Ep. 2:10
We Are His Workmanship, Part 1
Pastor Martin expounds Ephesians 2:8-10, focusing on verse 10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them." He argues that salvation is entirely by God's grace, through faith, and is a new creation wrought by divine omnipotence and a redemptive relationship with Christ, leading inevitably to good works. Martin applies this by pressing listeners to examine their lives for evidence of this divine workmanship, challenging any reliance on works-righteousness, synergism, or antinomianism, and urging unbelievers to flee to Christ.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 9 sections · 50 min
- Introduction: The Apostle's Emphasis on Grace 0:03
- Verse 10: The Coup de Grace to Works-Righteousness 4:40
- Fundamental Assertion: We Are His Workmanship 8:43
- Question 1: How Are We Made His Workmanship? (Creative Omnipotence) 15:02
- Question 1: How Are We Made His Workmanship? (Redemptive Relationship) 22:32
- Question 2: What is the Purpose of This Workmanship? (Unto Good Works) 29:03
- Question 3: What is the Nature and Origin of These Good Works? 35:12
- Summary of Truths and Demolished Heresies 37:44
- Final Application: Self-Examination for Evidence of Divine Workmanship 40:58
Key Quotes
“If all the preceding verses have shot them dead, verse 10 is the grave digger that buries them forever.”
“His workmanship we are.”
“You are the handiwork of God. Not the handiwork of the preacher. Not the handiwork of the gospel in itself. Not the handiwork of your own exercises of faith and repentance.”
“It takes the same going forth. Of creative omnipotence. To make a Christian.”
“This is why the old writers were careful to say there is enough of sin in our best good works to damn us.”
“We are created in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of good works, not because of good works, but only and always unto good works.”
“It demolishes all synergism, the idea that we cooperate with God in our own regeneration.”
“What is there about you, as a whole person, inward and outward, that defies any other explanation than the explanation given in this text of what is a Christian, or what a Christian is?”
Applications
All listeners
- Do not accuse the preacher of promoting Reformed theology when he is simply being honest with the words of the Bible.
- Get your works in the right place: they are the goal of the new creation, not its basis.
- Do not fall into antinomianism, thinking that grace through faith allows you to live as you please; if you are God's creation, you will bear good works.
- Examine your whole person, inward and outward, for evidence that defies any explanation other than God's creative omnipotence and the establishment of a redemptive relationship with His Son.
- Be conscious of being brought into an orbit of relationship to Jesus Christ that could not have been inherited or acquired by human means.
- If you doubt that God's creative omnipotence has touched you, do not sit in doubt and dejection, but 'Up and go to Jesus!'
- Flee to Christ and no longer dishonor Him with unbelief.
- Throw yourself upon Christ's mercy in faith and repentance, asking God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself, for Jesus' sake.
- Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 218 paragraphs, roughly 50 minutes.
Introduction: The Apostle's Emphasis on Grace
We turn again this morning to Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, and as we are drawing near to the close of our series of studies in this first paragraph of the first of two great contrasts drawn by the Apostle in the chapter, I shall read in your hearing verses 8 through 10, Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 10. For by grace have you been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God aforeprepared that we should work. Walk in them.
Try to transport yourself into the home of one of our church members, who is found saying to his son or daughter, calling him by name, I'm giving you permission to spend the evening with your friends, but I want you home in this house at 10 p.m. sharp. Now do you hear me?
10 p.m. sharp. I do not mean 10.05.
Or 10.15. But at 10 p.m. at the latest.
Now what is that parent doing? Well, some of you young people who might be the object of that say, well, the parent's being difficult. But be that as it may, what is the parent attempting to do? Well, by repetition, by negative qualifying statements, the parent is emphasizing the vital point in his communications to his child.
Namely, the stipulations concerning the time of return home. He says 10 o'clock, two or three times. He states it positively, I want you home at 10. Then negatively, I do not mean 10.05 or 10.15.
By repetition, by qualifying negatives, the parent is driving home one central, one fundamental, one vital stipulation into the mind of his child. Now that is precisely. What the Apostle Paul is doing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in these latter verses of Ephesians 2, 1 to 10. He has described what God does in saving guilty, dead, bound sinners.
