FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP: autou gar esmen (1PPAI) poiema: (Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalms 100:3; 138:8; Isaiah 19:25; 29:23; 43:21; 44:21; 60:21; 61:3; Jeremiah 31:33; 32:39,40; John 3:3, 4, 5, 6,21; 1Corinthians 3:9; 2Corinthians 5:5,17; Philippians 1:6; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:21)

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For (1063) (gar) renders the reason for the statement in the previous two verses. Whenever you encounter a "for" at the beginning of passage always pause to ponder and interrogate this frequently found term of explanation. (there are over 7000 uses of for in the NAS and most are terms of explanation! The fact that we are His workmanship serves to prove that salvation is not a result of our works.

His - this pronoun is emphasized in the Greek sentence = "His for we are workmanship" is the literal word order. The point is that we are not our masterpiece. We are a masterpiece only because we are His masterpiece totally unrelated to any effort or merit of our own.

Charles Hodge writes...

The position of the pronoun at the beginning of the sentence renders it emphatic. His workmanship are we. He has made us Christians. Our faith is not of ourselves. It is of God that we are in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:10 Commentary)

Spurgeon...

Nothing without Christ Jesus, you see. The mark of the pierced hand is on everything: "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus."

God has decreed that He will have a holy people. This is His purpose, His ordinance, to which He will always stand. He will make it good. He will make sinful people holy, and disobedient people obedient to the faith. (Exposition)

Pulpit Commentary...

Another illustration and evidence of grace We have to be fashioned anew by God before we can do anything aright. Anything right in us is not the cause of grace, but its fruit.... It is not good works first, and grace after; but grace first, and good works after.

Workmanship (4161) (poiema [word study] from poieo = to make  with the suffix –ma = the result of, source of our English word "poem") is the result of work (suffix -ma = result of) and thus means something that is composed or constructed, something that is made, that which is manufactured, a product, the thing made, a design produced by an artisan. Poiema meant any work of art --it could mean a statue, a song, architecture, a poem or a painting. In the Septuagint, poiema refers to God's work in creation (Ps 143:5).

Believers are the result of His Spirit's work on those dead in their trespasses and sins, those who now are His "poetic masterpiece". Ponder this truth for a moment!

This word is used one other time in the NT to describe God's other "poetic masterpiece", the creation, Paul recording that...

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made (all one word = poiema), so that they are without excuse. (Ro 1:20-note)

Poiema is used 27 times in the Septuagint (LXX) - Judges 13:12; 1Sa 8:8; 19:4; Ezra 9:13; Neh 6:14; Ps 64:9; 92:4; Ps 143:5; Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:4, 11, 17; 3:11, 17, 22; 4:3, 4; 5:6; 7:13; 8:9, 14, 17; 9:7, 10; 11:5; 12:14; Is 29:16

Ps 143:5-note I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Thy doings; I muse on the work (Lxx = poiema) of Thy hands.

Eccl 3:11 He has made (Lxx verb = poieo) everything appropriate (KJV = beautiful) in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done (Lxx = poiema) from the beginning even to the end. (Eternity in the Heart by Alexander Maclaren)

Believers are God's workmanship and from other passages we know that we are works "under construction"...

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me. Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting. Do not forsake the works (Lxx = ergon) of Thy hands.

Spurgeon Comments: All my interests are safe in Jehovah’s hands. God is concerned in all that concerns his servants. He will see to it that none of their precious things fail of completion." (Reference)

Philippians 1:6-note For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect (complete) it until the day of Christ Jesus.

James Hastings...

 the idea is, that as a poem owes its conception to the singer’s intellect and fancy, so a believer in Christ owes his character and standing to God. We are indebted to the Greeks for the word, and for its beautiful meaning. A poem with them was, first, anything made; but as beauty and harmony are elements in all truly original or created works, the word “poem” came to be applied more and more exclusively to the expression of truth and beauty in rhythmical form.

“We are His poem!” Each Christian age has been a canto of it; each Christian life and death a word. Its strains have been pealing down the centuries, and “though set to a tune which admits of such endless variations that it is often difficult to detect the original melody amid the clash of the chords that conceal it, it will eventually be resolved, through many a swift modulation and startling cadence, back to the perfect key.”1 [Note: H. G. Miller, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, 93.]

