10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Eph 2:10). (2016). Crossway Bibles.
2:10 Created in Christ Jesus for good works: The work of salvation is a display of divine handiwork. Good works are the fruit of our salvation, not the cause of it. Also, good works are not incidental to God’s plan; they are instead an essential part of his redemption plan for each believer. Good works are demonstrated in gratitude, character, and actions.[1]
2:10 good works Different from the works of v. 9. Here Paul is talking about acts of faithfulness and service to God. Compare Col 1:10.[2]
2:10 created in … for good works. Good works cannot produce salvation but are subsequent and resultant God-empowered fruits and evidences of it (cf. Jn 15:8; Php 2:12, 13; 2Ti 3:17; Tit 2:14; Jas 2:16–26). which God prepared beforehand. Like his salvation, a believer’s sanctification and good works were ordained before time began (see notes on Ro 8:29, 30).[3]
2:10. The statement for we are His workmanship highlights the fact that the Church (we) is God’s masterpiece. God created the Church in Christ Jesus for good works. The Church is not just a group of saved people who have an eternal relationship with Christ. Believers are to serve Him by doing good works. They are called to live out their lives doing good as representatives of Christ (2 Cor 5:20).
God has prepared good works beforehand that we should walk in them. The Church is to be a body that manifests good works. Jesus stated that believers should let their light shine so others can see their good works and glorify God (Matt 5:16).
In this section Paul points to God’s grace in bringing together both the Jews and Gentiles in one body, the Body of Christ, the Church.[4]
2:10 The result of salvation is that we are His workmanship—the handiwork of God, not of ourselves. A born-again believer is a masterpiece of God. When we think of the raw materials He has to work with, His achievement is all the more remarkable. Indeed, this masterpiece is nothing less than a new creation through union with Christ, for “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
And the object of this new creation is found in the phrase, for good works. While it is true that we are not saved by good works, it is equally true that we are saved for good works. Good works are not the root but the fruit. We do not work in order to be saved, but because we are saved.
This is the aspect of the truth that is emphasized in James 2:14–26. When James says that “faith without works is dead,” he does not mean we are saved by faith plus works, but by the kind of faith that results in a life of good works. Works prove the reality of our faith. Paul heartily agrees: we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
God’s order then is this:
Faith → Salvation → Good Works → Reward Faith leads to salvation. Salvation results in good works. Good works will be rewarded by Him.
But the question arises: What kind of good works am I expected to do? Paul answers, Good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. In other words, God has a blueprint for every life. Before our conversion He mapped out a spiritual career for us. Our responsibility is to find His will for us and then obey it. We do not have to work out a plan for our lives, but only accept the plan which He has drawn up for us. This delivers us from fret and frenzy, and insures that our lives will be of maximum glory to Him, of most blessing to others, and of greatest reward to ourselves.
In order to find out the good works He has planned for our individual lives, we should: (1) confess and forsake sin as soon as we are conscious of it in our lives; (2) be continually and unconditionally yielded to Him; (3) study the word of God to discern His will, and then do whatever He tells us to do; (4) spend time in prayer each day; (5) seize opportunities of service as they arise; (6) cultivate the fellowship and counsel of other Christians. God prepares us for good works. He prepares good works for us to perform. Then He rewards us when we perform them. Such is His grace![5]
2:10. This verse, beginning with For, tells why this salvation is not from man or by his works. The reason is that salvation is God’s workmanship. The word “workmanship” (poiēma), used only here and in Romans 1:20 (where the niv renders it “what has been made”) denotes a work of art or a masterpiece. It differs from human “works” (ergōn) in Ephesians 2:9. Believers are God’s workmanship because they have been created (a work only God can do) in Christ Jesus (cf. “in Christ Jesus” in vv. 6–7). The purpose of this creation is that believers will do good works. God’s workmanship is not achieved by good works, but it is to result in good works (cf. Titus 2:14; 3:8).
In the clause, which God prepared in advance for us to do, the word “which” refers back to the “works” in the previous clause. “For us to do” is literally “in order that we might walk in them.” The purpose of these prepared-in-advance works is not “to work in them” but “to walk in them.” In other words, God has prepared a path of good works for believers which He will perform in and through them as they walk by faith. This does not mean doing a work for God; instead, it is God’s performing His work in and through believers (cf. Phil. 2:13). This path of good works is discussed by Paul in Ephesians 4–6.
In conclusion, 2:1–10 demonstrates that though people were spiritually dead and deserving only God’s wrath, God, in His marvelous grace, has provided salvation through faith. Believers are God’s workmanship in whom and through whom He performs good works.[6]
2:10. As we, his children, stand on display throughout eternity, we will be recognized as God’s workmanship. “Workmanship” (poiema) is not just a result of effort or labor. It is a result of artistic skill and craftsmanship. If we could earn salvation by our own good works, we would not be a work of God but a work of our own selves. That cannot be and will not be. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God determined before we were ever born. God has prepared a path of good works for Christians which he will bring about in and through them while they walk by faith. This does not mean that we do a good work for God. It means that God does a good work through us as we are faithful and obedient to him. God is at work. In faith we join him in that work to the praise of his glory (see 1:6, 12, 14).