And he's given us a description in which the dominant note has been, it is a salvation by grace. That is, it comes. It comes to the ill-deserving and is based upon nothing in them, but solely upon that which God does for them. So by positive statements, repeated, qualified with negatives, this one note is sounded, salvation is by grace.
Salvation is all of grace. Salvation is nothing but grace. And because the Apostle recognized. That just as teenagers are sometimes rather thick in absorbing the stipulations of parental restraint, so even redeemed sinners are rather thick in understanding and absorbing this glorious fact that salvation is all of grace.
So he goes over the ground again and again, underscoring this great truth. We have already seen in our studies of verses 8 to 10. That grace is the. Principle cause of our deliverance.
For by grace have you been saved. Faith is the instrumental means. Faith that is in itself a gift of God. Faith that has nothing to do with our works.
Either ceremonial, legal or evangelical. And then we saw in our study last week that the calculated purpose of this salvation is that no man should boast or glory. Now we come this morning to a. Deliberation of verse 10, which in a very real sense is the capstone of the argument of the Apostle Paul.
Verse 10: The Coup de Grace to Works-Righteousness
Here he conclusively and irrefutably establishes that the deliverance of dead bound guilty sinners can only be by the grace of God and not by the works or performances of the sinner. Now, if everything in the preceding verses has dealt. The death blow to every form of works, righteousness and self-salvation, then verse 10 digs the grave and buries those thoughts. If all the preceding verses have shot them dead, verse 10 is the grave digger that buries them forever.
To change the analogy, if what the Apostle has taught us in the preceding verses has acted as an executioner to this culprit called works salvation. So. That that very thing lies in the throes of the twitches that precede death. This verse is the coup de grace, the final shot in the head that ends it all.
Again, to change the figure, if the preceding verses have performed the function of shock troops and the landing assault that have driven away salvation by works and raise the flag of victory for salvation by grace. Then verse 10 is the. Setting up operations to drive out every last vanquished enemy from the field so that grace alone has the day. Now that this is the connection of verse 10 to precede to what precedes is obvious from the fact that it begins with the word for.
Having stated all of this, the Apostle carries on the thought to its climax for we are his workmanship. It. Completes all of the ideas that have preceded salvation is by grace salvation is not of works salvation is calculated to slay human boasting for and then he's going to show us how works fit into the salvation and when he's done he has so thoroughly demolished any idea that they can be the ground of our acceptance. That no man can read these verses and hold that.
Terrible teaching unless he is being willfully blind to the clear instructions of the word of God. In accomplishing this purpose of setting forth the triumphs of grace. What precisely does the Apostle do? Well, I would suggest that in the text he makes one fundamental assertion.
And then he addresses himself to three practical questions that flow out of that assertion. The fundamental. Assertion is in the words for we are his workmanship. Then there are three questions that flow out of that assertion to which the Apostle addresses himself.
How are we made this workmanship? And the answer is created in Christ Jesus. Second question. Why or for what purpose?
And he tells us unto good works. And what is the nature of those works? They are works which God before prepared that we should walk in them. And the purpose of the assertion.
And the three questions to which he addresses himself. All of them like the lines passing through a magnifying glass that focus upon one point. They all have one point to which they all lead. And we must not lose sight of it in any of the details.
And it is to establish beyond any question of doubt. All that he has previously told us that salvation is all of grace. It is by faith alone. It is calculated to destroy every last vestige of human boasting.
Fundamental Assertion: We Are His Workmanship
All right. Having introduced the text in this way. Let us now seek to open up the words of the text. The fundamental assertion.
What is it? For we are his workmanship. Having declared that our salvation has grace as its principal cause. Faith.
The instrumental means. The destruction of human boasting as its goal. Having told us that sinners who are quickened and raised and seated are monuments of God's work. He now bears doubt upon this truth.
By making this assertion. We are his workmanship. Drawing all of the attention to the activity of God. In making us.
Precisely what grace has made us. Are we in the saved state according to verse 8? Have we been quickened and raised and seated according to verses 5 and 6? Have we been recipients of the gift of faith?
