Sermon Notes: Ephesians 2:10 – Grace Keeps
These are the notes of a sermon preached by Andy Evans on the morning of the 24 January 2010 at Firwood Church. Click here to stream or download the sermon audio.
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For 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. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
1. ALIVE
a. Paul’s Preoccupation with Aliveness
The aim in preaching through books of the Bible is to pay close attention to the detail of Scripture while keeping the big picture in view. It has taken us 15 weeks to reach Chapter 2 verse 10 and the danger in this is that I may, inadvertently, unnaturally interrupt the Apostle Paul’s flow of thought. Each week, therefore, we must take care to ensure that we see how our passage links in with all that has gone before.
This week’s unit of thought begins back in Chapter 1 with Paul praying,
…that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:18–20)
Paul prays that believers would know the hope they have in Christ, the inheritance secured in him and the awesome resurrection power at work towards those who are his.
Paul now proceeds to show us why this resurrection power is necessary,
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… (Ephesians 2:1–2)
The ‘And’ gestures back to the preceding chapter because Paul wants us to understand this power in the context of our former situation. (If you are an unbeliever, then Paul is talking of your present circumstance and need.) The resurrection power Paul speaks of in Chapter 1 is precisely necessary because the human condition is so utterly hopeless. We are dead spiritually, experientially and judicially. We were ‘by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind’ (Ephesians 2:3).
And then, at verse 4, Paul’s thought shifts to God with the glorious interjection, ‘But God’,
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2:4–5)
Paul, here, answers the question that no one is naturally inclined to ask.
When confronted with the reality of God’s just and holy wrath against sinners, we are all swift to point the finger and accuse God of severity and injustice. The question most commonly on our lips is how can this loving God condemn anyone to hell? We rarely think to ask why this just and holy God would suffer any of us to live.
Paul understands that God’s motive in making dead people come alive is himself. God is gracious and loving and acts in complete accordance with his gracious and loving nature. God is gracious and loving and acts in order to display his glorious nature (Ephesians 1:6).
This then, last week, led us into verses 8 and 9 and now, this week, into verse 10.
Consider how these two clauses (verse 8 to 9 and verse 10) expand on verses 4 and 5. Consider how this helps us understand the extent of the aliveness we receive in Christ. Paul writes,
But God… made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4)
before expanding on this with the explanatory clause,
For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)
and then further developing this gracious gift of life in verse 10,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
b. The Extent of this Aliveness
Throughout his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul emphasizes the miraculous nature of salvation and this leads him to exult in the sovereignty of God and his glorious grace. In order to help us understand the extent of the gracious gift of salvation, Paul draws on a number of metaphors,
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7)
Salvation entails forgiveness and is nothing short of redemption. This redemption is necessary because we were formerly enslaved to the desires of our flesh, the bondage of sin and the deceit of the enemy (Ephesians 2:1-3).
even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (Ephesians 2:5)
We have considered the truth of this over the previous three weeks. We were dead and God has made us alive ‘together with Christ’. Salvation is nothing less than resurrection.
2. NEW CREATION AND THE POIEMA OF GOD
a. Creation and the Creator
In verse 10, Paul focuses upon the result and implications of this aliveness and, in so doing, draws upon another metaphor,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
We are dead, lost and utterly without hope and then God, because he is that kind of God, intervenes in grace and love. We are imprisoned, he sets us free. We are dead, he makes us alive. The end result of this gracious intervention is that those of us who believe are ‘his workmanship’.
The Greek word, poiema, here translated, ‘his workmanship’ is an unusual word and is only used on one other occasion in the New Testament. This other occurrence is, I think, both significant and illuminating. Paul writes elsewhere,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made [poiemasin]. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18–20)
Before we move on to consider the word, poiemasin, the root of which is poiema, translated in verse 20 as, ‘things that have been made’, it is worthwhile considering the correlation between this passage and Ephesians 2:1-3.
In Ephesians 2:1-3 we are held responsible for our former condition: we walked in our trespasses and sins, we followed the lies of the world (and, in doing so, the lies of Satan) and the passions and desires which enslaved us were our own.
In Romans Chapter 1, Paul unpacks this further. The backdrop to all this is that God is perpetually and gloriously revealing himself to men and women. Paul presents us with three ways in which God self-discloses: through Scripture, through our consciences and, in the passage above, through creation.
This is important because it frames all that we have read in Ephesians Chapter 1. Yes, our God is at work even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and, yes, God is at work choosing and initiating. However, we should never read in this that we are somehow exempt from responsibility. God works and his ways are mysterious and inscrutable (Romans 11:33). The counterpoint to this is that God reveals himself everywhere in his creation.
