We Are His Workmanship

EPHESIAN 2:8-10

This evening, I’d want us to look at a familiar passage from the book of Ephesians…and I want us to examine some thoughts regarding …what is one of our primary purposes for being redeemed by God.

Go ahead and turn in your bible to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2:verses 8-9 have been described as one of reformation theology's key passages and pillars. In these two verses, you will find one of the clearest expressions of how someone is born again and redeemed by God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Here we see 3 of the 5 Solas of the reformation…Grace alone, Faith alone, and the Glory of God alone.

⇒ Salvation is a free gift of God. It is by grace alone that man is saved. Man can do nothing whatsoever to save himself. He cannot earn, win, or merit salvation. All man can do is accept the fact that God says He will save him, accept as true the free offer of salvation (Ro. 11:6). - But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the bible and one that I find myself returning to time and time again, and grace plays a major role in the themes of Ephesians, especially in these first 2 chapters….If you want to deepen your understanding of biblical grace…then Ephesians 1&2 is a great place to start.

I want to point out a few things we learn about grace here…

Grace has given us all spiritual blessings through Jesus – Eph. 1:3

Grace chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world – Eph. 1:4

Grace has determined that we will be like Jesus….and with Jesus, one day – Eph. 1:5; 11-12

Grace has made us accepted in Jesus – Eph. 1:6

Grace proved the blood of Christ that washed us from our sins – Eph. 1:7

Grace reached out to us when we were dead in our sins – Eph. 2:1-4

Grace loved us – Eph. 2:4

Grace gave us life – Eph. 2:5

Grace has secured our future – Eph. 2:6-7

Grace has secured our salvation – Eph. 2:8-9

Everything we possess as believers is ours through and by the grace of God…. We earned nothing that we have received. We deserved nothing we have received. We purchased nothing we have received. Everything we have in Jesus Christ has been given to us by the free grace of Almighty God.

God has given us the gifts of His grace without asking for a single thing in return. He doesn’t expect us to repay Him for grace….And While God does not expect any return payments from us; He does say that grace will change us and be the catalyst to bring God glory….. The work of grace in us results in some very real changes in our lives. These changes allow us to live for God and honor Him with our lives…..

Our living for Him, according to His will brings glory to His name, …The Westminster shorter catechism starts off with question one…What is the chief end of man?....or in other words…what is the primary and ultimate purpose of man…Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever. (repeat)

Our Salvation…our justification is by no merit of our own…We are not saved by what we do or by what we produce. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone!

Verse 10 is where I want to spend the rest of our time this evening…For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This verse tells us what the Lord does in us when He saves us, and how He works through us to accomplish His will in the world. God has saved us to be living examples of his grace at work in our lives….

Let's dissect this verse and look at some points of application…first let's notice this word “workmanship” in verse 10….. The word “workmanship” means, “that which is made, a work, a work of art”. It comes from the word that gives us the word “poem”.

It refers to a “piece of literary workmanship.” It came to refer to an author’s “magnum opus,” or his greatest literary achievement. In other words, it refers to his “masterpiece.”

Paul is saying that the redeemed saints of God are His masterpieces. The saints are his greatest achievement. The saints are the greatest letter ever written by the hand of the Master Author.

You may not know it by looking at me but one of my favorite things to do is going to antique stores. I grew up with a mom that loved antique stores and she would often take me along with her and I loved it…and one of our favorite shows to watch together was Antique Roadshow on PBS…anyone ever watched that?

You can ask my wife…I have it on all the time in the house. I just love watching and seeing how people think they might have something that's incredibly valuable only to find out it's a replica or fake…or that it really holds no value…but the most exciting thing is when someone brings something in that seemingly may not hold a ton of value or they have no idea it’s worth and it ends up being an extremely valuable item. …

I remember an episode from 2012 where a guy brought in a painting that was handed down to him from his grandparents and it's a painting called “The Laborer” by Diego Rivera. His grandparents had bought the painting in Mexico City decades earlier before the artist rose to fame.

And the owner of the painting explains how for years the painting just hung on a bedroom wall behind a door and no one really thought much of it…

and since it was recently handed down to him he wanted to see how much it was valued at…The appraiser goes on to explain the history of the painting and how the painter is a very well-known Latin American artist and that the painting is valued at around $1 million dollars….

The owner was obviously in shock and couldn’t believe it…this whole time he had possession of this masterpiece…and didn’t even know it….years later they did a follow up episode and showed that the painting is now valued at over $5 million dollars…can you imagine?

Sometime it’s easy for us to think we hold no value at all…that we offer nothing to be used of God…that we have no skills, no real tangible gifts that God can use for his glory and our good….But Ephesians 2:10 tells us otherwise…WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP…HIS MASTERPIECES…

. With loving care and infinite skill, God shaped us by His grace and wrote His love into our lives……When you think of what we were before Christ…before we were miraculously redeemed…it becomes very evident that God’s love is real and gracious.