Well if so. It is because we are his workmanship. And in this assertion. The apostle is putting all of the emphasis.
Upon the activity of God. And he does it in two ways. First of all. He draws this emphasis.
By the position of his pronoun. And secondly. By the particular noun that he chooses to use. In the original.
You can give emphasis. By where you place certain words. And there are times when you give emphasis. By taking a word out of its natural order.
And inverting that order. And if you are looking at this text in the original. The first word that greets you. Is not even the for.
And it is not the we are. Nor is it his workmanship. The first word is the word his. The first word in the original is.
His workmanship we are. So if in speaking. You want to give the force of the original. You've got to crank up the volume.
And say. For by grace have you been saved through faith. That not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.
Parenthesis. Not of works. That no man should glory. His workmanship we are.
See what the apostle is doing. He is asserting. That all of our attention. Is to be focused.
Upon the divine activity. If you were writing it. You'd have to put the word his. In high case.
Full case letters. And everything else in lower case. Or you'd have to put it in italics. Or you'd have to underline it.
Or if you were reading it. You'd have to circle it in red. The emphasis in the language of the apostle. Is there to show us.
That he is concerned. To make abundantly clear. The centrality of God's activity. Then he does the same thing.
By the very noun which he uses. We are his workmanship. His handiwork. His poema.
And the only other place in the New Testament. Where this occurs. Is. Romans chapter 1 in verse 20.
And it's very instructive. For our purposes of study this morning. Let's turn please to Romans chapter 1. And verse 20.
Speaking of the revelation. That God has given to all his creatures. In creation. The apostle says.
For the invisible things of him. That is of God. Since the creation of the world. Are clearly seen.
Being perceived. Through the things. That are made. And there's the.
The things made. Reveal the maker. Therefore the things made. Are the product.
Of the activity. Of their maker. Now Paul uses the same word here. His.
Things made. Are we. And just as this creation. Reveals the activity.
Of its creator. The thing made. Reflects the power and wisdom and glory. Of the.
One who made it. So the apostle says. If you have been constituted a Christian. You have been raised.
Seated with Christ. You have been delivered from sin. And its consequences by the grace of God. Faith has been worked in your heart.
He said you must regard yourself. As that which is a monument. Of God's activity. And not your own.
So then the fundamental assertion of the text. Is. Unambiguous. And it is clear.
Whatever place. Paul may have had in the conversion of the Ephesians. And he had no little place. For he labored in that place longer.
Than in any other. Of the cities of his ministerial labors. Whatever place the gospel may have had. And it had a central place.
According to chapter one. They heard the word of the truth of the gospel. Whatever function there may be. In their conscious awareness of conviction.
And the revelation of Christ. Whatever factors. And all of them together. That contributed to their coming to the saved state.
Paul says. Look beyond my activity. Look beyond the preaching of the gospel. Look beyond your own conscious exercises of faith and repentance.
Oh you Ephesian Christians. Hear me. When I say that you are saved by grace through faith. And that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God. And not of works. What I am saying is. You are the handiwork of God.
Not the handiwork of the preacher. Not the handiwork of the gospel in itself. Not the handiwork of your own exercises of faith and repentance. We are his handiwork.
We are monuments of the divine activity. So then. This is the fundamental assertion. That forms the capstone.
Question 1: How Are We Made His Workmanship? (Creative Omnipotence)
In this portion that we have called. A compendium of salvation by grace. Now in the second place. Let's look at the three questions.
To which the apostle addresses himself. That grow out of that assertion. The first one is this. How are we made his workmanship?
And the apostle answers in these words. Created in Christ Jesus. And in those words. He is doing two things.
Or giving two parts. To his answer. Paul. How are we made God's handiwork?
He says. Well you are made God's handiwork. First of all. By the exertion of creative omnipotence.
And secondly. By the establishment of a redemptive relationship. You are made his handiwork. By the exertion of creative omnipotence.
In the little phrase. Created in Christ Jesus. The apostle uses. The standard word.
To describe God's act. Of creation. In bringing all that is. Out of nothing.
For instance. It's the word used in 1st Timothy 4.3. Speaking of God's creatures.
