Ephesians 2.10c-The Father Created the Church Age Believer to Live By Means of Actions That Are Divine Good
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday November 2, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 2:10c-The Father Created the Church Age Believer to Live By Means of Actions That Are Divine Good
Lesson # 98
Ephesians 2:10 For each and every one of us are His creative workmanship. For each and every one of us has been created by means of our faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus in order to produce actions, which are divine good. These God prepared in advance so that each of us would conduct our lives by means of them. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 2:10 begins with the causal clause autou gar esmen poiēma (αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα), “For each and every one of us are His creative workmanship.”
This is followed by the causal participial clause ktisthentes en Christō Iēsou (κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ), “For each and every one of us has been created by means of our faith in and union and identification with Christ Jesus.”
It is modified by the prepositional phrase epi ergois agathois (ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς), “in order to produce actions, which are divine good.”
The causal participial clause is also modified by the relative pronoun clause hois proētoimasen ho theos (οἷς προητοίμασεν ὁ θεός), “which God prepared in advance.”
Lastly, as we noted, Ephesians 2:10 concludes with the hina (ἵνα) purpose-result clause hina en autois peripatēsōmen (ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν), “so that each of us would conduct our lives by means of them.”
This type of clause indicates both the intention and accomplishment of the action of the main verb, which is the third person singular aorist active indicative conjugation of the verb proetoimazō (προετοιμάζω), “prepared beforehand.”
A purpose clause emphasizes the “intention” of the action of the main verb whereas a result clause emphasizes the consequence of the verbal action that is “not intended.”
Now, sometimes the conjunction hina (ἵνα) can introduce a clause that indicates both purpose and result meaning that it indicates both the intention and its sure accomplishment.
The purpose-result clause in the New Testament is used in relation to the Father’s will.
Therefore, this hina (ἵνα) purpose-result clause presents both the purpose and the result of the Father having created the church age believer by means of their faith in His Son and union and identification with Him for the purpose of producing actions, which are divine good, which the Father prepared in advance in eternity past.
Thus, this would indicate that the church age believer living by means of actions, which are divine good in quality and character, would accomplish or fulfill the Father’s purpose of creating them by means of their faith in His Son at justification and their union and identification with His Son.
In other words, the church age believer conducting their life by means of actions, which are divine good because they are the production of obedience to the Spirit, would fulfill the purpose of the Father saving them because of grace by means of faith in His Son.
These works or actions, which are divine good in quality and character are the subject of Ephesians chapters 4-6.
The aorist active subjunctive conjugation of the verb peripateō (περιπατέω), “each of us would conduct our lives” is used in a figurative sense with reference to the lifestyle of the church age believer.
The referent of the first person plural form of this verb is of course to church age believers.
The first person plural form of this verb is Paul and the recipients of the Ephesian epistle, who we noted were Gentiles who belonged to not only the Christian community in Ephesus but also who belonged to the various Christian communities throughout the Roman province of Asia.
Ultimately, the referents are believers throughout the church age, which began on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem in approximately 33 A.D. and will end with the rapture or resurrection of the church, which imminent.
The first person plural form of this verb is not only referring to church age believers as a corporate unit but is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
Therefore, each and every church age believer as a corporate unit functions as the subject of this verb indicating that they perform the action of this verb.
The referent of the dative neuter plural form of the intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “them” are actions performed by church age believer which are divine good in quality and character.
This word is the object of the preposition en (ἐν), which functions as a marker of means.
Therefore, this would indicate that these actions which are divine good in quality and character and were prepared in advance by the Father in eternity past, are the means by which the Father intended the church age believer to conduct their lives as His children after their justification.
The aorist tense of this verb peripateō (περιπατέω) is an ingressive aorist, which is used to emphasize the entrance into a state.
Here it stresses the church age believer entering into the state of conducting their lives by means of actions, which are divine good in quality and character.
This type of aorist is actually emphasizing the contrast between the conduct of the church age believer after their justification and their conduct before their justification, which is described in Ephesians 2:1-3.
So therefore, to summarize, in Ephesians 2:10, the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit asserts that the reason why the church age believer’s salvation is a gift, which originates from God the Father and is emphatically not based upon their own merits is because they are the Father’s creative workmanship.
He then states that they are the Father’s workmanship because they have been created by means of their faith in His Son at justification as well as their union and identification with Him.
The purpose of which was for the believer to produce actions, which are divine good in quality and character and he describes these actions as having been prepared in advance in eternity past by the Father.
Lastly, Paul states that as a result of the church age believer conducting their life by means of these actions, which are divine good, the Father’s will from eternity past would be fulfilled or accomplished.
Throughout the New Testament there is a concern for the Christian’s lifestyle or conduct.
In fact, the verb peripateō appears here in Ephesians 2:10 and appears often in the New Testament with reference to the lifestyle or conduct of the believer (cf. 1 Cor. 7:17; 2 Cor. 5:7; 10:3-4).
Romans 6:4 Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism with respect to His physical death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead ones through the glory of the Father, in the same way, we, ourselves will also walk in the realm of an extraordinary life. (Lecturer’s translation)
Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now, as an eternal spiritual truth, never any condemnation, none whatsoever for the benefit of those in union with Christ who is Jesus. 2 Because, the life-giving Spirit’s authoritative power, by means of (the death and resurrection of) Christ, who is Jesus, has set you free from the sin nature’s authoritative power as well as spiritual death’s. 3 Because with reference to the Law’s inability in which it was always powerless through the flesh, God the Father accomplished by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. 4 In fact, with regards to the sin nature, He (the Father) executed the sin nature by means of His (Son’s) human nature in order that the Law’s righteous requirement would be fulfilled in us, those of us who are not, as an eternal spiritual truth, conducting our lives in submission to the flesh but rather in submission to the Spirit. (Lecturer’s translation)
Romans 13:13 Let us for the duration continue to conduct our lives properly as those who, as an eternal spiritual truth, exist in the state of being in the day, not by means of drunken parties, not by means of licentious promiscuity, not by means of jealous contention. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (NASB95)
Ephesians 4:17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. (NET)
Ephesians 5:2 and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. (NET)
Ephesians 5:8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; 9 walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth). (NASB95)
Ephesians 5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live—not as unwise but as wise. (NET)
Colossians 2:6 Therefore, just as all of you accepted the teaching concerning your union and identification with the Christ, who is Jesus, who is the Lord, so all of you continue to make it your habit of living your lives in fellowship with Him. (Lecturer’s translation)
Colossians 4:5 Each of you continue making it your habit of conducting your lives by means of wisdom while interacting with those who are outsiders so that each of you are causing yourselves to make the most of your opportunity. (Lecturer’s translation)
1 Thessalonians 4:1 Therefore, in addition to this brothers and sisters each one of us is requesting, yes urgently, authoritatively encouraging each and every one of you on the basis of the Lord Jesus’ commands that as each of you received from each of us instruction how each of you are obligated to make it your habit to live in a manner so as to make it your habit of pleasing God (as each one of you are in fact making it your habit of living) that each of you make it your habit of excelling more and more. (Lecturer’s translation)