Biographers of Wordsworth have marked the exact period when his genius reached its height, and after that the glory came only at intervals, and the real poems were rare. And because a true poem is so rare a thing, it has always been appraised as the highest form of literature. Many great books come—and go; but a true poem is as fresh after long centuries as when it was first written. “Poesy never waxeth old,” and knows no decay. It knows no decay because it is permeated with the spirit of beauty; because it is the enduring monument of a combination of fine gifts, whose final result is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. That is what a poem is, and St. Paul says that we are the expression of the mind of God, as the In Memoriam is the expression of the full mind and heart of Tennyson. We are God’s Poems.2 [Note: W. J. Dawson, The Divine Challenge, 111.]

The poem depends entirely upon the poet for its creation. It is the unveiling of the deepest and most intimate secrecies of his heart. His own image is projected over every page, and it is the poignant personal element in poetry that makes it so beautiful, and gives it its enduring charm. Men, then, are God’s poems. The intimacies of God’s heart are expressed in man—God’s highest thoughts, God’s deepest emotions. The prayer of Moses was that the beauty of God might rest upon him. When a man is finished at last in the likeness of Christ, God’s sense of beauty is satisfied in him, God’s art has found its finest expression and the beauty of God does rest upon him. The true Christian is God’s poem in a world of prose, God’s beauty in a world of gloom, God’s fine and finished art (Ed: Better stated works in progress!) in a world where men forget beauty, and are careless of moral symmetry and spiritual grace.

I remember once seeing a little fountain playing in the room of a house in which I was staying. I went near to examine it and heard the click and whirr of machinery! The fountain was the product of a mechanical contrivance; it went by clockwork. It was wound up and played for a little while and then sank into stagnancy again. How different from the spring! One plays in feverish spasms; the other flows in restful persistence. “Not of works”: that is the manufactured fountain. “We are his workmanship”: that is the life of the spring. The Christian life is quietly natural; it is the creation of the ceaseless energy of God.2 [Note: J. H. Jowett, in The Examiner, Nov. 19, 1903, p. 508.]

Now, if every Christian is a true poem of God, and if the Church is the supreme Divine epic “created” in our world, who is the Hero of the composition? Our text answers that the Hero is the Lord Jesus Christ. The poem is full of Him. God’s people are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” This Hero is both Divine and human. He is the Son of God and the Flower of men, and also the one Mediator between God and us. God has purchased the Church, and every individual member of it, with His own blood. The Church is Christ’s body, “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” His Spirit dwells in the heart of every believer. His glory fills the entire Society of His people. Every poem of which He is the Hero shall spread His name and His fame throughout the universe to all eternity.1 [Note: C. Jerdan, Manna for Young Pilgrims, 105.]

Jonathan Edwards wrote that the

spiritual life which is reached in the work of conversion, is a far greater and more glorious effect than mere being and life.

God’s most stupendous creation is spiritually dead man made alive! Created in His image, yet born in sin, to be re-created in the image of His Son. Dear saint, don't ever forget that you are the subject of Christ’s two creations, and as the result of His second Creation we are His ultimate workmanship, His masterwork!

Joni Eareckson Tada who became quadriplegic after a tragic accident, alludes to herself as a "poiema" in her book "A Place of Healing"...

(God) has a plan and purpose for my time on earth. He is the master artist or sculptor, and He is the One Who chooses the tools He will use to perfect His workmanship. What of suffering, then? What of illness? What of disability? Am I to tell Him which tools He can use and which tools He can’t use in the lifelong task of perfecting me and molding me into the beautiful image of Jesus? Do I really know better than Him, so that I can state without equivocation that it’s always His will to heal me of every physical affliction? If I am His poem, do I have the right to say, “No, Lord. You need to trim line number two and brighten up lines three and five. They’re just a little bit dark.” Do I, the poem, the thing being written, know more than the poet?

Kent Hughes writes that...

Michelangelo was once asked what he was doing as he chipped away at a shapeless rock. He replied, “I’m liberating an angel from this stone.” That’s what God is doing with us. We are in the hands of the great Maker, the ultimate sculptor who created the universe out of nothing, and he has never yet thrown away a rock on which he has begun a masterwork. His tools are Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, his Word, and the preaching of the Word. Very often he uses difficulties and difficult people, like David’s Shimei, to sculpt our character. Other times it is a great saint with which God carves his impression upon us. (Kent Hughes: Preaching the Word: Ephesians)

Jack Hayford...