Why then is it that men and women remain blind to the truth of God? Paul understands that, in addition to being dead, we are also truth suppressors (Romans 1:18). We see the glory of God in creation and we either crush the sense of wonder stone-dead or fixate upon the lesser created thing and suppress any thought of a Creator God.
This is why Paul’s use of the word poiemasin (root, poiema) is so important. Paul is trying to convey that behind creation lies the hand of the Creator. Poiema, from which our word ‘poem’ derives, conveys so much more than evolutionary theory would have us believe. Poiema, ‘the things that have been made’ (Romans 1:20), points to the Maker.[1]
Imagine this: you are walking down a deserted beach and you see and ‘L’ sculpted in the sand. You might imagine that this is a coincidence and a result of either the wind or the waves. Imagine, however, that the ‘L’ was preceded by another ‘L’, an ‘A’, a ‘H’ and a ‘S’ and, as you looked, you read, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summers day…’. Imagine that you are not simply gazing at an anomalous ‘L’, but at a poem.
Suddenly the natural response is to look for the poet.[2]
Paul understands that creation is like a glorious poem inviting us to see the hand of the Creator, the great hand of the Poet, behind and in all he has made.
b. Creation and New Creation
If we move then to Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul is conveying two things.
Firstly, Paul is referencing creation. God created all things (which, consequently, bear his imprint) and now this same God is at work shaping, crafting and bringing dead things to life. Paul has previously used two illustrations to describe salvation, God redeemed us and God made us alive. Now Paul wants us to see that salvation is nothing short of new creation.
Paul makes exactly this point elsewhere,
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
Paul is referencing the Genesis account of creation in which God speaks everything into being (beginning at Genesis 1:3). Paul understands that our salvation is only possible because this same Creator God spoke into being things that are from things that are not (in this instance, we can specifically point to ‘faith’, Ephesians 2:8, and life, Ephesians 2:5).
Paul understands that our blindness was absolute. We were unable to see Jesus as he truly is and, consequently, were utterly unresponsive to the gospel. The solution is that the Creator of the universe speaks light into our lives and the result of this is that we are now able to see Jesus as he truly is: the glorious God of the universe.
c. Creation, New Creation and Christ
There is a second component to this new creation which I want to reference here and then leave to one side until we return to Ephesians in a few weeks time. Paul later writes that Christ, through the cross,
[… abolished] the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Ephesians 2:15)
This is a great and weighty truth for the church in Ephesus and for Firwood Church, Oldham. We, like the church in Ephesus, were predominantly formally Gentiles, separated from the commandments, promises, people and purposes of God because of our ancestry. In Christ, however, the two distinctive groups, Jew and Gentile, are made one man. For now, note this reference: Paul picks up the new creation reference of verse 10 and unpacks this further in verse 15.
The main reason I pick this up here is to show the importance of Christ Jesus, his death and resurrection in this creative act.
Paul writes,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:10)
There is no creation apart from Christ Jesus,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:1–3)
There is no salvation, life or new creation apart from Christ Jesus.
Jesus, the God-Man, is the means by which God chooses to work his redemptive, salvific and creative purposes. As such Christ Jesus is the focal point of the glory of the Godhead in all things (Ephesians 1:20-23).
The result of this creative activity in Christ is that we are made to be his poiema. We, believers in Christ Jesus, are his creation formed by his hand and bearing his imprint.
3. PURPOSEFUL NEW CREATION
a. New Creation with Purpose
This is a weighty truth: believers are new creations created in Christ Jesus to bear the imprint of their Creator.
Let me prove this to you.
Paul writes,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
God’s creative work is always incredibly purposeful. We who are his poiema are created ‘for good works’.
This exhortation to believers to engage in good works is a reoccurring theme throughout the Scriptures and throughout Paul’s letters. Elsewhere, Paul prays that our acts of goodness might bear fruit (Colossians 1:10) and that our hearts might be established in good deeds (2 Thessalonians 2:17).
What then does Paul intend when he writes that believers were created afresh ‘for good works’? Paul wants believers to understand that our salvation is purposed that we might live our lives in accordance with God’s character and values. We serve a good God, Paul urges us to live good lives.
This is what it means to be his poiema. We bear the imprint of the living God.
And there is a dynamic in this. Paul writes that we were,
…created in Christ Jesus for good works […] that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Paul sets this kind of walking over and against our former walk; consider,
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2)
We formerly walked on a path characterised by sin, the values of the world and the standards of Satan. It is not simply that we occasionally slipped up, but rather that our lives were patterned after our own godless desires and passions. To walk this way is to walk in a manner utterly at odds with the values of the living God.
