DOES GOD SAVE US BECAUSE HE LOVES US OR BECAUSE IT GIVES HIM GLORY?

I recently had a friend ask me whether God saves us because he loves us or because it brings glory to his name, and I answered “Yes.” God loves us more fully and deeply than we can comprehend and that is why he saves us, but he does so in a manner that brings himself glory.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

John 15:13 (NKJV)

A while back in church my pastor talked about how God does things to bring glory to himself and later in the small group Bible study that I facilitate I was asked whether God saves us because He loves us or to glorify His own name. The simple answer is, yes. Let me explain. The truth is, and what I think my pastor was trying to say is, God saves us because of his unfathomable love for us, but he saves us in such a manner as we could not possibly take the credit for it and ultimately He gets the glory and honor for saving us.

Ultimately, everything God does is for His glory, and while it may seem counterintuitive when talking about a loving God who died in the place of all sinners, but the Bible makes it very clear that all God does he ultimately does for his own glory.

According the Bible, God Does Everything for His Own Glory

God created everything through himself and for himself (Colossians 1:16). He created the world to declare his glory (Psalm 19:1-4). He formed and made man with the same intent (Isaiah 43:7). He condemns all who dishonor his name (Exodus 20:7), but he also rescues man to bring honor to his name (Jeremiah 14:7, Psalm 25:11). He rescued the Israelites for the sake of His name so he would not be profaned among the nations (Ezekiel 20:9). He parted the waters for them to gain for himself everlasting renown (Isaiah 63:12-14, Psalm 106:8). He placed Pharaoh in leadership to create for himself the opportunity to display his power and so his name would be proclaimed in all the earth (Exodus 9:16).

God makes a new covenant with his people, promising them a new heart and spirit, not for their sake but for the sake of his holy name (Ezekiel 36:22-32). He guides us in paths of righteousness for his name sake (Psalm 23:3, Psalm 31:3). He delays his wrath for his own name’s sake and for the sake of his praise, and he will not yield his glory to another (Isaiah 48:9-11). For the sake of his righteousness he made his law great and glorious (Isaiah 42:21). He has exalted his name and his word above all things for his praise (Psalm 138:1-2). He blesses people so his ways and saving power may be known among all nations so all nations will praise him (Psalm 67:1-7).

He allows some people to die so he might be glorified, such as Lazarus, (John 11:4). He allows some people to be sick so the power of God may be made known (John 9:3). People are called to obedience by Jesus Christ’s power and for his name’s sake (Romans 1:5). God saves people so they might live for him (2 Corinthians 5:15, Hebrews 9:14). In everything we do, even in simple things like eating and drinking, we are commanded to do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Jesus sought to be glorified so he might glorify his Father (John 17:1). Jesus died on the cross to glorify his Abba (John 12:27-28). The way Jesus blesses his people is by allowing them to see his glory (John 17:24). And Jesus is the head of the church so that in everything he might have the supremacy (Colossians 1:18).

When we enter his temple, we will yell out, “Glory!” (Psalm 29:9). And when we are living in the New Jerusalem at the renewal of all things, God’s glory will replace the sun and be our light forever (Revelations 21:23). There is no doubt, God seeks glory for himself (John 8:50), for from him and through him and for him are all things, so to him be the glory forever! Amen (Romans 11:36).

Clearly, the motivation behind everything God does, even those things that benefit us, are ultimately done to exalt him. God is first and foremost for God. His supreme concern is with himself. His saving works, his grace, his damnation of sinners, his unfailing love – all of it has to do with one thing, him.

God Does Everything for His Own Glory Because He is God

God made people out of a desire to glorify himself. If it didn’t glorify God to make us, to save us, to love us, he wouldn’t have done it. God never ever puts anything above himself. The fact that God made and commands all living creatures to worship him is the very evidence he alone is God. God putting himself first is the greatest testament to God truly being God. If he were not absolutely committed to his own adoration, this would point to the fallacy of his claims that he alone deserves worship. If he placed anything above himself he would be breaking his own first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).

According to these Bible verses and many more, God really does do everything for his own glory, however, The Bible is also extremely clear that God loves us, and loves us more deeply and more completely than we can comprehend.

The question really isn’t “does God love us?” but rather, “Why does God love us?” This short question (why does God love us?) is among the most profound questions ever asked, and no human would ever be able to answer it sufficiently, not even the smartest and most studied among us. One thing is certain, however. God does not love us because we are lovable, because we have earned love or because we deserve His love. If anything, the opposite is true. The state of mankind since the fall is one of rebellion and disobedience, and the Bible tells us that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) not just some of us. Jeremiah 17:9 describes man’s inner condition: “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” Our innermost beings are so corrupted by sin that even we don’t realize the extent to which sin has tainted us. In our natural state, we do not seek God; we do not love God; we do not desire God. Romans 3:10-12 clearly presents the state of the natural, unregenerate person: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” How then is it possible for a holy, righteous, and perfect God to love such creatures? To understand this we must understand something of the nature and character of God.

First John 4:8 and 16 tell us that “God is love.” Never was a more important declaration made than this—God is love. This is a profound statement. God doesn’t just love; He is love. His nature and essence are love. Love permeates His very being and infuses all His other attributes, even His wrath and anger. Because God’s very nature is love, He must demonstrate love, just as He must demonstrate all His attributes because doing so glorifies Him. Glorifying God is the highest, the best, and the most noble of all acts, so, naturally, glorifying Himself is what He must do, because He is the highest and the best, and He deserves all glory.

Since it is God’s essential nature to love, He demonstrates His love by lavishing it on undeserving people who are in rebellion against Him. God’s love is not a sappy, sentimental, romantic feeling. Rather, it is agape love, the love of self-sacrifice. He demonstrates this sacrificial love by sending His Son to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (1 John 4:10), by drawing us to Himself (John 6:44), by forgiving us of our rebellion against Him, and by sending His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, thereby enabling us to love as He loves. He did this in spite of the fact that we did not deserve it. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

God’s love is personal. He knows each of us individually and loves us personally. His is a mighty love that has no beginning and no end. It is this experiencing of God’s love that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Why does God love us? It is because of who He is: "God is love." God loves us because He is good, not because we are.

In summary, God loves us and loves us more fully and deeply than any of us could ever understand, and yet he does all things, including saving us from the spiritual consequences of our own sins, because it brings glory to His name. Both things are true, that God is love and saves us because He loves us, and that he does all things for His glory.