God’s Workmanship
By Pastor Matt Black
15
October 2006
Lord's Day morning
Ephesians 2:8-10
Open your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Let’s stand together and read Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 1 through 10. What we are going to see this morning in our text is that salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. The title of this morning’s message is “God’s Workmanship”.
[Stand and read Ephesians 2:1-10]
Ephesians 2:1-10, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Outline:
I. The Failure of a works salvation. “Not of works, lest any man should boast”
II. The Fountain of true salvation. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus”
III. The Fruit of true salvation. “…created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Introduction: All who are saved on the Last Day are saved by the Lord. No man can come to the Father but through Jesus. We cannot come our own way to God. We cannot save ourselves! That is the only true Gospel. That is the main point of the Apostle Paul in this group of verses.
Review
Look at verse 1, “you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”—this quickening is the making alive by the Spirit of God.
God’s Power in Regeneration and Union
Regeneration: We read in verse 5 that He, “hath quickened us together with Christ”. We see here the life of the Spirit bringing the dead sinner into union with Jesus Christ in this verse. The sinner is dead and lifeless and cannot save himself. He is not fit to be united to Christ. So how does this quickening and this union with Christ happen? It happens totally by God’s grace, as verse 5 says—“by grace ye are saved”. In fact the grace here is not only God’s undeserved and unmerited favor, it is also the working of His effectual power. It is this power, this force, this spiritual transaction that unites us with Him.
Union: We read also in verse 6 that he “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. This is not metaphorical, this is literal and spiritual. In our spirits we are raised up together and made to “sit together in heavenly places in Christ” that is, our spirit that was dead in trespasses and sins is now risen and united in a heavenly realm with Christ. So we are united to Him. This is not something we can accomplish!
God’s Purpose in saving us is His own glory—the Exaltation of Himself
God’s Glory: We see verse 7 says that grace has eternal ramifications. It says, “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”. In all future ages your life will be an exclamation point on God’s grace. For all eternity the fact that God saves unworthy sinners will show how good God is! Our lives and all eternity will show that God alone has saved us—we have not saved ourselves.
God’s Plan to save His people: Justification by grace alone
Justification: In verses 8-9 we find a summary of the first 7 verses, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This is the main point! Our salvation is by grace—the source is God!
By Grace Through Faith
Even our faith is a gift. It’s not of ourselves! Here we see that faith does not reside in man, but is a result of God through His Spirit and His Word planting light in us—revealing Himself to us. We have no light in ourselves. Just as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Faith, that is, the realization that we can do nothing to help ourselves, this realization comes from God. This was the teaching of Jesus.
1. Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith as Hebrews 12:2 says so clearly.
2. We learn in Galatians 5:22 that faith is not the fruit of the wicked heart of man, but is the “fruit of the Spirit”.
3. Ephesians 1:19 tells us that we “believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”
4. Philippians 1:29, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” Faith is granted to us just like suffering is granted to us. We (not God) suffer for Christ’s sake. The ability to suffer is given by God. Yet it is us that do the suffering! The ability to believe is given by God, but God does not believe for us! We do the believing!
5. Paul again comforts us earlier on in Philippians 1:6 that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”
This faith is birthed in us by the Word of God.
Man cannot come to God on his own. He must have the gracious gift of faith given to him through the Word of God. Man by nature has no ability even to see his own helplessness. He cannot even see his wicked state before the Lord. He is totally helpless!
So man is TOTALLY HELPLESS! We cannot save ourselves. Go ahead and try! You will fail. That brings us to our first point…
I. We see first the Failure of a works Salvation. Human efforts to obtain salvation has failed. “Not of works, lest any man should boast”—nothing that man can do will save him. Man wants to boast, but boasting is contrary to the Spirit of God.
Man has been trying to come to God in his own merit. It begins with Cain.
A. Salvation by works has already failed. One sin is all it takes. How many sins did it take for Lucifer to be cast our of heaven? One!
You might say, “I’ll live a good life to make up for it!” You can’t live a good enough life. One sin separates you forever from a holy God. You committed that first sin a long time ago. You were conceived in sin, and born in it. It’s too late.
Is there anyone here who can claim that he is already saved by works, so far in life? Has anyone here been without sin? Look at your lives; examine your conscience; observe your words, your thoughts, your imaginations, your motives; for all these things will be brought to account on the Last Day. Is there a man here that “doeth good, and sinneth not”? Scripture declares that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way."
· You might say, “I’ll join the church.” It won’t help. Hell’s full of church members.
· “I’ll be baptized.” That won’t help either. You can pool the water from the Pacific to the Atlantic. You can be on a personal, first name basis with fish. All baptism will do is make you wet, and you’ll still go to hell.
Let’s just imagine that salvation by works were possible. What kind of good works can guarantee eternal life? Salvation by works is not as easy as some people imagine. Works that are acceptable to God must be perfectly pure, continuous, and unspotted. "The law of the Lord is perfect." James tells us that “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Human works fall short. Human effort fails!
Explanation: Some might say, well if I have 51% good works, I will go to heaven. Don’t you see that this is a lie that you believe. God is perfect. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).