This is why, throughout Ephesians, Paul urges believers to walk differently,
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. (Ephesians 4:17)
There was a way of walking in which all of us formerly engaged. We walked in futility because we thought futile thoughts. The fruit of our natural inclination is to suppress the truth: that creation has a Creator, that God is praiseworthy, that God is worthy to be pursued and treasured above all things and that this same God calls each one of us back into relationship with him. We suppress the truth and the result is that our thoughts become darkened and we become futile in our thinking (Paul unpacks this further in Romans 1:18-32).
Paul understands that we were rescued from our former ways that we might walk in a wholly different manner. This forms the basis of a reoccurring exhortation throughout this letter,
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1–3)
Paul reminds believers that they are new creations, his poiema, and urges us to live in a manner worthy of such a high calling. Note also that Paul lists examples of the kind of good deeds which believers should actively pursue. We are called, no, made, to live in humility, gentleness, patience and peace.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1–2)
Paul now exhorts believers, as his poiema, to imitate him and walk like Christ. We are created anew in Christ Jesus that we might walk (in good deeds) like Christ Jesus.
Similarly, Paul encourages believers to walk in the light as he is in the light (see also 1 John 1:7),
for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8)
And exhorts us to walk in wisdom,
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise (Ephesians 5:15)
Believers are saved for such a purpose as this: that we might reflect the image, character and values of the God who rescued us and breathed new life into us.
b. New Creatures, New Nature
Having unpacked all of this I must now turn and address an objection that some may raise based on all we discussed last week.
In Ephesians Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, Paul emphatically stated that our salvation is grounded wholly upon the grace and mercy of God and is given apart from any good works or merit or worth that we might possess in and of ourselves,
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
The question which may now arise is how does Paul’s insistence that we were created ‘for good works’ fit into this system of salvation by grace alone through faith alone? Is Paul contradicting himself in saying that, on the one hand, our salvation is wholly attributable to the grace of God and then, on the other, that we are required to devote ourselves to good works? Or is it that Paul is exhorting us to somehow repay God for his goodness to us with good works?
This is why it is important that we pay close attention to the tense Paul employs here; believers are,
…created in Christ Jesus for good works […] that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
Notice that we are not the subject of this passage, God is. We are the objects on whom God pours out mercy, blessings and life. He acts and we received. This is the sense which is conveyed here. Paul does not add an exhortation, ‘so, walk in them’. He writes simply and matter-of-factly that believers were saved to so walk.
There is great force in this. Paul is not saying, God made you new, therefore… Rather he is saying, God made you new, therefore you are…
God has worked an act of creation and we are what he has made us to be: new creations. New creations think differently and act differently. Our new walk is altogether different from our former walk because we are new creatures.
There is a shift of emphasis then. You might say, ‘Who are you to tell me how to live?’ Paul would respond: ‘Walk in accordance with your nature’. You might say, ‘Who are you to criticize how I live?’ Paul would respond, ‘Why is it that you claim to be new, but continue to act like the old creature?’
It would be a gross error, this morning, to hear this message and then leave believing that the solution to your situation is to try to be a better person. Paul wants you to be a different person and he knows that as God effects this work in your life, your behavior will follow.
Martin Luther, the great Reformer, reminds us that, “Good works do not make a man good, but a good man will do good works.”[3]
Unbelievers, recognize that your situation is so bleak and so desperate that nothing short of new creation will remedy your state. Believers, test yourselves, examine whether you are living lives in accordance with your new nature. If not, you need begin by examining your heart in order to determine whether you are indeed his (2 Corinthians 13:5). If not, you need to repent, turn from your own self-righteousness and instead throw yourself upon his grace.
c. New Creation, New Works and Grace
The objection we have just addressed is how one might respond to Paul’s insistence on the necessity of grace given his exhortation towards good works? Does not the emphasis upon good works somehow devalue grace? Paul provides the answer to this in verse 10. Consider,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
The emphasis in this entire passage, indeed, this entire letter, is that, in relation to salvation, God acts first, he acts in grace and he acts decisively. Paul begins to unpacks this for us in Chapter 1,
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, (Ephesians 1:4–5)
Paul wants us to understand that our salvation is predicated upon his unconditional election. He chose us before there was an ‘us’. He chose us before the foundation of the world and the determining factor was not our goodness, our intelligence or our receptiveness, but, rather, ‘the purpose of his will’. He acted first and he acted decisively.
But how, you may ask, does this sovereign and unconditional election interface with the requirement that we believe and follow him? Paul addresses this in Chapter 2,
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God reveals himself through nature, through our consciences, in Scripture and, finally and perfectly, in his Son and he calls us to respond in faith and belief. Paul here confirms this, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith’, but note that even the faith by which we respond, ‘is the gift of God’.