In summary, we were spiritually dead and the object of God’s wrath. God, motivated by his love, extended mercy to us and allowed us to be delivered from his wrath by grace, through faith. God has accomplished this without our help; therefore, all the good that is done through us will be recognized as his work and not our own.[7]
2:10 “we are His workmanship,” The English word “poem” comes from this Greek term (poiēma). This word is only used two times in the NT, here and Rom. 1:20. This is the believers’ position in grace. They are paradoxically His finished product which is still in process!
© “created in Christ Jesus” This is an AORIST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE. The Spirit forms believers through Christ’s ministry by the will of the Father (cf. 1:3–14). This act of a new spiritual creation is described in the same terms used of the initial creation in Genesis (cf. 3:9; Col. 1:16).
© “for good works” Believers’ lifestyles after they meet Christ are an evidence of their salvation (cf. James and I John). They are saved by grace through faith unto works! They are saved to serve! Faith without works is dead, as are works without faith (cf. Matt. 7:21–23 and James 2:14–26). The goal of the Father’s choice is that believers be “holy and blameless” (cf. 1:4).
Paul was often attacked for his radically free gospel because it seemed to encourage godless living. A gospel so seemingly unconnected to moral performance must lead to abuse. Paul’s gospel was free in the grace of God, but it also demanded an appropriate response, not only in initial repentance, but in ongoing repentance. Godly living is the result, not lawlessness. Good works are not the mechanism of salvation, but the result. This paradox of a completely free salvation and a cost-everything response is difficult to communicate, but the two must be held in a tension-filled balance.
American individualism has distorted the gospel. Humans are not saved because God loves them so much individually, but because God loves fallen mankind, mankind made in His image. He saves and changes individuals to reach more individuals. The ultimate focus of love is primarily corporate (cf. John 3:16), but it is received individually (cf. John 1:12; Rom. 10:9–13; 1 Cor. 15:1).
© “which God prepared beforehand” This strong term (pro + hetoimos, “to prepare before”) relates to the theological concept of predestination (cf. 1:4–5, 11) and is used only here and in Rom. 9:23. God chose a people to reflect His character. Through Christ, the Father has restored His image in fallen mankind (cf. Gen. 1:26–27).[8]
To Make Possible a Life of Good Works (vs. 10). Verse 10 is designed to enforce and give a reason for the great truth of verses 8, 9. Salvation cannot be of works “for” (because, since) believers are themselves the handiwork of God. The Greek word for “workmanship,” the essential meaning of which is “a thing made,” was used for any finished product, especially for a work of art, such as a painting, a sculptured stone, or a piece of literature. It is used elsewhere in the New Testament only in Romans 1:20, where it refers to the material creation and is translated “the things that are made.” All about us we see the works of God’s hands. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). But God’s greatest work, his masterpiece, is a new creature in Christ Jesus.
In the phrase “created in Christ Jesus,” the use of the word “created” shows how radical and transforming the experience of salvation is. The change it effects is so great that Paul can speak of the saved man as a new creation. “In Christ Jesus” means “in union with Christ Jesus.”
The stress of this entire verse is on the phrase “unto [for] good works.” These words express the end that was in view when we were recreated in Christ. One must distinguish clearly between good works as the ground of salvation and good works as the proof and fruit of salvation. We are not saved by good works, but most assuredly we are saved for them. As Paul expresses it in another place, Christ gave Himself for us “that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14, asv). Those therefore who have believed in God should be “careful to maintain good works” (Titus 3:8).
These good works God “prepared that we should walk in them” (asv). They are not mere incidental accompaniments of the Christian life; they are a part of God’s eternal plan for His people. We are created for them; they await our doing.[9]
10. So what was God’s purpose in saving us? Paul explains, using the word for to introduce the goal of what God has done. What is grace for? We have been made into God’s workmanship. The emphasis in the Greek word order at the start of the verse is literally, ‘His creation we are.’ ‘His creation’ is thrown forward to highlight that we are God’s work. In fact, believers are a creative product of the power of God. The term used, poiēma, often refers to God’s act in creating (Pss 64:9; 92:4; Rom. 1:20). There is often a note about something satisfying about what has been made, or something that should be appreciated about it. Paul elsewhere speaks of our being a ‘new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; ‘new man’ in Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10, translated as ‘new self’ in niv, nrsv and esv). This is another way to say we are born again; we have a spiritually infused life that has a capability it previously lacked.
