Coram Deo.
When the Reformers crystallized their movement and what they were doing, Martin Luther spoke of the Christian life in terms of coram Deo, “before the face of God.” The Reformers emphasized that all of life was to be lived in “Coram Deo,” meaning that all of life is to be lived in the presence of God.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
(Psalm 139:7-10 ESV)
Coram Deo is a Latin phrase translated “in the presence of God” from Christian theology which summarizes the idea of Christians living in the presence of, under the authority of, and to the honor and glory of God. As R.C. Sproul has explained:
“This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.”
Living coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.
Paul understood coram Deo when he wrote: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)
Brother Lawrence, who served as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris, suggests that the practice of the presence of God involves the realization that we’re constantly under God’s gaze. It includes a daily determination to be sensitized to God all around us, to be aware of his sovereignty, to be submitted to his authority. It involves the realization that God loves us, delights in us, and desires a close, personal relationship with us. It’s a life, coram Deo, in the presence of God, one in which we are constantly aware of God’s saving actions on our behalf, and one in which our day-to-day actions become nothing less than acts of service to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:17)
Coram Deo… to live our entire lives before the very face of God.