Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. We have in this verse three things. I. THE POWER that acts on the sinner to bring him into obedience to his God. The power of God alone. Man is dead; God is the quickener. II. THE MODE in which that power acts upon him so as to produce this effect. "In Christ Jesus." III. THE CERTAIN SECURITY for the operation of this power, and for the effect it will produce. God has appointed it. He has ordained that His people should walk in good works. You perceive, then, why throughout the Scriptures the works of man are made the test of his salvation. He is not to he justified by them, but he is to be judged by them, and this is a difficulty that often occurs to the mind, How is man to be judged by his works if he is not to be justified by them? The answer is — because they are taken as the test of his faith, as the proof of his sincerity. A cup of cold water could not purchase salvation for the sinner; but a cup of cold water, given in the name of Jesus, shall in no wise lose its reward, because it is the test that the believer loves his Master. (R. J. McGhee, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. |
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