The things he's made. They are all created. To be received with thanksgiving. In Revelation 4.11.
In one of those wonderful hymns. Of praise to God. The doctrine of creation is central. In this particular verse.
Revelation 4.11. Worthy art thou our Lord and our God. To receive the glory and the honor and the power.
For thou didst create. All things. And because of thy will they were. And were created.
So that. The apostle in using this word. And he uses it. In a passive form.
Something has happened to you Ephesians. You have been acted upon. With a creative. Activity.
Now why did he use that word. Well for the simple reason. That the biblical concept of creation. Is everywhere celebrated.
In the word of God. Whether in the Psalms or in the prophets. Or in a book like the book of the Revelation. From which I just read.
The work of God in creation. Is always celebrated. As a display of omnipotence. And of the glorious.
And almighty power of God. Creation is not reconstruction. Or renovation. But it is bringing something.
Into being which did not exist. And therefore owes its existence. Holy to God. And what has been brought into being.
Is a monument of. This creative omnipotence. And I've chosen my words carefully.
So Paul says you Ephesians. You. Are God's handiwork. You must.
Guard yourselves as the object of his work. How? By nothing less. Than the exertion of an omnipotence.
That finds its only parallel. In the original creation. When out of nothing. God brought all that is.
Into being. In the beginning God created. The heavens and the earth. And in creation God alone acts.
God alone acts in power. God alone acts in power. To produce something new. No wonder then.
This concept of the Christian. Being the evident token. Of God's creative omnipotence. Becomes a favorite concept.
In the thinking and writing. Of the apostle Paul. Very quickly let's look at some of the key text. In which this concept.
Stands out in bold relief. Turn back to 2nd Corinthians. Many of you are already. Thinking of the text.
2nd Corinthians chapter 5.
Wherefore if any man. Is in Christ.
A new creation.
It's the only way you can describe it. If any man. Be in Christ. The to be verb is not in the original.
You see your bible has it in italics. The apostle pauses. How shall I describe it? What can I do to describe.
What a Christian is. Here's a man who was. In Adam. He was dead.
He was bound. He was condemned. He's now in Christ. How shall I describe it?
He says. There's no other way. New creation. There's been an exertion.
Of what? Of omnipotence. Nothing less. Than creative omnipotence.
Over then to the book of Galatians. Very next book. Chapter 6. Verse 15.
For neither is circumcision anything. Nor uncircumcision. You people all concerned. He said.
With external forms. And rights. And ceremonies. No, no, no, no, no.
He says. These are not to be the focus of concern. One thing matters. Whether or not.
You have been the recipient. Of this what? Creative omnipotence. For neither is circumcision anything.
Nor uncircumcision. But a new creation. And then over to Ephesians again. Chapter 4.
And verse 24.
That ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And put on the new man. That after God hath been created. In righteousness and holiness of truth.
Colossians chapter 3 and verse 10. The parallel passage. And ye hath put on the new man. That is being renewed.
After the knowledge of the image of him. That created him.
This concept then. Of creation. With reference to the work of grace. Zeros in.
Upon the fundamental principle. That it takes. An act of God.
That is nothing less.
Than that which is. Seen in the original creation. To make a man a Christian.
That lies right on the surface. Of the apostles use of this word. What did it take to bring the worlds into being? It takes the same going forth.
Of creative omnipotence. To make a Christian. And also when that change is produced. It is so great.
As to make it proper to say. That the person. Who has received. That work.
Is a new man. With new views. New motives. New principles.
New goals. New plans. A change so deep. So pervasive.
So abiding. You must call him. A new creation. Now someone sits back and says.
Oh there you go. Riding one of your pet themes. Trying to promote reformed theology. My friend.
I am not promoting anything. I am trying to be honest with the words of the Bible. That is all. I am just trying to be honest with the words of the Bible.
And what? What does the word creation convey? It conveys nothing less. Than what I have asserted it conveys.
It conveys this powerful notion. Of omnipotence. Exerted on behalf. Of the true Christian.
Question 1: How Are We Made His Workmanship? (Redemptive Relationship)
But. In answer to the question. How are we made his handiwork. Paul does not merely say.