Poiema emphasizes God as the Master Designer, the universe as His creation (Ro. 1:20), and the redeemed believer as His new creation (Eph. 2:10). Before conversion our lives had no rhyme or reason. Conversion brought us balance, symmetry, and order. We are God’s poem, His work of art. (Hayford's Bible Handbook)

Jon Courson...

God is saying, “You are My poetry. You’re special to Me. I’m not giving up on you"....He is making you something not only useful but beautiful...something that is poetic."

Arno C Gaebelein...

It is a beautiful thought in itself to think of those who are saved by grace, and united to Christ as “the poem of God.” But the word “Poiema” may also be rendered “Masterpiece” or “Masterwork.”
Only once more is the same word found in the original language of the New Testament Scriptures. In Rom. 1:20 it is used in connection with the physical creation. God has produced two great masterworks in which He manifests His power. He called the universe into existence out of nothing. What He, as the omnipotent One can do, is seen in the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the sustenance of His creation. His eternal power and Godhead are revealed in creation (Rom. 1:19–20). But the creation of the universe out of nothing is not the greatest masterpiece of God. God has done something greater. He has produced a work, which reveals Him in a far higher degree. That greater masterpiece is the redemption of sinners. God took only six days to bring order out of the chaos of the disturbed original creation and to call into existence the present earth and heavens, but He spent forty days with Moses in directing him to build the tabernacle, because the work of redemption is more glorious than the work of creation. (Ephesians 2:1-10 Commentary)

Sam Gordon in his book "The Genius of Grace The Message of Ephesians" writes

Each of our lives is the papyrus on which the Master is producing a work of art that will fill the everlasting ages with his praise.

• We are meant to be visual aids to a gawking world.
• We are live exhibits under the glare of staring eyes.
• We are an advertisement of all that the grace of God can do in the lives of ordinary people.

The story is often told of the rowdy, disruptive young boy in a Sunday school class who continually frustrated his teacher. One morning the teacher asked him: ‘Why do you act like that? Don’t you know who made you?’ To which the boy replied: ‘God did, but he ain’t through with me yet!’

Sure, we may be rough uncut diamonds, but he is still working on us and he has not finished with any one of us yet. When He does, that will be eternal ecstasy. And when we think of what we were and look at what we now are, we should get thrilled and excited with what we shall be. In moments like these, I often ponder on the words of the Seth Sykes chorus:

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole,
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me,
Thy great salvation, so rich and free.

YOUR LIFE:
A POEM

Have you ever pondered the wonderful truth that your life is the Father's poem, authored by the Lamb and enabled by the Spirit? Think of your life as "canvas" on which the Master is producing a work of art which will bring Him eternal praise and glory! Listen to Michael Card's song as you ponder the works prepared before time began which you are to live out the rest of your days on earth...

The Poem Of Your Life

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SUMMARY OF GOD’S POIEMA:
GOD'S WORKS OF ART!

Beloved, if you are IN CHRIST (note) by grace through faith (Eph 2:8, 9-note), do you know what God says about you in Ephesians 2:10? You are God’s “WORKMANSHIP, created IN CHRIST JESUS for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” The Greek word for “WORKMANSHIP” is POIEMA which gives us our English words POEM and POETRY. As a new creation IN CHRIST (2Cor 5:17-note), have you ever thought of your new (now supernatural) life as a work of “divine poetry”, God's "literary masterpiece?"

The idea of poiema is that our new life in Christ is like poem which expresses “form and pattern along with beauty. Like the underside of grandmother’s cross-stitch, the everyday of our lives may look to be knotted and hopelessly tangled. But when we turn the fabric over, we see design and beauty that was there all along but that we never foresaw.” (Gage) Perhaps you don’t feel much like a work of divine poetry, but regardless of how you feel, the truth about you as God’s workmanship, is that you are God's "COMPOSITION" His “MASTERPIECE” (NLT), His “HANDIWORK” (NAB), His “WORK OF ART” (NJB), in fact, a work of art that is one of a kind! You are “custom designed”, “tailor-made,” by the Master’s hand.

