Good Works
THIS WEEK’S BLOG IS A CONTINUATION FROM OUR PREVIOUS MESSAGE IN Ephesians, “Saved by Grace,” vv. 8-9…
NAS Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
“GOD’S SALVATION HAS ALREADY IN EPHESIANS BEEN DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF a resurrection from the dead, a liberation from slavery, and a rescue from condemnation. Now it is spoken of as a new creation, and a further reason (for; cf. v. 8) is given why this salvation is not of human origin and therefore cannot be the basis for human boasting. It is God’s workmanship from first to last; believers have been created in Christ Jesus for good works. These good works cannot be the ground of our salvation or the subject of our boasting since they are the goal of the new creation. They are the fruit of salvation, not its basis or cause. So once again in this magnificent paragraph the apostle makes clear that we are wholly dependent on Gods gracious, sovereign activity for our salvation.” – O’Brien, Pillar Commentary…
GOOD WORKS WILL NEVER GET A PERSON SAVED, BUT once saved, good works are to be the goal of every Christian…
“THE WORK OF GRACE WHICH HAS TRANSFORMED THOSE WHO WERE spiritually and morally dead into new men and women, alive with the resurrection life of Christ, is God’s work from first to last.” – Bruce…
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT WE ARE GOD’S “WORKMANSHIP” – a fascinating word as you will soon see – created by God in Christ Jesus for “Good Works”…
“WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP.” “The term rendered workmanship, which often appears in the LXX to denote creation as Gods work, has the same nuance of the physical creation in its only other New Testament occurrence (Rom. 1:20). But here in Ephesians 2:10, which stresses what believers are because of God, the cluster of creation terms, including this word and created, along with good works, is applied directly to the new creation. – O’Brien…
NAS Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
“GOD’S INVISIBLE NATURE IS PERCEIVED WITH THE MIND’S EYE BY THE THINGS God has created.” – BDAG Lexicon. If human beings can only perceive God through the things He has created, and we are things He created, what does that tell you? We are God’s creations that He has made so that others can perceive God! That is a monumental insight and a monumental responsibility, is it not?…
WE WERE MADE BY GOD FOR THE PURPOSES OF GOD…
THE WORD “MADE” HERE, AND THE WORD “WORKMANSHIP” IN Ephesians 2:10, both are from the Greek word ποίημα (poi-a-ma), which means, that which is made, work, creation. [BDAG]. Interestingly, this is the Greek word from which we get the English word poem. While not all scholars agree, I believe it is accurate to think of ourselves as “Poems of God.” Poems are things that are made by an artist. We are things that are made by God…
AND AS YOU SURELY KNOW, BELIEVERS ARE CALLED in the Bible “new creations”…
NAS 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
OUR PASSAGE TELLS US THAT WE ARE CREATED BY GOD, the same supernatural way as the creation of the world…
“PAUL GOES ON TO TELL US IN V. 15 OF CHAPTER 2 OF EPHESIANS THAT Gods purpose was to create one new humanity out of Jews and Gentiles” – O’Brien…
NKJ Ephesians 2:14-15 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
AND NOTICE WHAT PAUL SAYS IN GALATIANS 6:15…
NAS Galatians 6:15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
WE’LL LOOK CLOSER AT THIS NEW HUMANITY IN TWO WEEKS…
APART FROM CLEARLY GLORIFYING GOD AS the sole author of our salvation, v. 10 also places a great privilege and responsibility upon us…
WE WHO ARE PART OF GOD’S NEW CREATION ARE CALLED UPON TO LIVE IN a way befitting our lofty position. That’s heavy. Listen to what Paul says in chapter 4, v. 1…
NKJ Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT THIS IMPORTANT MANDATE IS the most overlooked, casually rationalized aspect of our salvation. I trust you will agree with me when I say this is to our collective shame…
PAUL SAID BACK IN CHAPTER 1…
NAS Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
THE EXPRESSION “IN CHRIST” AND ITS VARIATIONS IS FOUND SOME 11 TIMES in chapter 1…
AND HERE IN 2:10, WE SEE ANOTHER REFERENCE OF “IN CHRIST”…
NAS Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
