Paul begins with the word “For,” which connects this verse directly to verses 8 and 9. He has just made it very clear that salvation is by grace through faith, not of ourselves, and not of works, lest any man should boast. Then verse 10 explains where good works belong. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved unto good works. Works are not the root of salvation; they are the fruit of salvation.
“We are his workmanship.”
That means the believer is God’s work, God’s creation, God’s project, and God’s masterpiece. Salvation is not man improving himself. It is God making a new creature in Christ. The word carries the idea of something made by a craftsman. The Christian life begins with God’s hand upon us. He finds us dead in trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2:1 says, and by His grace He gives life, changes the heart, and begins shaping us for His purpose.
There is great comfort in that phrase: “his workmanship.” We are not our own workmanship. We are not self-made Christians. We do not save ourselves, keep ourselves, or finish ourselves. God is the One working in us. That does not mean we are passive or careless, but it does mean our confidence is not in our own strength. As Philippians 1:6 says, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
“Created in Christ Jesus.”
This points to the new birth. Paul is not merely talking about a person becoming more religious, moral, or disciplined. He is speaking of a new creation. When a sinner trusts Christ, he is placed in Christ Jesus. His standing changes. His identity changes. His direction changes. The old life was marked by sin, death, disobedience, and bondage. The new life is marked by grace, life, faith, and obedience.
This is why Christianity is more than turning over a new leaf. It is receiving new life. A lost man may reform certain habits, but only God can create a new heart. In Christ, the believer is made alive and fitted for a life that pleases God.
“Unto good works.”
This phrase gives the purpose of our new life in Christ. Good works do not purchase salvation, but they do prove that grace has changed us. The same grace that saves also teaches, trains, and transforms. A person who has truly been saved by grace will not have a perfect life, but there will be a new desire to please the Lord.
Good works include more than public ministry or church service. They include obedience, holiness, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, faithfulness, humility, prayer, witness, love for others, and daily surrender to God. A mother serving her family, a worker being honest, a church member encouraging another believer, a Christian refusing bitterness, a child obeying parents, a saint sharing the gospel-these are all part of the good works that flow from a changed life.
“Which God hath before ordained.”
This reminds us that God saved us with purpose. He did not save us merely to keep us out of hell, though that is a wonderful mercy. He saved us to bring glory to Himself through our lives. Before we ever saw the path, God already knew it. Before we ever served Him, God had already prepared a life of obedience and usefulness for us.
This does not mean we are robots. It means God has a design for His children. He has prepared the path, and now He calls us to walk in it. The Christian life is not aimless. We are not wandering without meaning. God has works for us to do, people for us to influence, burdens for us to carry, prayers for us to pray, and steps of obedience for us to take.
“That we should walk in them.”
The word walk speaks of daily conduct. This is not a one-time emotional decision. It is a way of life. God’s purpose is that the believer would continually walk in the good works He has prepared. The Christian life is lived one step at a time: one obedient choice, one surrendered moment, one faithful day after another.
This also keeps us balanced. Ephesians 2:8-9 protects us from pride because salvation is not of works. Ephesians 2:10 protects us from carelessness because salvation produces works. Grace does not make us lazy. Grace makes us alive. Grace does not excuse sin. Grace changes the sinner.
Source Coverage: Ephesians 2:1-10
Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal
disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God's eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all his
mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy. And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness, being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin,
by pardoning and justifying grace. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above this world, by Christ's grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the
free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil. All who do so, are without excuse.
Paul begins with the word “For,” which connects this verse directly to verses 8 and 9. He has just made it very clear that salvation is by grace through faith, not of ourselves, and not of works, lest any man should boast. Then verse 10 explains where good works belong. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved unto good works. Works are not the root of salvation; they are the fruit of salvation.
“We are his workmanship.”
That means the believer is God’s work, God’s creation, God’s project, and God’s masterpiece. Salvation is not man improving himself. It is God making a new creature in Christ. The word carries the idea of something made by a craftsman. The Christian life begins with God’s hand upon us. He finds us dead in trespasses and sins, as Ephesians 2:1 says, and by His grace He gives life, changes the heart, and begins shaping us for His purpose.