There also is a goal in making us this way: we have been created … for good works. Titus 2:14 makes the same point. The verb translated created is also often tied to creation (Matt. 19:4; Col. 1:16). There is a positive role for works, not as a cause of salvation, but as a product of it (Acts 9:36; Col. 1:10; 1 Tim. 2:10; 5:10; 6:18; Titus 2:7, 14; Heb. 10:24; 1 Pet. 2:12). In fact, this is a major goal of salvation. God delivers us and gives us the gift so we can live in ways that honour him. The capability and empowerment God gives to us in the Spirit set us up for these works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We are not saved by works, but saved for works! We are now able to live in the ways God designed (Gal. 5:22–23). This will become the point in Ephesians 4–6 and it is rooted in what was extolled about God in 1:4. Note the difference in the walking we do now compared with the way we walked before God’s gift in 2:1–2. God’s grace and power through the Messiah and in the Spirit have made that possible. We are still in the shadow of the prayer request of 1:19. Look at what God’s power has done for us! God designed a path that he now equips us to follow (Rom. 6:4). The idea of the walk of life is frequent in the letter (Eph. 2:2; 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15).[10]
10. The work of God in Christ has been described as the gift of new life, and as the gift of salvation. Now it is shown further that people of themselves could not accomplish it by its being described as God’s new creation. We, in this new life, this new nature that we have received, are his workmanship. The Greek again gains emphasis by the word order, as it makes the his stand first in the sentence. The noun used (poiēma) is from a different root to the ‘works’ (ergon) of the previous verse, and is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Romans 1:20, where it is used of the works of God’s first creation. Humanity was his making at the first, and now, because that work of his was spoilt by sin, there is a new divine act of creation. For ‘if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17; see also Eph. 4:24; Gal. 6:15; Col. 3:10). In Christ Jesus—the phrase comes for the third time in five verses—in faith-union with him, those whose lives were marred and ruined by failure and sin are made new.
‘Works’ have been excluded as a means of amassing merit and gaining favour with God. The gulf between God and sinful humanity must be bridged by God’s action. The new life in fellowship with God must be God’s creation and cannot be our work. But nevertheless the essential quality of the new life is good works. The preposition here (Gk. epi, av ‘unto’, rv and rsv for) shows that more is involved than saying that good works were the purpose of the new life, or that people were redeemed in order to be a people ‘zealous for good deeds’ (Titus 2:14; cf. Col. 1:10); rather it is that good works are ‘involved’ in the new life ‘as an inseparable condition’ (Abbott). His new creation must be spoken of as being ‘in true righteousness and holiness’ (Eph. 4:24). It is of such a kind that it must and will express itself in this way.
To demonstrate this still further as being the divine purpose Paul adds concerning such good works that God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. This does not of necessity mean that there are particular good works that are God’s purpose for us. There can be no objection to such a concept, if it is reckoned that the foreknowledge of an almighty and omniscient God is not opposed to his gift of free will. But probably it is rather the whole course of life that is on view here. The nature and character of the works and the direction of the Christian’s daily walk (see on 2:2) are predetermined. This then corresponds closely with 1:4 which describes the end and goal of election as ‘that we should be holy and blameless before him’. R. W. Dale puts it, ‘As the branch is created in the vine, we are created in Christ; as the fruits of the branch are predetermined by the laws of that life which it receives from the vine, so our “good works” which are the result of our union with Christ, are predetermined by the laws of the life of Christ which is our life …’[11]
10. For we are his work. By setting aside the contrary supposition, he proves his statement, that by grace we are saved,—that we have no remaining works by which we can merit salvation; for all the good works which we possess are the fruit of regeneration. Hence it follows, that works themselves are a part of grace.
When he says, that “we are the work of God,” this does not refer to ordinary creation, by which we are made men. We are declared to be new creatures, because, not by our own power, but by the Spirit of Christ, we have been formed to righteousness. This applies to none but believers. As the descendants of Adam, they were wicked and depraved; but by the grace of Christ, they are spiritually renewed, and become new men. Everything in us, therefore, that is good, is the supernatural gift of God. The context explains his meaning. We are his work, because we have been created,—not in Adam, but in Christ Jesus,—not to every kind of life, but to good works.
What remains now for free-will, if all the good works which proceed from us are acknowledged to have been the gifts of the Spirit of God? Let godly readers weigh carefully the apostle’s words. He does not say that we are assisted by God. He does not say that the will is prepared, and is then left to run by its own strength. He does not say that the power of choosing aright is bestowed upon us, and that we are afterwards left to make our own choice. Such is the idle talk in which those persons who do their utmost to undervalue the grace of God are accustomed to indulge. But the apostle affirms that we are God’s work, and that everything good in us is his creation; by which he means that the whole man is formed by his hand to be good. It is not the mere power of choosing aright, or some indescribable kind of preparation, or even assistance, but the right will itself, which is his workmanship; otherwise Paul’s argument would have no force. He means to prove that man does not in any way procure salvation for himself, but obtains it as a free gift from God. The proof is, that man is nothing but by divine grace. Whoever, then, makes the very smallest claim for man, apart from the grace of God, allows him, to that extent, ability to procure salvation.
Created to good works. They err widely from Paul’s intention, who torture this passage for the purpose of injuring the righteousness of faith. Ashamed to affirm in plain terms, and aware that they could gain nothing by affirming, that we are not justified by faith, they shelter themselves under this kind of subterfuge. “We are justified by faith, because faith, by which we receive the grace of God, is the commencement of righteousness; but we are made righteous by regeneration, because, being renewed by the Spirit of God, we walk in good works.” In this manner they make faith the door by which we enter into righteousness, but imagine that we obtain it by our works, or, at least, they define righteousness to be that uprightness by which a man is formed anew to a holy life. I care not how old this error may be; but they err egregiously who endeavour to support it by this passage.