IT IS SO COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT WE AS BELIEVERS ARE “IN CHRIST”…
“THERE ARE IMPORTANT ETHICAL CONSEQUENCES OF BEING CREATED IN CHRIST Jesus. The divine intention, forcefully expressed by the purpose clause, is that we should walk in good deeds. We have a responsibility to live in the world so as to please him. There was a time when we walked in disobedience and sin, followed the ways of this world, were in terrible bondage to the devil, and were destined for wrath. But now because of God’s mighty salvation in which a glorious change has been effected, we are expected, through the agency of his Holy Spirit, to demonstrate a changed life- style. Our attitudes and behavior are to show all the hallmarks of the new creation. And when we walk in these ways which are according to his purpose, it is he himself who is powerfully working in our lives.” – O’Brien…
NAS Philippians 2:12-16 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life…
WE WERE CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS “FOR” GOOD WORKS. Like so many others, e.g., “in,” and “but,” here is another little word that tells us so much…
NAS Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
THIS LITTLE WORD “FOR” TELLS US OUR PURPOSE…
NAS Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
“CHRIST JESUS IS THE ‘SPHERE’ OF GOD’S NEW CREATION.” – O’Brian…
“THE BIBLE HAS MUCH TO SAY ABOUT WORKS. It speaks of the works of the Law, which are good but cannot save a person (Gal 2:16). It speaks of the dead works (Heb 6:1) and of works, or deeds, of darkness and of the flesh, all of which are inherently evil (Rom 13:12; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:11). All of those works are done in man’s own strength and have nothing to do with salvation.” – MacArthur…
“ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NO PART IN GAINING SALVATION, GOOD WORKS have a great deal to do with living out salvation. No good works can produce salvation, but many good works are produced by salvation. When God’s people do good deeds they bear fruit for His kingdom and bring glory to His name.” – MacArthur…
NAS John 15:8 “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
“FRUIT” IS THE SAME AS “GOOD WORKS”…
ANY ACTOF OBEDIENCE MAY BE TERMED AS A “GOOD WORK”…
MORE SPECIFICALLY, A GOOD WORK IS SOMETHING YOU DO WHERE the motivation is selfless, positive, for the benefit of others – either directly or indirectly, and for the glory of God. We don’t do good works for ourselves; we do them for others and for God. But good works do not have to be recognized by others as good to be good. As I thought about this definition all week, I kept coming back to motivation. If there is any degree of self-service in our good works – no matter how good they may appear to others – they are not biblical good works. Our motivation should arise from a sincere selflessness…
THE ONLY “SELF” IN GOOD WORKS IS SELF-SACRIFICE…
NAS Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
“BEFORE WE CAN DO ANY GOOD WORK FOR THE LORD, HE HAS TO DO His good work in us.” – MacArthur…
“THE CONCLUDING STATEMENT OF THIS STUNNING PARAGRAPH about Gods gracious salvation underscores the importance and divine origin of these good works: which God prepared in advance so that we might live in them. In order to overcome the difficulty, such actions cannot be said to exist prior to their being done – even God cannot prepare works ahead of time, it is argued, since they do not exist until they are performed, and the performance is a human action, not God’s – it has been suggested that the clause – which God prepared in advance should be rendered the good deeds, for which God has designed us’ (NEB). But the verb means to prepare beforehand and should not be weakened to signify simply intend or design, while it is the good works themselves that have already been prepared. The only other use of this verb at Romans 9:23 presents a strongly predestinarian thrust, and it is likely that the prefix ‘before’ suggests that Gods preparation precedes the foundation of the world. Already in the berakah (traditional Jewish blessing, cf. Ephesians 1:3 and my blog entitled “Blessed Be God” TAR) he is praised for having chosen believers before the world’s creation to be