I've heard it said that…The redeemed are God’s letters of love to a lost world. Paul says it this way, turn to 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 - “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

We are his workmanship…his masterpiece…when a great artist paints a masterpiece…he doesn’t hide it in the closet or under the bed for no one to see….he proudly displays his work…What was once a blank canvas and just raw material is now a beautiful work of art. Do you think that the owner of the The Laborer painting once he found out it was worth millions…went back home and hung it behind the door again? NO…I have no doubt that he proudly displayed it for all to see.

God did not save us just so we can hide in the four walls of a church…he created us, and saved us to display us to the world around us. That means….that Our faith has a purpose…our salvation is not just a change in our mind…but our whole life is changed by the gospel…we are to display Christlikeness and Christ's love to the lost and dying world around us. We are to let the world see what God has done in us and through us all for His glory and the spread of his gospel.

The next part of this verse states we were “created for good works “…

NOW>>>>>>Wait a minute didn’t we just read that works are not a part of this equation….For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

This is how we are to biblically think about the relationship of Faith and Works in regards to our Christian life…..The proof that God’s grace has worked in us ….to save us …that our faith is alive and real…is by our works AFTER we have been born again. Our “works” prior to our salvation do nothing for us…that is unmistakably clear time and time again in scripture…..John Calvin said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

Another way of saying it is…Faith and Grace is the Root of our justification and….. our works…our life looking more and more like Jesus… is the fruit of our justification.

The cause of our salvation is faith and grace…good works are the symptom of that salvation.

In other words, works do not save us….but we are saved to work …for God’s glory. James 2:18 says it this way, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James is reminding us that while faith brings us into God’s salvation..our works prove the reality of our profession of faith.

It’s the difference between a true faith and a false faith…anyone can make a profession of faith..but if that person's life is not changed and is not being changed by the inner works of Christ in their life…then one might conclude that their belief is merely an intellectual one…not a saving one. True saving faith is holistic…, affecting not only our heads (what we think), but also our hearts (what we love) and our hands (what we do).

If I said…This is an apple tree….and you were to say “how do you know it’s an apple tree”...well I know because it’s labeled apple tree...and the person at the tree store said it was an apple tree…But if this tree never produces any apples….or even starts to produce oranges or some other fruit…would I still get to claim that this is an apple tree? NO…..What purpose does this tree have if it’s not producing any fruit? I can claim it’s an apple tree all I want…but if there is no fruit to prove it’s an apple tree…then it’s a dead tree. It claims as an apple true holds no value…it means nothing if it’s not actually producing apples….

Our works…justify .. “or prove” our justification. You can not claim Christ as your Lord and Savior…and not be changed by him…and that doesn’t mean we are perfect and that we still don’t struggle with sin…but it does mean that there will be evidence…fruits…desires…that are aligned with Christ and His will and Way according to His Word…..and we are in a process of growth and sanctification until He calls home to heaven.

We are His workmanship….we are made for good works…and we are to Walk In Them…. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This verse makes it evidently clear we are to walk in those good works…The word “walk” means, “to make ones way; to regulate ones life; to make full use of opportunities.” The word is in a tense that suggests a “once for all decision to walk in good works.” In other words, it isn’t something a person turns on and off. You don’t walk for God for six months, then for yourself for ten years. It refers to “a fixed way of life that is committed to living the way God intends for His people to live.”

SO what does this look like? How does God intend us to live…to have our path fixed on a particular way?

How does God expect His people to walk?

· In Love – John 13:35;“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

· In Obedience – John 14:15; 21 -If you love me, keep my commands. ..Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,

· In Faithfulness – 1 Cor. 4:2 - Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

· In Holiness – 1 Pet. 1:16 - Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Sanctification is a process. God saves you from a life of sin and He begins the process of transforming your life. He continually refines you and shapes you into the image of His Son,...Rom. 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,

We are not perfect the instant we get saved, but we are changed. That change should manifest itself in the way we live for God and before the world.

Again back to verse 10….For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God Prepared Beforehand…reminds us that we were not saved by any accident. It was in God’s plan to save us by His grace so that we might live for Him. Before we ever came to Jesus by faith, God had already planned the path He would have us walk in life.

Turn to Romans 12:1-2 … and with this we will close……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,[c] 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.

A faith that is real reveals itself through works that are righteous for the Glory of God…! If we have been bought with a price…the precious blood of Christ…then we are not our own…we belong to Him. our whole lives should be oriented around living for Him…our path, our walk, our works…should reflect Christ in all we do. God does not save us so that we can live for ourselves; He saves us so we can live for Him! He saves us so that He can use us for His glory in this world!

Hold fast to the glorious truth that our justification…is by no merit of our own…if we had to earn it we never could…it is only by grace through faith in Christ's finished work on the cross that can save us….hold fast to the truth that we are saved for a purpose…we are a new creation, we are God’s workmanship…he has a purpose and a plan for us…our salvation is not in vain, So let God use you. Use your gifts in this church, and speak boldly and faithfully the glories and blessings of the gospel to the lost around you. Point others and encourage other believers to follow after Christ.

“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

LET'S PRAY.

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