We must look to Paul’s design. He intends to shew that we have brought nothing to God, by which he might be laid under obligations to us; and he shews that even the good works which we perform have come from God. Hence it follows, that we are nothing, except through the pure exercise of his kindness. Those men, on the other hand, infer that the half of our justification arises from works. But what has this to do with Paul’s intention, or with the subject which he handles? It is one thing to inquire in what righteousness consists, and another thing to follow up the doctrine, that it is not from ourselves, by this argument, that we have no right to claim good works as our own, but have been formed by the Spirit of God, through the grace of Christ, to all that is good. When Paul lays down the cause of justification, he dwells chiefly on this point, that our consciences will never enjoy peace till they rely on the propitiation for sins. Nothing of this sort is even alluded to in the present instance. His whole object is to prove, that, “by the grace of God, we are all that we are.” (1 Cor 15:10.)
Which God hath prepared. Beware of applying this, as the Pelagians do, to the instruction of the law; as if Paul’s meaning were, that God commands what is just, and lays down a proper rule of life. Instead of this, he follows up the doctrine which he had begun to illustrate, that salvation does not proceed from ourselves. He says, that, before we were born, the good works were prepared by God; meaning, that in our own strength we are not able to lead a holy life, but only so far as we are formed and adapted by the hand of God. Now, if the grace of God came before our performances, all ground of boasting has been taken away. Let us carefully observe the word prepared. On the simple ground of the order of events, Paul rests the proof that, with respect to good works, God owes us nothing. How so? Because they were drawn out of his treasures, in which they had long before been laid up; for whom he called, them he justifies and regenerates.[12]
Ver. 10.—For we are his workmanship. Another illustration and evidence of grace We have to be fashioned anew by God before we can do anything aright (see 2 Cor. 5:17). Anything right in us is not the cause of grace, but its fruit. There seems to be no special reason for the change from the second to the first person. Created in Christ Jesus for good works. So little inward capacity had we for such works, that we required to be created in Christ Jesus in order that we might do them. The inward new birth of the soul is indicated. When good works were required, this gracious change had to be wrought to secure them. The purpose of the new creation is to produce them. Christ “gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people of his own, zealous of good works.” It is not good works first, and grace after; but grace first, and good works after (see Titus 2:11, 14). Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. A further proof of the true origin of good works. They are the subjects of a Divine decree. Before the foundation of the world it was ordained that whoever should be saved by grace should walk in good works. The term “walk” here denotes the habitual tenor of the life; it is to be spent in an atmosphere of good works. Here we have one of the Divine safeguards against the abuse of the doctrine of salvation by grace. When men hear of salvation irrespective of works, they are apt to fancy that works are of little use, and do not need to be carefully attended to. On the contrary, they are part of the Divine decree, and if we are not living a life of good works, we have no reason to believe that we have been saved by grace.[13]
2:10 / This verse continues to emphasize God’s activity and neatly sums up themes developed earlier in the epistle. First, we are God’s workmanship (poiēma). This idea echoes the entire aspect of rebirth or re-creation that took place in Christ Jesus (2:4–6; cf. 2 Cor. 5:17, where Paul writes that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”). All of this is God’s doing and eliminates any sense of pride that would come if this were a “self-creation.”
Second, God has created us in Christ Jesus to do good works (cf. 1:4, 6, 12, 14, 15). The whole context, which emphasizes God’s gift of grace and faith, as well as the stress upon being God’s creation in Christ, prohibits one from taking good works in any meritorious way, even though they are an essential ingredient of one’s new life in Christ. The expression means that believers are created with a view toward good works; believers are saved for or unto good works, not by or because of them. Good works are the outcome, not the cause, of salvation.
The contrast here is between the spiritually dead who once walked (peripateō) in disobedience and sin (2:1, 2) and those newly created in Christ to a life (peripateō) of good works. Such a life belongs to one’s calling as a believer because faith is a call to obedience. And all of this is part of God’s will from the beginning. As he chose us “to be holy and blameless in his sight” (1:4), he also determined that faith would issue forth in deeds which God prepared in advance for us to do.
This verse stands as a vivid reminder that there is more to salvation than just “getting saved.” Though faith in Christ is important and is the beginning of the Christian life (the indicative), believers must remember that they are called to a life of faith, a life in which faith is demonstrated in good works (the imperative). James, for example, is one of the writers of the nt who places a strong emphasis upon the relation between faith and works (1:22; 2:14–26). On many occasions Christians are called upon to be examples of good deeds before the world (1 Tim. 6:18; Titus 2:7; 1 Pet. 2:12). Jesus put it very clearly when he said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). C. L. Mitton concludes his discussion on this verse with an appropriate comment: “This final phrase about our ‘walking in them’ reminds us that fine phrases or eloquent sermons about love are not what is required, but the actions, costly actions, which express in practical conduct the love which God’s saving power has created in our hearts” (p. 99).[14]
“Created in Christ Jesus for good works” (v. 10)
Sometimes the proponents of works salvation contend that a theology of salvation that is built entirely on God’s grace will leave its hearers unconcerned about good works. “If you preach salvation by grace alone through faith alone,” the argument goes, “people will begin to believe that it does not matter how they behave, so long as they have made a profession of faith.”