holy and blameless in his sight (1:4; cf. vv. 5, 11, 12). Believers are God’s work, and the good deeds which he has purposed for us to walk in, which are achieved only through his enabling power, can be thought of as already prepared in his mind and counsel from before eternity. His plan from of old was not simply to introduce his sons and daughters into a relationship with himself through his Son, but to bring us fully to glory (cf. Heb. 2:10), and this included the intermediate steps by which we were to reach our final goal (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13–14). These embrace the good deeds he has marked out for us beforehand. Thus, once again the apostle stresses the absolute priority of divine grace. – O’Brien…
SALVATION, BEFORE AND AFTER, IS ALL OF GOD’S GRACE.…
IN CHAPTER 1 VERSE 4, PAUL TOLD HIS READERS THAT BELIEVERS WERE chosen before the foundation of the world…
NAS Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him…
THIS VERSE AND V. 10 OF CHAPTER 2 UNDERSCORE GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND His grace…
“GOD HAS ALREADY PREPARED GOOD WORKS FOR US TO DO. What are the good works God has prepared for you? No one but God knows for certain. But imagine the excitement of discovering and carrying out those good works – the works God created you to do! Give thanks to God for what He has done for you in Jesus Christ. Plunge into the adventure He has prepared for you. You are His workmanship, His masterpiece, His poem, and He has created you to display His grace and His greatness in all the ages to come!” – Steadman…
NAS Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
ALL THIS IS FOR THE PURPOSE THAT “WE SHOULD WALK IN” THESE GOOD works…
REMEMBER BACK IN VV. 1-2 OF CHAPTER 2 WHERE WE WERE TOLD THAT before God’s grace saved us, we walked in step with Satan, “the prince of the power of the air”…
NAS Ephesians 2:1-2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
IN GOING OVER SOME OLD SERMON NOTES ON EPHESIANS THIS WEEK, I came across the following story and thought it might make a good ending for this blog on “Good Works”…
“DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, a church in Strasbourg was destroyed. Nothing remained except a heap of rubble and broken glass, or so the people thought till they began clearing away the masonry. Then they found a statue of Christ still standing erect. In spite of all the bombing it was unharmed except that both hands were missing. Eventually rebuilding of the church began. One day a sculptor saw the figure of Christ, and offered to carve new hands. The church officials met to consider the sculptor’s friendly gesture—and decided not to accept the offer. Why? Because the members of that church said: ‘Our broken statue touches the spirits of men, but that He has no hands to minister to the needy or feed the hungry or enrich the poor—except our hands. He inspires; we perform.”
“CHRIST HAS NO HANDS BUT OUR HANDS to do His work today
He has no feet but our feet to lead men in the way
He has no tongue but our tongue to tell men how He died
He has no help but our help to bring them to His side.
We are the only Bible the careless world will read,
We are the sinner’s gospel; we are the scoffer’s creed;
We are the Lord’s last message, given in word and deed;
What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?
What if our hands are busy with other work than His?
What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is?
What if our tongue is speaking of things His lips would spurn?
How can we hope to help Him or welcome His return?
—Annie Johnston Flint…
“IN EPHESIANS 2:10 ‘GOOD WORKS’ IS A GENERAL AND COMPREHENSIVE EXPRESSION FOR godly behavior. It is not further defined, but its implications will be taken up and amplifies in the exhortatory sections of the letter (in 4:1-6:20). Put simply, it is God’s will that those who belong to the new creation should be characterized by a lifestyle which ultimately reflects his own character and action. – O’Brien…
WE ARE GOD’S GOOD WORKS CREATED BY GOD FOR GOOD WORKS. Based upon this study of God’s Word, I think you’ll agree that it is both our responsibility and privilege to live lives that consistently reflect this great fact!…
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