B. Salvation by works fails for a great number of people.
1. The thief on the cross. A Gospel that is unsuitable to even one person is not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If salvation is by works, then Jesus could never say to the thief on the cross, “Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” That man could do no works. His hands and feet were fastened to a cross.
2. All people. Actually, a salvation by works is impossible for all people. Man is not simply frail and weak. You must understand man’s nature. By birth and by choice man is a sinner. We have not simply stumbled into sin—we have aggressively pursued after it. Do you understand that all of man’s best efforts are not good works at all? They are all sin! The Bible says of the wicked in Psalm 109:7, “let his prayer become sin”. As Jeremiah Burroughs has said:
All your actions before God are sinful, even your best actions, while you are an unregenerate man. There is not only sin in them, but that sin has so defiled them that they are even turned into sin to you. Out of an unclean thing there cannot proceed that which is clean. Out of a corrupt tree there cannot be any good fruit. Now, there is nothing but the fruits of sin that come from an unregenerate heart.[1]
C. Salvation by works fails because it distracts man from his greatest need. Paul gives us man’s greatest need in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”
Illustration: Imagine you had a growing disease inside of you. The surgeon’s knife might need to be used cut it out! He tells you to take a bath. That helps you feel better for a little while, but what good does it do you? To try to anything else but go to the one who can remove your transgressions so far—“As far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
Man’s greatest need is the removal of his sins! He cannot do this himself. Until he realizes he needs salvation, he will never be saved! Jesus said in Mark 2:17, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
D. If salvation is by works, then Christ has died in vain. A man who is to be saved by works does not need God to work for him. He does not need Christ to be a substitute for him. Do you see how salvation by works is the archenemy of Jesus Christ Himself? Salvation can be obtained only by believing. It cost us nothing! But through all eternity the nail prints in Jesus’ hands will remind us of the enormous cost of our salvation.
E. A salvation by works give man something to boast about. Every false religion has at its heart the principle that salvation can be earned, merited, or purchased at a price. The sinner must do something to deserve God’s favor. The Gospel strikes at the root of all false religions, because it declares that salvation is by God’s grace—it is His free gift, available to broken sinners—those who will come to Jesus with their hands open.
Suppose God were to take people into heaven on the basis of their good works. It would then be possible for those people to boast, “I am here because I did this.” “I am here because I did not do that.” “I gave sacrificially to other, and that is why I am here”. Boasting is an exression of pride, and pride was the original sin, the sin that transformed Lcifer into Satan. Because of his pride, Satan was cast out of Heaven and the sad history of sin began. No boaster could enter heaven. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6).
So we see the FAILURE OF A SALVATION BY WORKS!
II. Second, we see the Fountainhead of true salvation. Divine effort to obtain salvation for you can never fail.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
A. Salvation is an act of Creation. The birth, the actual salvation comes from a sovereign act of grace. “We are His workmanship”, and in order for us to be saved we must be “created in Christ Jesus”. What has been done has been done by God.
We read in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” And what does verse 3 say? “And God said…” God spoke and he created. Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.”
In the same way, God forms us by the Word of God! As James 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the Word of truth...” This is explains exactly how faith comes. We are born through the effectual power of the Word of God. God Word does not return void, but accomplishes what God pleases—it will prosper—not only will it get the job done, but it will do so in a way that leaves no questions, so says Isaiah (55:11). It cannot be plainer. God births us into His family, into union with Jesus Christ by the Word of God. God grants man faith through His Word. Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
Salvation is a miracle. It is a new birth! John 3:3 Jesus tells us, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” As Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” That’s an act of creation. That’s a sovereign act of God!
Think of the creation of man. God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. In the same way, when we are saved, God breaths into us the breath of His Holy Spirit, and we become alive. He breathes into us and fills us with the Spirit, and for the rest of our lives we are possessed of His Spirit doing His very bidding.
As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Listen to the Lord! He says, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)
B. This Creation is possible because of another act of God, we call it Redemption!
The fact is that Christ came to save sinners, and if you have sinned even one time, you must have a Saviour. Listen, if God is going to let you into heaven because your good outweighs your bad, I do not know why Satan was cast out of heaven. He only sinned once to deserve eternal damnation.
But listen to the Gospel, “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Jesus told the self-righteous Pharisees in Matthew 9:13, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” If you hold to a salvation by works, then Christ says you don’t need him. Save yourself!
So what do we say to all of this? One day John the Baptist was standing out in the middle of the Jordan River baptizing his converts, and suddenly he looked up, and there was a man approaching. And when the man approached, God spoke to his heart. And John suddenly looked up and pointed in that direction, and he said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” John was saying—salvation by works is impossible! It must be by grace! Works have failed utterly! Christ has come to those who have been found guilty of breaking the Law, God’s covenant of works, ten thousand times. No hope have we in the law! Your only hope is an act of God! It is redemption, it is a new creation! Jesus is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
III. Finally, we see the Fruit of true salvation.
We “are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works”.
There is a holiness that is the mark of God’s life in the soul.