That criticism may be warranted in some circles. But to the extent that it is, there is a gross failure to understand Ephesians 2:10! This verse states as clearly as any in the Bible that God desires his people to engage in good works! Indeed, a new desire and a new ability to do good works are part of what it means to have been “made … alive together with Christ”! We have been “created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
Let us, therefore, make two observations. First, we are made alive in Christ …
For good works, not by them
Verses 8–10 make it clear that, while we are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works! Good works are not the cause of our salvation (vv. 8–9), but they are the result of it (v. 10). If we have been made alive together with Christ, if we have, as Paul puts it here in verse 10, been “created in Christ Jesus,” one of the results of that new creation and that new life will be good works. This should be, for each of us, a point of self-examination. Do my works show that I have truly been “created in Christ Jesus,” that I have been “made … alive together with Christ”?
Let us also note that, when we do those good works, both the works and the workers are …
God’s workmanship
This is Paul’s main point in verse 10. Far from earning points with God, says Paul, our good works are actually God’s doing! It is God’s grace, remember, that “made us alive” in the first place. It is God’s grace, in other words, that gave to us the new spiritual desires, motivations, and abilities that enable our good works. That is why Paul, in speaking of our works, says that we ourselves are God’s “workmanship” (v. 10). We are able to work for him because he has worked in us! “We are His workmanship”!
Furthermore, Paul says not only that God has prepared us for good works (v. 10a), but also that God has prepared the good works for us (v. 10b)! Any good works we do have been “prepared beforehand” by God himself! He not only made us capable of doing good, but he also has ordained our lives and circumstances so that we would have opportunity to do it!
All these things are wrapped up in the blessing of having been “made … alive together with Christ”—our hope of a bodily resurrection, the promise of life eternal, the joy of new spiritual life here and now, the gift of faith, and the ability to do good works. They are all given to us “by grace” (v. 8). And all this grace flows to us, always and only, “in Christ Jesus” (v. 7).[15]
10 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: “we are his workmanship.” The word so translated is used in one other place in the Pauline writings—in Rom. 1:20, where it refers (in the plural) to God’s created works. Here, however, it refers to the new creation of which Paul speaks more than once. This new creation (as is emphasized below in v. 15) transcends natural distinctions of the old order: in it “neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (Gal. 6:15); “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). The new heaven and earth of which an OT prophet spoke (Isa. 65:17; 66:22) have come into existence already in this new order, “created in Christ Jesus.” If those who belonged to the old order were dead through their trespasses and sins, those who belong to the new creation are characterized by “good works,” works performed not to secure salvation but as the fruit of salvation. God, we are told, “prepared” these good works “in advance,” that they might mark his people’s way of life.78 They are the good works which reflect the character and action of God himself. God gave his people the law that they might be like him: “I am the Lord your God; … you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44–45). Jesus similarly taught his disciples to behave in a manner befitting God’s children, to be merciful as their Father is merciful (Luke 6:35–36). But to live like this, to accomplish the good works prepared for his children by God, the empowering gift of his Spirit is necessary. The good works were promulgated long ago, but thanks to the saving act of God “the righteous requirement of the law” is fulfilled in those who “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4). His new creation “in Christ Jesus” is brought into being by the agency of the Spirit, and by the Spirit’s agency the promise of the new covenant is realized when men and women are found “doing the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6).[16]
10 Paul supplies a reason why all boasting is ruled out (and perhaps why he can say salvation is God’s doing alone). He describes saved people as God’s “workmanship” (most versions), “masterpiece” (NLT), or “work of art” (NJB). The Greek poiēma (GK 4473) describes a work of creation (cf. BDAG, 842). In its one other use in the NT, Paul speaks of the literal creation of the universe—the things God made that reveal himself (Ro 1:20). The word does occur in the OT with reference to God’s ongoing creative works (Pss 64:9; 92:4; 143:5; Isa 29:16). In saving people, God performs an act of creation (cf. 4:24—“created to be like God”). In other words, Christians are God’s projects or, better to say, “works in process,” and as he works in them they can do deeds that Paul describes as “good.”
The preposition epi marks the purpose of this act of creation: “for” (NASB) or “to do” (NIV) good works. BDAG, 365–66, cites two of the eighteen meanings as “marker of purpose, goal, result, to, for” or “marker of object or purpose.” All good works that we do derive from our being created “in Christ Jesus,” i.e., in corporate solidarity in him. Part of God’s overarching plan secures works that are truly good. In the memorable words of T. W. Manson, “Works are a requisite of faith, not a prerequisite.” God transforms people on the inside to accomplish good works, with the result that they walk, i.e., live, in them. God arranged ahead of time (Paul uses the verb proetoimazō, “to prepare beforehand,” GK 4602) how it would work, and then he implemented his plan. God enables his people to do good. Doing good features elsewhere in Paul’s characterization of believers (Ro 2:7; 13:3; 2 Co 9:8; Col 1:10).
Paul contends not that God predetermined every specific good action performed by every Christian, but that he predetermined to refashion Christians so they can do what pleases him. I take the dative relative pronoun “which” (hois) as a true dative, not a direct object that was attracted to the dative case of its antecedent “works.” Paul says, in essence, that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, for which God prepared [us] that we should walk in them.” The “us” is naturally supplied from the context. God has accomplished the preparation that enables his people to perform good works. Our good works owe to God’s work in us, not to our own efforts to be good.[17]
God’s Workmanship
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Since the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century those who follow in the steps of Martin Luther have been strong to assert that justification is by grace through faith and not by human works. But does this mean that works no longer have any place in Christianity? Does this doctrine of justification by grace—Luther’s doctrine—actually lead to bad conduct?