Or only say. By an exertion of creative omnipotence. But he is careful. To say.
By the establishment of a redemptive relationship. Look at the text. We are created in. Christ.
Jesus. For you see this work of creative power. Was not being exercised with lifeless matter. Or with animals.
No no. It was being done with creatures. Made in the image of God. Who fell in Adam.
Who were as we saw in verses 1 to 3. Committed to a course of open and inward. Covert and subtle violation of God's laws and precepts. Who found themselves under the canopy of divine wrath.
Now you see if God is going to do something. In the new creation. That involves bringing such a creature into communion with himself. He must do so on grounds that are just.
If he is to do something with these creatures. That will drive away their spiritual death. And will break the bombs of sin. That bind them and turn away his wrath.
God is a righteous God. As well as a powerful God. And so he must perform this work of the new creation. In a way that is consistent.
With all of his moral attributes. He is a purer eyes than to look upon iniquity. He has said the soul that sinneth it shall die. He cannot turn his eye away from his own pronouncements.
And therefore if any sinner. Is ever to be quickened, raised and seated with Christ. If any sinner is to be delivered from sin. And its consequences.
And brought into fellowship with God. It will be because God has graciously provided. An orbit of redemptive influence. Within which God can both be powerful.
In the rescue of the sinner. And be just in the rescue of the sinner. And therefore. He has effected the new creation.
By establishing this redemptive relationship. We are created anew. In that is in union. With Christ Jesus.
In union with that person. Who assumed all of the debts and liabilities of his people. And on their behalf lived and died and rose again. So that Christ becomes the central figure.
In the work of the new creation. One of the commentators expressed it so beautifully. That I thought the best thing to do would be to read his words. It's just a brief paragraph.
This new creation is in Christ Jesus. The place which Christ Jesus fills in the new creation. Is in one way like unto that which he fills in the original creation. The scriptures say.
All things were made. By him. That is Christ. And without him was not anything made.
That was made. John 1.2. 1.3.
We read that in him was life. John 1.4. As incomplete as would any idea of the original creation.
Which did not include this all efficient instrumentality of the word. The word who is Christ. Would be any conception of the new creation. Which did not recognize Christ.
Jesus as the one by whom are all things. And we by him. 1 Corinthians 8.6.
Now here's the key statement. Every gift and every act of mercy coming to us in our salvation. Comes through him. So that when as here.
The whole is summed and expressed in the fact of a new creation. With a new nature and a new destiny. We trace all of it. To the mediation of Christ on our behalf.
So that in its entirety. The new creation is found in Christ Jesus.
Paul. How are we made. The workmanship of God. How are we constituted his handiwork.
Paul's answer is. By the exertion of creative omnipotence. By the establishment. Of a redemption.
By the establishment. Of a redemption. Of a redemptive relationship. That's why whenever God is doing this work.
Of making men new creatures. He does so in the context of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For he never puts forth the arm of creative omnipotence in the realm of grace. Without bringing the sinner into the relationship of the privileges of redemption.
So if he's going to get them in that orbit. Then the gospel must begin. Because the gospel forms that orbit. Within which the Lord graciously brings the sinner.
That's why he never makes new creatures. Without causing people to feel their need of Christ. Without setting before them the glory of Christ. And the sufficiency of the person and work of Christ.
And then enabling the sinner joyfully to embrace the offered Savior. And to behold glory in the face of Christ. So Paul describes his creation in these same terms. There are terms very parallel.
2 Corinthians 4.6 God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. In the face of Jesus Christ.
Here he brings together creative omnipotence. God who commanded has commanded. He's paramount. Paralleling the work of grace and the work of creation.
But he's careful to underscore. That in so doing he brings us into the orbit of Christ the Redeemer. And the knowledge of him.
Question 2: What is the Purpose of This Workmanship? (Unto Good Works)
Now the second question to which he addresses himself. And I'm deliberately passing by so much application. Next week we're going to apply the text. This morning I just under God want to open it up.
