Glorifying God Course Summary

Chapter 1

1 Chronicles 16:29; 1 Corinthians 10:31, 6:20; Psalm 97:9, 29:2; Nehemiah 8:6; Philippians 3:3; Deuteronomy 6:5; Song of Songs 8:2

What is it really like to glorify God with our lives?

Thomas Watson, in his book entitled A Body of Divinity, states that glorifying God consists in at least four things:

1. appreciation


2. adoration


3. affection


4. subjection

In this course, I will present ten ways by which Christians may glorify God, and then offer suggestions on how to apply these truths. These ten truths are practical and convicting, hard-hitting and encouraging. They have the potential to change our lives, to set us apart from sin, to mold us into the image of Jesus Christ, and to provide assurance that our lives are not wasted but, rather, are spent in the worthy pursuit of honoring God.

Chapter 2

Matthew 6:2; Deuteronomy 33:9; Luke 14:26; Philippians 1:15-19; 1 Samuel 18:8

Truth # 1: We glorify God when we make it our aim and purpose to do so

We look at three specific ways in which we can live our lives aiming for God's glory.

1. We aim for God's glory when we prefer His glory above everything else -- above credit for doing good, above the esteem of other people, above relationships, above everything. When the glory of God comes into competition with anything else, we honor Him when we put His glory before all else.


2. We aim for God's glory when we are content that God's will be done, even if His will crosses our own. The prayer of our heart should be, "Lord, I am content to be a loser in this if You will be the gainer; I am content to have poorer health if I have more grace and You more glory. Lord, I desire that which will glorify You most, whatever that is."


3. We aim for God's glory when we are content to be outdone and outshone by others in spiritual gifts and esteem, so that God's glory might be increased. A man who has God in his heart and God's glory in his eye desires God to be exalted. It does not matter to him who is glorifying God most, he rejoices that God is being glorified.

Chapter 3

Luke 23:41; Joshua 7:19; Genesis 3:12; Nehemiah 9:33; Psalm 32:3-5; Proverbs 28:13

Truth # 2: We glorify God by a humble and honest confession of our sins

A humble confession exalts God. It glorifies Him. Watson states beautifully that "God's free grace is magnified by crowning those with love and compassion and forgiveness who deserve to be condemned!"

In contrast to a full and free confession, which honors God, minimizing and excusing sin casts a reproach on God and dishonors Him

True confession of sin glorifies God because it clears Him of any wrongdoing; it acknowledges that He is holy and righteous in whatever He does.

A confession of sin is true and right when it is unforced, that is, when it comes freely from the one who has sinned.

Chapter 4

Colossians 1:9-14; Romans 4:20; 1 John 5:10; John 3:33; Daniel 3:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:3

Truth # 3: We glorify God by believing

Believing God certifies, affirms, and declares that God is true. He accepts the truth of the gospel, believes it, and therefore certifies that God is truthful.

Faith knows there are no impossibilities with God, and faith enables us to trust God even where we cannot trace Him. Faith enables us to trust God with our very lives, believing all things are possible with Him, trusting He is sovereign in all situations, and surrendering the outcome of all events in our lives to His loving care. This type of faith is honoring to God and brings Him glory.

Paul thanked God because the Thessalonians' faith was "growing more and more" and their love for each other was increasing. May that be said of you and me, as we continue to seek to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Chapter 5

Leviticus 11:45; Hosea 10:1-6, 10-11; Romans 1:21-25; Revelation 16:9; Job 22:21-26; Psalm 23:3; Matthew 6:13; Romans 2:9-10

Truth # 4: We glorify God by finding freedom from habitual sin

Sin obscures the glory of God from the life of a person, a family, a church, or a society and, if continually practiced, eventually removes the glory of God from them. Sin is an offense to God Who is holy, and Who commands us to also be holy. Indeed, the practice of holiness should be the desire, and the end result, for every Christian who has been brought up out of slavery to sin, just as God commanded holiness of the Israelites whom He delivered from slavery in Egypt.

Holiness in our lives spreads the glory of God. If our main purpose in life is to glorify God, then we must understand that we glorify Him by the purposeful removal of all known sin. I am not speaking about perfection, for we know that in this life we will stumble in many ways and will continue to fall short of the glory of God. Rather, when I talk about removing sin, I mean the intelligent, purposeful removal of all known and habitual sin. This process should be ongoing in the life of every believer.

Chapter 6

John 15:8; Philippians 1:11; Matthew 21:18-20; 1 Corinthians 9:7; Matthew 5:16; Jeremiah 11:16; Galatians 5:22; James 3:17-18; Acts 2:40-41

Truth # 5-We glorify God by fruitfulness

It is not profession of faith but rather fruitfulness in our lives that glorifies God. In other words, it is not the one who looks back and tells the story of a decision made in the past who glorifies God; rather, it is the one whose life shows fruitfulness from that decision who glorifies God. God expects all whom He has planted in Christ to produce fruit.

For the Christian who wants to fulfill his or her chief end by glorifying God, it is important to be clear on what bearing fruit means. I'd like to define this in terms of internal and external fruit. The person who is loving toward all, full of joy and peace, is patient and kind, full of goodness, pure and peaceable, considerate and submissive gives evidence of the Holy Spirit living within him or her. These character traits are the internal fruits that honor God in our lives. External fruits are those people who follow us as we follow Christ. They are converts to Christianity due to our witnessing, or are those whose lives are becoming more Christ-like because of some influence God has given us with them.