Here is the place where sound Protestant and Roman Catholic theology part company. Many Roman Catholics insist that justification is by the grace of God through faith. (Ephesians 2:8 says so.) But they answer questions about the relationship between faith and works differently than Protestants do. Catholic theology says that works enter into justification in the sense that God justifies us in part by producing good works in us, so that we are justified by faith plus those works. Sound Protestant theology also insists on works, but it says that works follow justification as a consequence and evidence of it.
Catholic theology says: “Faith plus works equal justification.”
Protestants reply: “Faith equals justification plus works.”
Of course, there is an unsound Protestant theology that eliminates the necessity of works altogether, maintaining that a person can be saved and show no evidence of his spiritual regeneration. But this must be rejected.
Good Works
This subject comes before us in the last sentence of the first great paragraph of Ephesians 2, which we have been studying: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v. 10).
More than one commentator has pointed out that there is a striking repetition of the word “works” in verses 9 and 10. The first mention of works is negative. It tells us in no uncertain terms that we are not saved “by works,” by anything we did or can do. It was all God’s work of grace in us, so we have no reason to boast, no grounds for feeling a sense of accomplishment. This verse utterly repudiates the idea that works contribute in any measure to our justification. Grace and works are mutually exclusive possibilities. Either we are saved by God’s grace alone or we are trying unsuccessfully to save ourselves by our own works. There are no other possibilities. However, no sooner has Paul rejected the role of works in justification than he immediately brings it in again, saying that God has created us precisely “to do good works.” This is stated in such strong language—“works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”—that we are correct in saying that if there are no works, the person involved is not justified.
Failure of Good Works
Before we talk about the necessity of works that flow out of a believer through Christ and because of the believer’s spiritual union with him, it is necessary to look at the works human beings are capable of apart from Christ and see that there is no hope in them. This is because God’s standard can be nothing less than perfection, and even at our best no amount of good works adds up to that requirement.
Donald Grey Barnhouse illustrated our failure by reference to an old-fashioned scale—the kind in which grocers used to measure out sugar, salt, and other dry foods. A pound weight was put on one side of the scale. The sugar was poured out on the other side until the arms balanced. Barnhouse compared the pound weight to God’s righteousness, the standard which his own holy nature demands. That pound of righteousness is placed on one side of the scale, and we are invited to place our “good works” on the other.
The worst elements of society come first—thieves, perverts, murderers, sinners of all kinds. They are not without any human goodness. They have perhaps one or two ounces. But their works do not balance the scale. These people are set aside and thus pass under God’s just condemnation.
Next come ordinary folks, people like us. They are better than the “great” sinners. They have perhaps eight ounces of human goodness. That makes them four times as good as the ones who came first. But their goodness, great as it seems to be, does not balance the scale.
Finally, the morally “great” come forward. They are not perfect; their very “greatness” causes them to recognize that fact. But they have twelve or thirteen ounces of good works, and they present them. Will those twelve or thirteen ounces balance God’s scale? Not if the pound of righteousness is on the other side! The scale won’t balance for them any more than it does for the average folks or great sinners. Therefore, they too are set aside and fall under God’s wrath—unless another way of salvation can be found.
“But just here God comes with his message of free salvation. Note well, he does not change his standards one whit. The pound of perfection still stands opposite the empty scales. No one has been able to move the balance. But now God is going to move it for us.…
“Since Christ was the Infinite God, he could die for any number of finite creatures. He could take the eternal punishment of an infinite multitude and expiate it in the hour of his death—so that the weight of our sin was counted over upon him, and all of God’s righteousness is now available through him. Now God comes to us with the great invitation, ‘I want you to be in heaven with me. I love you. It does not make any difference on what plane of life has been your abode.’ You stand there on the empty scales with nothing but your few ounces to put in and with no possibility of getting anything more. But God says, ‘I love you; I came to die for you. Look to Calvary. Do you see Christ hanging there? It was for you. Look to the empty tomb. Do you see that he has been raised from the dead? It is the proof,’ says God, ‘that I am forever satisfied with what Christ did there on the cross, and I will take that for your side of the scales, if you will throw away all confidence in your own few ounces.’ And thus we come to Christ.… We take that righteousness of God and go boldly or tremblingly to the scales and put it over against all the perfection God has demanded and that he must demand. The balance immediately is made. We stand before God justified, for since the scales are tipped, God can never have anything against me forever.”
A person who will trust that perfect righteousness of Christ, rather than his or her own righteousness is justified. A person who continues to cling to good works in any degree is not justified. Thus, salvation is “by grace … through faith” alone, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:8.
Necessity of Good Works
Ah, but if that is so, can a person rightly insist on the necessity of works at all? The key word, of course, is “necessity.” We can see that good works are by very definition a good thing. We can argue that a Christian will be happier doing good works than not doing them. We can even speak of a certain obligation to do good works. Most people would have no trouble saying that. But how is it that sound Protestant theology insists on the presence of good works as a necessary consequence and evidence of justification? How can we say that if works are not present, a person is not saved?
The answer is that justification, though it aptly describes one important aspect of what it means to be saved, is not the whole of salvation. God justifies, but that is not the only thing he does. He also regenerates. And there is no justification without regeneration, just as there is no regeneration without justification.
