Monday, August 31, 2015

Ephesians 2:10 is not about us being God's masterpieces.

Ephesians 2:10 is not about us being God's masterpieces. Read verses 8 & 9 before it: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  This isn't about us being so awesome. This is about God saving us by grace, which means that we contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary.  Look at the beginning of the chapter: "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked..."  God's workmanship isn't us ourselves, but the process by which God made us alive again in Christ (created in Christ Jesus).  The good works we are able to do as a result of being made alive again are the ones that God prepared before hand: your immediate family and friends and community.  You don't have to seek out the good works that God has prepared for you.  He gives them to you.  They are sharing the gospel with your spouse and children, or friends and neighbors and loved ones, and making sure they don't go astray (see Ephesians 5-6).