This God chooses a people for himself, provides, in Christ, a means for their rescue and then provides them with the very faith with which they are called to respond. He does this because such radical intervention is necessary. We were dead. We were enemies. We were ‘children of wrath’. And he does this because it is in his nature to so act. He is ‘rich in mercy’ and loves us with a great love (Ephesians 2:4).
But Paul takes this further still. Because of this great intervention and his expansive grace we are made to be new creations, his poiema, that we might walk accordingly. And even in this he is at work preparing, in advance, good works that we might walk in them.
This is important for three reasons,
i. God reigns over every aspect of our lives
Consider the implications of this.
Before the foundation of the world God was at work choosing a people for himself. With this same astonishing comprehensive foresight, God shapes history in order to ensure that his people are provided with an opportunity to engage in good works.
This removes any possible excuse for passive, unresponsive Christianity without action and works. Paul assures us that the provision of good works is bound up in the salvation package. I do not think that it is too great a stretch to think of this provision in the same terms as the ‘every spiritual blessings’ that Paul addresses in Ephesians 1:3. If you are a Christian, God has prepared and provided a ministry and good works for you to walk in.
It is no coincidence when you find yourself confronted with a need or ministry or act of service. God has prepared this for you to walk in. And, so, walk in it.
Look, then, for the hand of God at work in your life. Follow his leading. Follow the need. God saved you for this purpose.
This is incredibly challenging, there is no excuse for idleness. But this is also incredibly encouraging. There is no such thing as happenstance and there is no such thing as coincidence.
God saved you. God has prepared the path upon which he now calls you to walk.
ii. God’s grace is sufficient for the life he has called us to lead
The link between this walk and his grace is twofold. The first clue is seen in the first word of this sentence, ‘For we are his workmanship’. The ‘For’ gestures back to verses 4-5 and which focus upon the saving grace of a God who is rich in mercy and through to verses 8 and 9 which emphasize the necessity of this grace.
Furthermore, it is clear that we should view the preparation of good works as a grace gift.
Let me unpack this further.
Paul wants us to see that our ministries are predicated upon his grace not our worth. He gives us particular ministries because he is gracious and kind. The promise in this is that he will supply us with all that we need to so minister, serve and walk. He calls us to walk in the good works he has prepared in order that we might remember and rely upon his grace.
Paul addresses this truth more directly, elsewhere,
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8)
All of this is incredibly liberating.
God calls us for a purpose. He provides work for us to do. He provides all we need to live obedient lives that we may ‘abound in every good work’.
This makes sense of the perfect tense in verses 5 and 8,
…by grace you have been saved… (Ephesians 2:5, 8 )
This could also rightly be translated,
…by grace you are saved… (Ephesians 2:5, 8 )
Paul clearly has his eye upon saving grace grounded in two historical moments: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the moment we responded in and through faith. Paul does not lose sight of the continuing effects of this grace, however. He understands that we were saved by the sheer grace of God and, in the same way, by his grace and kindness we are being preserved and sustained.
This is why we are called to walk in good works rather than to work in them. The correct emphasis is this: we are not ‘doing a work for God but God [is] doing a work in and through the believer’.[4]
And so to we are asked to respond in faith. Yes, we believe him to be true to his word. Yes, we believe he is faithful. Yes, we believe he is enough (whatever our circumstances) and, yes, we believe he continues to provide abundant grace that we might walk in good deeds.
We were saved by grace and through faith. We are being saved by grace through faith.
Unbelievers, trust in this. Believers, walk in this.
iii. God displays his extravagant grace in our walk in Christ
Finally, the grace of God leaves no room for boasting.
He saves us, he makes us new and he gives us work and ministries that we might display his grace in our obedient walk.
He calls us to leave our old walk and to instead walk in accordance with our new nature. Children of God imitate their Father in heaven. Servants of Christ walk the path Christ walked.
He calls us to risky, dangerous and even terrifying places that we might serve him and walk in good deeds. He calls us to take up our cross, lay down our lives and serve him.
All of this looks crazy and all of this seems impossible. And yet, he gives us the strength and grace that we might walk faithfully and display his grace and power.
He wants people to be astonished that he might call us. He wants people to be astonished that he might so use us. He wants people to see him in us: his glory and his glorious grace.
[1] Jim Townsend, ‘Saved by Grace Alone – This is all my plea’ in Emmaus Bible College, Emmaus Journal Volume 7 (Emmaus Bible College, 1998; 2002), p. 238.
[2] Illustration taken from Piper, John. ‘Displays of God Remove the Excuse for Failed Worship’ (27 September 1998) in Sermons from John Piper (1990-1999). Desiring God; Minneapolis, MN, 2007; 2007.
[3] Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language (Waco: Word Books, 1982), p.260 – cited in Jim Townsend, ‘Saved by Grace Alone – This is all my plea’, p. 239.
[4] Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2002, 2007), p. 349.