Regeneration is the theological term for what Jesus was talking about when he told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). He was telling him that he needed to have a new start as a result of the life of God being placed within him. It is what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 2, as he described how God “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (v. 5). It is even what Paul is talking about in our text, for he does not merely say that God commands us to do good works or even urges us to do them. He says rather that God “created us in Christ Jesus to do good works,” adding that these were specifically “prepared in advance for us to do.” Clearly, if a person has been created by God specifically to do good works, he will do those good works—even though they have nothing to do with how he was saved in the first place.
In my opinion, this is one of the most neglected (yet most essential) teachings in the evangelical church today. At the beginning of this study I contrasted sound Protestant theology with traditional Roman Catholic theology, showing how Protestants teach “faith equals justification plus works”—the view I have just been expounding—while Catholics teach “faith plus works equal justification.” Clearly Catholic theology is wrong. But what are we to say of a theology that has no place for works at all? What are we to say of a teaching that extols justification divorced from sanctification, forgiveness without a corresponding change in life? What would Jesus himself think of such theology? Yet such teaching prevails among Evangelicals today.
When we study Christ’s teachings it does not take long to discover that he was not slow to insist on changed behavior. It is true that he taught that salvation would be by his work on the cross. He said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of faith-justification.
But Jesus also said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
He said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?… The one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6:46, 49).
He told the Jews of his day, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20).
Moreover, as I am sure you can see even from this short selection of Christ’s sayings, it is not only a matter of our demonstrating a genuinely changed behavior and doing good works if we are truly justified. Our good works must also exceed the good works of others. After all, the Christian’s good works flow from the character of God within the Christian. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). This means, “Unless you who call yourselves Christians, who profess to be justified by faith alone and therefore confess that you have nothing whatever to contribute to your own justification—unless you nevertheless conduct yourselves in a way which is utterly superior to the conduct of the very best people who are hoping to save themselves by their works, you will not enter God’s kingdom. You are not Christians in the first place.”
John H. Gerstner has called this, rightly, I think, “a built-in apologetic.” No one but God could think up a religion like this.
“Whenever you find a person who puts a premium on morality and really specializes in conduct and expects to make it on his record, you invariably find him supposing that he can justify himself by his works. On the other hand, if you find a person who revels in grace, who knows the futility of trying to make it on his own and simply cannot say enough about the blood of Jesus and salvation full and free, he has a built-in tendency to have nothing to do with works in any form. When you get a person who really puts a premium on morality, he almost inevitably falls into the pit of self-salvation. And, on the other hand, when a person sees the principle of grace, he has a built-in temptation to go antinomian. But the Christian religion, while it preaches pure grace, unadulterated grace with no meritorious contribution from us whatever, at the same time requires of us the loftiest conceivable conduct.…
“You cannot for one solitary moment say anything other than ‘Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.’ We are justified by faith alone. But we are not justified by a faith that is alone. Therefore, if you really cling to that cross, if you really do what you say you do, you will be abounding in the works of the Lord and will be living out an exceptional pattern of behavior.”
God Who Works
I know this sounds confusing and even contradictory. But the problem vanishes as soon as we realize that the good works Christians are called upon to do (and must do) are themselves the result of God’s prior working in them. That is why in Ephesians 2:10 Paul prefaces his demand for good works by the statement “For we are God’s workmanship.” It is why, in a similar vein in the very next book of the Bible, he says, “My dear friends, … continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12–13).
In Ephesians 2:10 Paul calls this work of God a new creation, saying that “we are … created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Beyond any doubt, Paul has a contrast in mind here between our new creation in Christ and our old creation in Adam, just as he does in Romans 5:12–21. When God made the first man, he made him perfectly furnished to do all good works. But Adam fell, as we know. And since that time, from God’s perspective even the best of the good works of Adam and his posterity have been bad “good works.”
But now God recreates those men and women whom he is joining to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is bringing into existence something that did not exist before and which now has new and exciting possibilities. Before, the one who was without Christ was, to use St. Augustine’s phrasing, non posse non peccare (“not able not to sin”). Now he is posse non peccare (“able not to sin”) and able to do good works.
In this spiritual re-creation God gives us a new set of senses. Before, we saw with our eyes physically, but we were spiritually blind. Now we see with spiritual eyes, and everything seems new.
Before, we were spiritually deaf. The word of God was spoken, but it made no sense to us. Or if it did, we resented that word and resisted it. Now we have been given ears to hear, and we hear and respond to Jesus’ teaching.
Before, our thinking was darkened. We called the good, bad; and we called the bad, good. Indeed, we reveled in the bad, and we could not understand what was wrong when the supposed “good times” turned out to be bad times and we were left feeling miserable. The things of God’s Spirit were “foolishness” to us (1 Cor. 2:14). Now our thinking has been changed; we evaluate things differently, and our minds are being renewed day by day (Rom. 12:1–2).
Before, our hearts were hard. We hated God; we did not even care very much for others. Now our hearts are softened. God appears altogether lovely, and what he loves we love. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Because our hearts have been remade we now give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, homes to the strangers, clothes to the naked, care to the sick, and comfort to those who are in prison—as Jesus said we must do, if we are to sit with him in glory.