Chapter 7

2 Corinthians 11:23-28; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Hebrews 13:5-6

Truth # 6: We glorify God by being content in our circumstances

Christians honor the Lord and glorify Him when we rest satisfied and content with where God has put us and with what He has given us. There is a secret to living and experiencing this truth. It is our intent to explore this secret, learn it, and live contentedly in Jesus Christ for the remainder of our lives and throughout all eternity.

A contented Christian speaks to himself in this manner, "It is God Who has put me in this situation. He could have raised me higher or blessed me more if He pleased, but that might have put me in a trap of materialism or pride. What He has done He has done in wisdom and love, therefore I will be content with my conditions." This glorifies God much. God counts Himself much honored by such a Christian. "Here," says God, "is one after my own heart. Whatever I do with him I hear no murmuring or complaining; he is content." This shows an abundance of grace. The reason Christians can be "content with what we have" is because we have God!

Chapter 8

Philippians 2:12-13; James 1:22-25

Truth # 7: We glorify God by working out our salvation

God has woven together His glory and our good, so that we glorify Him by working out our salvation. It is critical to not misunderstand this statement as saying that Christians are to work for our salvation, but rather to work out our salvation. In other words, we are to work out, to evidence and show forth the salvation that God works within our hearts. They are to display to the world what He is working in us.

God's grace in salvation enables us to work hard, to be very active in working out our salvation, and to accomplish much. Yet, we do not take credit for all the work; rather, we acknowledge that God's grace is the strengthening power within us, enabling us to work out our salvation.

In this chapter, I share Watson's statements on this subject, as they are profitable for us in learning what it means to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Chapter 9

2 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 14:7-9; Philippians 1:20-21

Truth # 8: We glorify God by living to God

The gospel is powerful! It not only tells us of forgiveness of sin and the removal of guilt and shame, but it is powerful enough to affect the way we live each day of our lives. It goes like this: I come into the world living unto myself; everything I do is focused on meeting my own needs and providing for my own comfort. Then, God convicts me of sin through His Word, and I run to the cross of Jesus Christ to be pardoned and saved not only from my sin, but also from myself. I see at the cross that Jesus did not live to Himself, did not seek to find comfort in life, but rather He chose a cross instead; He did not promote His own glory, but His Father's. I see that He lived for others and died to Himself. I see that He lived to God and died for others.

We live to God when we live our lives serving Him. We are to serve the Lord in our jobs, for He is the true Master we are serving. We are to serve the Lord in ministry for, in giving something to drink to the thirsty or in clothing the naked or in visiting those in prison, we are actually ministering to Christ. In all areas of life, we are to live to serve the Lord, not ourselves.

Chapter 10

Hebrews 12:2, 3:1; 1 Peter 2:21; Numbers 13:17-20, 27-29, 31-33, 14:5-9

Truth # 9: We glorify God by intensely focusing on Jesus Christ

We will examine what the Scriptures teach about the believer's "focus" and, specifically how we glorify God by focusing on Jesus. By "focus," I mean: where we (1) fix our thoughts; what we (2) look at and move toward; and what we (3) follow or pursue as a course for our lives.

When trials, struggles or temptations loom as large as giants in our lives, when debt seems insurmountable, sickness seems undefeatable, or sin appears unconquerable, that is the time to focus intensely on the Lord and not give in to fear. That is the time to remind ourselves of His power and His promises and to look to Him for deliverance. No matter what problem, trial, challenge or difficulty you are facing today, no matter what hardship, heartache or testing you go through in your life, by focusing on Jesus and looking to Him, you will be OK and your life will honor the Lord. Focus on His power and His promises, walk with Him and enjoy His presence, look to Him at all times. When we are focused on Jesus, our problems, whatever they may be, appear much smaller, and our lives glorify God.

Chapter 11

Psalm 100; Ephesians 1:3-7; 13-14, 2 Thessalonians 2:13; James 1:18; Acts 13:48; Psalm 103:1-3; Romans 5:11; Psalm 40:16; Psalm 64:10; James 1:2-3; Philippians 4:4

Truth # 10: We glorify God when we are cheerful

The Christian does not have a hollow smile or empty laughter; quite the contrary, he has every reason to be joyful. The foundation or basis for the Christian's joy is in God Himself. It is grounded in who God is and in what He has accomplished on our behalf. God the Father chose us, God the Son redeems us, and God the Holy Spirit seals us. God the Father's work was done in eternity past, God the Son's work was accomplished at the cross, and God the Holy Spirit's work is done for eternity future.

And so we have every reason to rejoice and to live cheerfully. We are chosen, redeemed, and sealed. We are loved and blessed and bought and preserved. The Christian has every reason to walk throughout this life cheerfully, happy, and thankful, rejoicing in the Lord for all that God is to him, and all that God has done for him.

We have many difficulties in this life, many struggles and trials; many things discourage us and make us sad. There are pressures from our jobs, struggles with our spouses, or trials with our children. There are sicknesses and "accidents" and trials of every kind. And yet, through it all, we know that we are chosen, forgiven, adopted, reconciled, justified, pardoned, and sealed by God. Our eternity is secure; therefore, our present can be cheerful. We know God; therefore, we can worship Him with gladness.