Well what purpose did God have in mind when he made us his workmanship or his handiwork? You've told us Paul that if we're believers it is because we're his handiwork. And you've answered the question how were we made his handiwork? By creative omnipotence.
By the establishment of redemptive relationship. But now what's the purpose of all of this? Well he tells us in the next phrase. For or unto good works.
Now there's a very unique or not completely unique but a strange and an extraordinary grammatical construction. If we were translating literally we'd say he created us in Christ Jesus upon good works. But sometimes the preposition is used with the sense of object. For or unto.
And you have a couple of parallels in the New Testament. Galatians 5.13. First Thessalonians 4.7.
That's just a little sop thrown out for those of you who check my exegesis in the Greek. And he says the object is good works. I have tongue in cheek. I assure you.
What's the purpose of all of this? Well look at the text. We were created in Christ Jesus unto or for good works. That is for the performance in heart and life of works or deeds that are characterized by at least two or three things.
Conformity to the revealed will of God. No work is a good work. It violates the precepts of scripture. Deeds and attitudes.
Deeds and attitudes. That are framed and formed from a proper motive. Loving obedience to God. And words and attitudes and thoughts and deeds that have a proper end in view.
The glory of God. Those are good works and the Bible calls them good. Now they're not good in the absolute sense that they partake of the perfection of the Godhead. This is why the old writers were careful to say there is enough of sin in our best good works to damn us.
There is. In your holiest moments there is still enough sin. If God ever gave you an unveiled view of it, it would shock you and shock me. But nonetheless in the life of a Christian who out of love to God and in obedience to the word of God, unto the glory of God, does what is revealed in the word, those are called good works.
Now notice what Paul says. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Therefore, if good works are that unto which I've been created, they can never be the basis of that work of creating. As in chapter 1 in verse 4.
If we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, we certainly were not chosen because we were already holy. Now you see what Paul is doing in a masterful way. He's saying now look you people, you're slow to get the message. I've stated it positively, we're saved by grace.
I've stated it negatively, not of works. But I know how stubborn is this principle of works righteousness. I will have to lay it forever in the dust of death. We are created in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of good works, not because of good works, but only and always unto good works.
Get your works in the right place, he says. And they are the goal of that to which we've been. We are recreated in Christ Jesus. Let me illustrate.
Suppose a king should say to an orphaned pauper, I will adopt you, and then I shall endow you with all of my wealth and the glory of my name in order that you may have legal parentage and a subsistence now and for all of your days.
Here the man is a pauper with knowledge, no name, no one to claim him. The king says, I will adopt you, and then I will endow you to the end that you may be this.
Now the child does not have to somewhere come up with the king's name and the king's wealth first. No, no. The king takes him where he is with no name and no relationship and no wealth, and by his own activity he does certain things which are unto the obtaining of a name and of wealth. Now that's what the apostle is saying.
God created us. He worked upon us and in us when we were dead, verse 1. When we were bound, verse 2. When we were condemned, verse 3.
And he did it without any reference to our performances. We were in our poverty. We were in our state of destitution. And he created us anew in Christ Jesus, unto these good works.
And if the works are that unto which we've been created, they cannot be the basis of the work of the new creation.
Works are the noble and the inevitable products of the new creation. They are never its ground or its cause.
And because we're so slow to grasp that, it needs repetition again and again and again. Good works are the noble and the inevitable, and the inevitable products of the new creation. But they are not its grounds or its cause. So you see what Paul is doing?
Question 3: What is the Nature and Origin of These Good Works?
He's putting the coup de grace in the twitching body of the already executed works righteousness. He's about to polish it off. And unless it has one more little twitch left, he says, I'm really going to finish him off good. So he comes to the third question, and it's this.
What is the nature and origin of these good works? All right, Paul, I'll accept your premise that, uh, the works come after, but could it not be that somehow there's some retroactive benefit in the works? You see how stubborn is the human heart at this point? Paul says, well, let me tell you what the nature and origin of those works is.
Look at the text. They are good works which God aforeprepared that we should walk in them. Now, again, I'm aware of the problems of the grammar in the text and the problems connected with the precise meaning of the word aforeprepared, but I do not believe it would be unto edification to give you a lesson in problems connected with Greek grammar and the meaning of words. But the general sense is clear, and it's this.