There is great comfort in that phrase: “his workmanship.” We are not our own workmanship. We are not self-made Christians. We do not save ourselves, keep ourselves, or finish ourselves. God is the One working in us. That does not mean we are passive or careless, but it does mean our confidence is not in our own strength. As Philippians 1:6 says, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
“Created in Christ Jesus.”
This points to the new birth. Paul is not merely talking about a person becoming more religious, moral, or disciplined. He is speaking of a new creation. When a sinner trusts Christ, he is placed in Christ Jesus. His standing changes. His identity changes. His direction changes. The old life was marked by sin, death, disobedience, and bondage. The new life is marked by grace, life, faith, and obedience.
This is why Christianity is more than turning over a new leaf. It is receiving new life. A lost man may reform certain habits, but only God can create a new heart. In Christ, the believer is made alive and fitted for a life that pleases God.
“Unto good works.”
This phrase gives the purpose of our new life in Christ. Good works do not purchase salvation, but they do prove that grace has changed us. The same grace that saves also teaches, trains, and transforms. A person who has truly been saved by grace will not have a perfect life, but there will be a new desire to please the Lord.
Good works include more than public ministry or church service. They include obedience, holiness, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, faithfulness, humility, prayer, witness, love for others, and daily surrender to God. A mother serving her family, a worker being honest, a church member encouraging another believer, a Christian refusing bitterness, a child obeying parents, a saint sharing the gospel-these are all part of the good works that flow from a changed life.
“Which God hath before ordained.”
This reminds us that God saved us with purpose. He did not save us merely to keep us out of hell, though that is a wonderful mercy. He saved us to bring glory to Himself through our lives. Before we ever saw the path, God already knew it. Before we ever served Him, God had already prepared a life of obedience and usefulness for us.
This does not mean we are robots. It means God has a design for His children. He has prepared the path, and now He calls us to walk in it. The Christian life is not aimless. We are not wandering without meaning. God has works for us to do, people for us to influence, burdens for us to carry, prayers for us to pray, and steps of obedience for us to take.
“That we should walk in them.”
The word walk speaks of daily conduct. This is not a one-time emotional decision. It is a way of life. God’s purpose is that the believer would continually walk in the good works He has prepared. The Christian life is lived one step at a time: one obedient choice, one surrendered moment, one faithful day after another.
This also keeps us balanced. Ephesians 2:8-9 protects us from pride because salvation is not of works. Ephesians 2:10 protects us from carelessness because salvation produces works. Grace does not make us lazy. Grace makes us alive. Grace does not excuse sin. Grace changes the sinner.
Sin is the death of the soul. A man dead in trespasses and sins has no desire for spiritual pleasures. When we look upon a corpse, it gives an awful feeling. A never-dying spirit is now fled, and has left nothing but the ruins of a man. But if we viewed things aright, we should be far more affected by the thought of a dead soul, a lost, fallen spirit. A state of sin is a state of conformity to this world. Wicked men are slaves to Satan. Satan is the author of that proud, carnal
disposition which there is in ungodly men; he rules in the hearts of men. From Scripture it is clear, that whether men have been most prone to sensual or to spiritual wickedness, all men, being naturally children of disobedience, are also by nature children of wrath. What reason have sinners, then, to seek earnestly for that grace which will make them, of children of wrath, children of God and heirs of glory! God's eternal love or good-will toward his creatures, is the fountain whence all his
mercies flow to us; and that love of God is great love, and that mercy is rich mercy. And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace in the soul is a new life in the soul. A regenerated sinner becomes a living soul; he lives a life of holiness, being born of God: he lives, being delivered from the guilt of sin,
by pardoning and justifying grace. Sinners roll themselves in the dust; sanctified souls sit in heavenly places, are raised above this world, by Christ's grace. The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us, therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the
free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil. All who do so, are without excuse.