June 15 – LD 24, Day 5: How We Do Good Works
by Prof Herman Hanko
Read: Ephesians 2:1-10
In the interests of
learning fully how it is possible for a child of God to do good works, Paul
speaks of this very thing in Eph 2:8-10.
We are dead in
trespasses and sins, Paul tells us (2:1).
We are made alive by the
power of God (2:1, 5).
This all is so much
God’s work that it is rooted in God’s love for us and flows to us out of the
fountain of His grace, His unmerited favor. (2:4, 5).
The result is that we
are saved by grace, through faith (2:8).
That salvation by grace,
through faith, is not of ourselves, but is the gift of God. Grace is a gift;
faith is a gift; and the resulting salvation is a gift. It is never our work.
By making all these His
gifts, God shuts the door to all boasting (2:9). If our works entered in, we
would boast of our contributions.
But we can hear some
objector, off to the side, shouting, “But what about works? You are forgetting
our works.”
“You are right,” the
apostle says; “we do good works. But let me tell you about those good works.
And then see once whether you can still boast in them.”
First of all, we must
remember that we are God’s workmanship. Now, a workmanship is a work of
stunningly beautiful art that shows by its beauty the skill of the artist and
demonstrates why he is to be praised. That is what we, as God’s saints, are. We
are a work of the divine Artist who makes us His divine work so that we show
forth His praise.
Second, we are a divine
work of art “in Christ Jesus.” Christ Jesus and His people are one work of art,
planed in eternity, prepared in the cross of Christ, painted throughout
history, finished in all its glory in heaven.
Third, the purpose God
has in mind in preparing this masterpiece of the church in Christ is so that
the church can do good works: “Created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
These good works are
“before ordained”. That is, every good work each saint does is determined for
him by God in His eternal counsel before the creation of the world. This is
possible because Christ merited them. Our good works are God’s gift, merited by
Christ, graciously given. Good works are part of our salvation.
Finally, even the fact
that we do these good works is ordained by God from all eternity. He gives us
the privilege, the blessings, the power to do that which Christ merited for us.
And these good works, a
part of God’s masterpiece, are to the praise and the glory of the divine
Artist. God is praised for our good works, because God gave them to us to show
His power and grace.
“Do you want to talk
about works?” says Paul; “These are our good works. Where is the merit?’
We ought to thank God
for the good works we do.