The very works which you Ephesians perform as the inevitable and noble result of being made a new creature, those very works were before prepared of God that you should walk in them. You're simply filling out. What God has already planned and purposed. Now, you want to go around strut about it?
In the sense that when God made an apple tree, He aforeprepared the fruit that that tree would bear. By giving it such a nature, He's appointed the kind of fruit it will bear, the time of its fruit bearing, and the measure of its fruit bearing. And when you see the apples upon that tree, you can say, this is fruit which God aforeprepared that this tree should bear. Now, that's exactly what the Apostle says here.
You want to find some place for retroactive benefit in your works? No, because if you say, well, the works cast back their shadow upon the whole thing. He says, they sure do. And the shadow goes right back to the eternal purposes and plans of God who aforeprepared that you should walk in them.
So, either direction you look, your works cannot be the ground of your confidence. They cannot be the ground of your boasting. God's salvation is calculated to slay, slay every last vestige of human pride and human glory. So, He makes a fundamental assertion.
Summary of Truths and Demolished Heresies
We are His workmanship. Then He gives the answer to three practical questions. How are we made His workmanship? By the exertion of creative omnipotence.
By the establishment of a redemptive relationship. What's the purpose of the new creation? That we might perform good works. And what's the origin of those good works?
The origin of those works? The very loving, kind, wise purpose of God who aforeprepared that we should inhabit them, walk around in them, find them as our native habitat. Now, I mentioned that God willing next week, I hope to flesh out the text in much greater detail in application, but I do want to, in closing, at least point the direction. Some of you may not be here.
Some of us may stand in the presence of God before the week is out. Let me apply the truth or tell you where I hope to apply it next week in detail and then make just a final application here this morning. This text, understood according to the plain sense of the meaning of the words and the grammar, is one of the most powerful texts in establishing certain fundamental truths and in demolishing certain fundamental heresies. And we must seek to look at the texts of Scripture, both in their establishing and in their demolishing power.
It's that two-edged sword. It's the oil and the wine of the truth of God, the one that soothes and the other that stings. And what I hope to demonstrate next week, God willing, is that this text is powerful in establishing the truth that salvation is all of God in its inception, all of God in its fruition, that works are absolutely excluded as its grounds, and that works are necessarily included as its fruits. And those are four of the most fundamental biblical truths to be found from Genesis to Revelation.
And every single one of them, if they were not asserted anywhere else, could stand on the basis of this text. It's all there. But then it's powerful in demolishing certain fundamental heresies. It demolishes all synergism, the idea that we cooperate with God in our own regeneration.
We are His workmanship and His alone. It's powerful in demolishing all legalism, ideas that my performances contribute, and it's powerful in attacking and demolishing all antinomianism. Oh, say, but grace through faith, live like a please. No, sir.
If you're God's creation, you've been created unto good works, and you will bear them as surely as God has recreated you. And therefore it undercuts all antinomianism. And God willing, I want to flesh out those applications because I believe they are warranted by the text and by the grave issues that they address themselves to. But now this morning, I want to bring one final word of application to those of us gathered in this place, and it is this.
Final Application: Self-Examination for Evidence of Divine Workmanship
It comes in the form of a question. Are you prepared to listen? Here's my question. What is there about you, everything that makes you you?
I'm not talking about the shape of your face, the color of your eyes, the length of your hair, whether it's curly or straight, or anything else. But what makes you you? In your attitudes, in your thoughts, in your desires, your ambitions, the inwardness of what makes you you, and then what makes you you in the outwardness, your deeds, your speech, your relationships, where you go, where you don't go. My question is this.