In my study I have a book by a great surgeon, Dr. Paul Brand, who is Chief of the Rehabilitation Branch of the United States Public Health Service Hospital in Carville, Louisiana, a man who has distinguished himself by pioneering research on the care of leprosy. The book is called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. In it Dr. Brand examines the intricate mechanisms of the human body, and marvels at the greatness of a God who can create such wonders. He talks about the body’s cells, bones, skin, and complexities of motion. As I read that book I am amazed at man as the pinnacle of God’s great and varied creation. But as I marvel, I am aware of a creation that surpasses even that of the human body. It is the re-creation of a man or woman who before was spiritually dead, utterly incapable of doing any good thing that could satisfy God, but who now, as the result of God’s working, is able to do truly good “good works.”[18]
Salvation Is unto Good Works
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (2:10)
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.
“By this is My Father glorified,” Jesus said, “that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8). Good works do not bring discipleship, but they prove it is genuine. When God’s people do good deeds they bear fruit for His kingdom and bring glory to His name.
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 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.
Before we can do any good work for the Lord, He has to do His good work in us. By God’s grace, made effective through our faith, we become His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. God has ordained that we then live lives of good works, works done in His power and for His glory.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:1–8)
The same power that created us in Christ Jesus empowers us to do the good works for which He has redeemed us. These are the verifiers of true salvation. Righteous attitudes and righteous acts proceed from the transformed life now living in the heavenlies. To the Corinthians Paul said there was in them “an abundance for every good deed” (2 Cor. 9:8). To Timothy he instructed that the believer is “equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17). Christ died to bring to Himself a people “zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). Even this is the work of God, as Paul says: While you “work out your salvation … it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).
Paul’s primary message here is still to believers, many of whom had experienced salvation years earlier. He is not showing them how to be saved, but how they were saved, in order to convince them that the power that saved them is the same power that keeps them. Just as they already had been given everything necessary for salvation, they also had been given everything necessary for faithfully living the saved life. The greatest proof of a Christian’s divine empowerment is his own salvation and the resulting good works that God produces in and through him (cf. John 15). These good works are expected because God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, and that is why James says faith is illegitimate if works are not present (James 2:17–26).
It is from poiēma (workmanship) that we get poem, a piece of literary workmanship. Before time began, God designed us to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). Paul could therefore say to the Philippians, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (1:6).
The story is often told of the rowdy, disruptive young boy in a Sunday school class who continually frustrated his teacher. One morning the teacher asked him, “Why do you act like that? Don’t you know who made you?” To which the boy replied, “God did, but He ain’t through with me yet.”
All of us are still imperfect, uncut diamonds being finished by the divine Master Craftsman. He is not finished with us yet, but His work will not cease until He has made us into the perfect likeness of His Son (1 John 3:2).
A famous actor was once the guest of honor at a social gathering where he received many requests to recite favorite excerpts from various literary works. An old preacher who happened to be there asked the actor to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. The actor agreed on the condition that the preacher would also recite it. The actor’s recitation was beautifully intoned with great dramatic emphasis, for which he received lengthy applause. The preacher’s voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching, and his diction was anything but polished. But when he finished there was not a dry eye in the room. When someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied, “I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd.”
Salvation does not come from knowing about the truth of Jesus Christ but from intimately knowing Christ Himself. This coming alive can be accomplished by the power of God because of His love and mercy.[19]
[1] Dockery, D. S. (2017). Ephesians. In E. A. Blum & T. Wax (Eds.), CSB Study Bible: Notes (p. 1873). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Eph 2:10). Lexham Press.
[3] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Eph 2:10). Thomas Nelson Publishers.
[4] Bond, J. B. (2010). The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians. In R. N. Wilkin (Ed.), The Grace New Testament Commentary (p. 869). Grace Evangelical Society.
[5] MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; p. 1919). Thomas Nelson.
[6] Hoehner, H. W. (1985). Ephesians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 624–625). Victor Books.
[7] Anders, M. (1999). Galatians-Colossians (Vol. 8, pp. 112–113). Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[8] Utley, R. J. (1997). Paul Bound, the Gospel Unbound: Letters from Prison (Colossians, Ephesians and Philemon, then later, Philippians): Vol. Volume 8 (pp. 88–89). Bible Lessons International.
[9] Vaughan, C. (2002). Ephesians (pp. 53–54). Founders Press.
[10] Bock, D. L. (2019). Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.; Vol. 10, p. 70). Inter-Varsity Press.
[11] Foulkes, F. (1989). Ephesians: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 10, pp. 84–86). InterVarsity Press.
[12] Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (pp. 229–231). Logos Bible Software.
[13] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). Ephesians (pp. 63–64). Funk & Wagnalls Company.
[14] Patzia, A. G. (2011). Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon (pp. 185–186). Baker Books.
[15] Strassner, K. (2014). Opening up Ephesians (pp. 56–58). Day One.
[16] Bruce, F. F. (1984). The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians (pp. 290–291). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[17] Klein, W. W. (2006). Ephesians. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Ephesians–Philemon (Revised Edition) (Vol. 12, pp. 70–71). Zondervan.
[18] Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: an expositional commentary (pp. 69–74). Ministry Resources Library.
[19] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (pp. 62–63). Moody Press.
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