for having gratitude for salvation. But the glory and reason of the Gospel is the glory of God shining in the face of Christ.
For those who have read Bondage of the Will they can see that Luther escaped the clutches of a self-centered and man-centered view of the Gospel. He saw that the Gospel was all about the glory of God first and foremost. The subject that he dealt with was of vast importance to him, but not because it was a philosophical treatise on the will. It was because it was of vast importance to state a view of the Gospel and of the human will that defended the glory of God as the real issue of primary importance. Erasmus was concerned to defend man and the rights and power of man, but Luther defended the rights and power of God. That same battle continues on in our day. However, in our day there are people who call themselves Reformed and defend the philosophical and even biblical view of Luther and yet they are without the Soli Deo Gloria of Luther. In other words, they are defending a view without the underlying worldview that should drive it.
It is my position that until a person grasps that God-centeredness of God which entails God’s love for Himself as triune that a person cannot hold the historical Reformed view with true consistency. In that case a person has lost the very heart of theology along with its basis and motivations. Reformed theology is nothing but a shell that is internally consistent in a way but has nothing to really support it or drive it other than human motives once the God-centeredness of God has been taken from it. Some might argue that it is biblical, but what is biblical if we don’t have a biblical view of the Bible and of God? Let me use an analogy that I hope makes the point without bringing in too many other issues. Reformed theology apart from the God-centeredness of God being the basis and aim of it all is like a scope on a rifle. When you look through the lenses of a scope many things are brought into better view. The sight is better and so the shooter is excited to have this view. The shooter sees the target and because s/he can see the target s/he thinks that it will be easier to hit the target. The problem is that the scope has not been aligned with the rifle. The purpose of a scope requires that it be aligned with the rifle and to assist the shooter to hit the target better. It is not just to give a better view of things.
We can imagine Luther writing Bondage of the Will as a philosophical treatise with the only goal of defeating Erasmus and presenting a biblical position. But can we imagine Luther not being focused in (scoped) on the glory of God in what he was writing? If so, he would have missed the target no matter what else he wrote. This is what I think Reformed theology is doing in our day. It looks through the scope and sees that things are clearer and it looks around and thinks others should have this view. But it is not aligned with the rifle and so it will not hit what it must hit to be accurate. In fact, it might hit things and cause a lot of damage by hitting the wrong object. Reformed theology must learn that academic respectability is not the same thing as pleasing God. It must learn that large numbers and large offerings is not the same thing as pleasing God.
If the focus of evangelism by Reformed people is to get people to escape hell, then that is a scope that is aimed in a different direction than the rifle. God does all out of love for His own name and for His own glory. That must be our aim and goal in evangelism. Evangelists are to be people living and preaching for the glory of God in the salvation of sinners rather than being here for the salvation of sinners in order to make God look good. Sinners are not just to escape hell, but they are to be turned from their seeking of themselves to being lovers of God. They are to be turned from seeking their own honor and glory to seeking the honor and glory of God. Jesus Himself told us that no one could enter the kingdom apart from being turned and becoming like a little child (Mat 18:1-4). Our evangelism needs more than just a little better theology; it must be the outflow of God’s love for Himself and His own glory. If it is not, we are far off of the target of what we should be aimed at and our evangelism falls far short of the glory of God. All that we think and do is to be aimed accurately at the glory of God from love for God.
God Loves... Himself 
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