What is there about you, as a whole person, inward and outward, that defies any other explanation than the explanation given in this text of what is a Christian, or what a Christian is? What is there about you that defies all explanation but that God has put forth the arm of creative omnipotence in you, and God has established a redemptive relationship between you and His Son? Now, friends, that question I want to drive into your conscience by the help of the Spirit of God, because anything less than that has no grounds to call itself a Christian. Paul generalizes in this statement and says, of all who are saved by grace through faith, a faith that is the gift of God, who are saved not by works, who are saved to the calculated purpose that none should glory, all of them are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus. And I press the question upon your conscience this morning. What is there about you, here in the auditorium, down below in the overflow room, there in the balcony, what is there about you
that defies all explanation but this, Almighty God in grace has put forth the arm of creative omnipotence and conscience in spite of all my sin, in spite of all my failure, in spite of all my dullness and deadness and declension, and at times my barrenness, I'm conscious there is a substructure of desire that is not native to my human heart. There is a substructure of longing after God that is not native to my human heart. There is a substructure of appreciation of the glory of God in the face of Christ that is not native to my human heart. In spite of all the stains and all the blotches and all the imperfections, this I know, creative omnipotence has touched this poor sinner. Can you say that this morning? Can you say that?
If not, don't you rest until by the grace of God you can. What is there about you that defies all explanation but that God has established a redemptive relationship between you and your son Jesus Christ? For circumcision or uncircumcision avail nothing but the making of a new creation. And again I qualify for those who are sensitive in conscience in spite of all the weakness, in spite of the failures, in spite of all those things.
You're conscious as you sit here this morning. I've been brought into the orbit of a relationship to Jesus Christ that I know could not have been passed on by my mom and dad. It couldn't have rubbed off by association. It couldn't have been implanted by some ecclesiastical manipulation, by ceremony or sacrament.
Almighty God has placed me into union with His Son. Though there are a hundred sins I do not see subdued. I see sins subdued that only King Jesus could have subdued in me. And though there are a thousand duties I do not perform in the way I ought to, I see myself performing duties which I never would perform unless the redemptive power of Christ was operative within me.
What is there about you? What is there about you that defies any other explanation than that which is given in the first 10 of all Christians? We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. You say, Pastor, you're merciless when you go after my conscience with a question.
No, no, my friend, I'm being merciful to you. Because if you drift through life and drift through a lifetime of sitting in Trinity Church or any other church, you stand before God, something other than a monument of creative omnipotence, and one in whom there's been the establishment of this redemptive relationship, it were better for you that you'd never been born. And it's in love and mercy to your soul that I press the question upon your conscience this morning. I have no desire to bully you from the pulpit, but I do have a desire by the grace of God to see you face this honestly.
To say, Pastor Martin, when you press that question, I have to say, I don't know if there's anything about me that can't be explained in natural terms. In spite of all the qualifying things that I've said, to put it into balance and to give due allowance for the weak Christian, for the stumbling Christian, and all the rest, you have to say, I seriously doubt that. My friend, don't just sit on your duff, moaning about it. Up and go to Jesus!
There's nothing spiritual about your living. In that vicious syndrome of doubt and dejection and self-condemnation.
Flee to Christ!
No longer dishonor Him with your cursed unbelief.
He stands ready to receive the vilest, to embrace the weakest, to transform the neediest. Then go to Him. That's the command of God. Go to Him as He comes to you in the Gospel.
You come to Him. In this place of faith and repentance, you throw yourself upon His mercy and say, Oh God, for the sake of your dear Son, do for me what I cannot do for myself. Lord, I need the putting forth of the arm of creative omnipotence. Put it forth, Lord.
But put it forth for Jesus' sake. And because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for gracious omnipotence, and gracious omnipotence, works in the orbit of redemptive offers in Jesus Christ. Oh, may God grant that that last day when the Lord prepares the new heavens and the new earth, we shall be found amongst those who were made new creatures, and therefore fit to inhabit the new heavens and the new earth. Behold, I make all things new.
And he's doing it now. When he creates men anew in Christ Jesus, and that day will come when in flaming fire he comes to destroy his enemies and take vengeance on those who know him not and obey not the gospel. He will usher in the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness. And then the new creatures who were made so by creative omnipotence, the establishment of redemptive relationship, will enter into the consummation of all that that God in grace has planned for his people. And there's not a verse in the Bible that says you can't be there with joy. Not a verse!
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
Let us pray.
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
The sermon's core text, particularly focusing on verse 10, which is presented as the capstone of Paul's argument for salvation by grace.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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