James 2:26 tells us, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
A. Good works are the Proof of salvation. Good works are not the price of salvation, but the proof of it. Paul just made that clear. Christ’s blood is the price of salvation, but good works, though they are not the price, they are the proof of salvation.
Each of us must have the mark of God’s holy hand moving inside of us—that “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). If God has saved you, He has saved you for the purpose of sanctifying you, and making you into the image of Jesus Christ.
As Romans 8:29 so clearly says, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” If you are saved, then Christ loves you enough to make you holy. That is the proof of salvation!
I love what Jeremiah Burroughs, the old Puritan born in 1599, has said about this:
[S]uppose a man were driving on the road, and sees a child there lying in the deep mud and filth, ready to be choked with the dirt and mire, and to perish there. While he is riding by, he looks on the child, and sees it ready to die. And when he has looked upon it, what would you say if he went away and left it there? Would not every one of us conclude, “Certainly this is not the father of the child that rides away.” Now if the father or mother should come by, and see the child, the mother would cry out, “O my child!” and go and rescue the child to carry it away. She would get water to wash it, and cleanse the child. In this, the mother and father show their love to the child. In this same way is the manner of the love of Christ. Christ sees all your filthiness and pollution… Christ has set His love on you from eternity, He sees you wallowing in the filth of sin. The very bowels of Christ do yearn for your soul. O! Christ takes them, and with His own blood cleanses them, and will never stop washing and cleansing their soul until He has cleansed it from all its spots, and presented it faultless before the Father.[2]
B. Good works show the Power of salvation. Good works do not begin with you. Good works show the power of God in you. They proceed from God and are His power displayed in you. We “are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works”. You were created in Christ Jesus (born again as a new creation) to be used by God.
1. Any good work in your comes from God alone. God does His works through man. The life of the believer consists of being a vessel for the Lord, of doing His will on earth as it is in heaven. But good works are not something man can do in his own power at all. That is why true obedience and good works can only be accomplished by being filled with the Spirit. Good reason will not help you obey God. It is much more than good reason. Good works come from God. Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” You must be under the complete control of the Spirit of God to do a good work.
2. When God works there must be change. When He enters the heart of the sinner, that sinner begins a journey unto progressive holiness.
Look at 2 Corinthians 6:14, “what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
Look also at John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
John said to those who looked good on the outside in Matthew 3:8, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance”.
Jesus says something very similar and even clearer in Matthew 7:16-20, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
These verses, and our text in Ephesians do great damage to the teaching of what I call the “carnal Christian doctrine”. This is the doctrine that a person can make a profession of faith, but never have evidence of spiritual regeneration. A few verses in I Corinthians 3 are twisted a bit, a out comes what seems to be a contradiction in words: “carnal Christian”.
“The thought of surrender is also implied in the exhortation to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31), and the declaration that we must confess "Jesus as Lord" (Romans 10:9), if we would be saved. To believe in Him as Lord is to recognize Him as Lord; and we cannot recognize Him as Lord until we ourselves abdicate. This note in faith is today often overlooked or even referred to a later time of consecration; but the Scriptures connect it with the initial experience of salvation.”[3]
Charles Ryrie, who holds to the carnal Christian doctrine poses a good question. He asks, “if only committed people are saved people, then where is there room for the Carnal Christians?”[4] I will give the answer from the Bible: there is none!
It is easy to discern the difference between a carnal and a spiritual Christian. But it is very difficult to discern the difference between a so-called “carnal” Christian and a lost person. This amazing fact alone ought to be enough to warn any thinking person that something is wrong. There is no such thing as a carnal Christian. That is like saying that a person can be a Christian without the Spirit of God. If the Spirit dwells in you, then you will bear fruit!
Good works must proceed out of the Christian life, because a Christian is joined to Christ. If someone claims to be united with Christ, then he must do the works of Christ in His place on this earth. We are in union with Christ.
C. Good works show God’s plan of salvation. We “are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (verse 10). All of this was planned before the foundation of the world. He chose everything in your life that we might be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29).
Way before you were born, Christ planned salvation for you. He chose you. He even chose your good works. He called you to holiness and service. That is what it is all about.
Conclusion: Are you depressed—failing at the Christian life? Perhaps it is because you are trying to work your way to Him. You are trying to earn His favor. Do you know you cannot earn His favor? Salvation brings relief from guilt because we understand there is nothing we can do to please God. We simply must rest in Jesus. Are you resting in Christ?
The other side to this is that if you are saved, you will be filled with the Spirit. God will work in “you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Are you bearing fruit your Christian life? Are you a channel of God in this life?
Are you serving God in your life? Are you bearing real spiritual fruit of holiness and service in your life, or are you just going with the flow?
Closing Hymn: 550 Channels Only
[1] Jeremiah Burroughs, Spots of the Godly and of the Wieked, (Puritan Publications: Elgin, IL, 2006), 123.
[2] Jeremiah Burroughs, Spots of the Godly and of the Wieked, (Puritan Publications: Elgin, IL, 2006), 115-116. (I’ve updated a few of the words for easier reading in the 21st century).
[3] Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology, by Henry Thiessen, p. 359
[4] Balancing the Christian Life, by Charles Ryrie, Moody Press, p. 170.