C H Spurgeon says it this way

You have seen a painter with his palette on his finger and he has ugly little daubs of paint on the palette. What can he do with those spots? Go in and see the picture. What splendid painting! In an even wiser way does Jesus act toward us. He takes us, poor smudges of paint, and He makes the blessed pictures of His grace out of us. It is neither the brush nor the paint He uses, but it is the skill of His own hand which does it all.” PTL!

Indeed, the redeemed should sing out like David “I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well.” (Ps 139:14) As Spurgeon says “If we are marvelously wrought upon even before we are born, what shall we say of the Lord's dealings with us after we quit His secret workshop, and He directs our pathway through the pilgrimage of life? What shall we not say of that new birth which is even more mysterious than the first, and exhibits even more the love and wisdom of the Lord.” It is notable that the only other NT use of the Greek word POIEMA is in Romans 1:20 where Paul writes “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through WHAT HAS BEEN MADE (POIEMA) so that they are without excuse.”

As Henry Morris says “God has written TWO POETIC MASTERPIECES, as it were, one in the physical creation, one in the lives of men and women redeemed and saved by His grace (Eph 2:8). Both give eloquent testimony to the eternal power and Godhead of the Creator-Redeemer.” Two great “divine poems” - the created world and re-created men and women in that world. Even as the “heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Ps 19:1-note), we too as God’s MASTER CREATIONS should never be ashamed to let men see His WORKMANSHIP in us by our Spirit enabled obedience to Jesus' command to “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your GOOD WORKS, and glorify (give a proper opinion of) your Father Who is in heaven.” (Mt 5:16-note) As new creatures in Christ, we need to remember that we were created for God’s glory, and created for good deeds, because it is by our good deeds that our Father gets all the glory (cf Ps 115:1-note). Indeed, the chief end of each of our lives is “To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” In summary, Eph 2:10 teaches that we are saved not BY good works but FOR good (supernatural) works and in the mystery of His amazing grace He even rewards us for those Spirit enabled works! (cf 2Cor 5:10-note; Rev 22:12-note)

Dr W H Houghton, pastored the Calvary Baptist Church in NYC and later served as president of Moody Bible Institute. When Dr. Houghton became pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in Atlanta, a man in that city hired a private detective to follow Dr. Houghton and report on his conduct. After a few weeks, the detective was able to report to the man that Dr. Houghton’s life matched his preaching. As a result of Houghton's faithful life as God's "Poiema", that man became a Christian.

In Ps 143:5 David prays

I remember the days of old. I meditate on all Your doings. I muse (meditate) on the WORK (LXX = POIEMA) of Your hands. (Commentary)

Have you meditated on the truth that now IN CHRIST, you are “the WORK (poiema) of” His hands? It is good to meditate on what God has made and rest in the confidence that regardless of what has transpired in your life to make you doubt your worth in Christ, you need to remember that you "are of untold worth" (Kent Hughes) and also that you are a canvas on which He is still painting, for "He Who began a good work in you will complete it in the day of Christ Jesus." (Php 1:6-note).

CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS:  ktisthentes (APPMPN) en Christo Iesou epi ergois agathois: (Ep 4:24; Psalms 51:10; 2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Colossians 3:10)

SALVATION:
NOT BY WORKS
BUT FOR WORKS!

How do works relate to regeneration by grace through faith? "Works are to salvation, what thunder is to lightning, an inevitable result. Just as thunder does not generate lightning, our good deeds will not generate salvation. But on the other hand, just as you can't have lightning without the following thunderclap, you can't experience the transformation of salvation without a change in your attitudes and behaviors. And those changes are a gradual process called sanctification, that can be likened to an endurance race. The apostle Paul often compared the Christian life to a long race, as did the author of the book of Hebrews." (cp He 12:1-note) (Source - Steve Kreloff's broadcast on the The Spiritual Marathon - Mp3)

Created (2936) (ktizo [word study]) means to bring something into existence or of calling into being, used in the NT only of God's creativity. The Greeks used ktizo to describe the founding of a place, a city or colony.

Ktizo points to saved sinners as new creations in Christ, having formerly been dead in trespasses and sins (Ep 2:1-note) and by His Spirit now called into an existence of eternal life (today, now)! The aorist tense points to this specific creative act as having taken place at a point in time in the past. The result is that believers are no longer their own (1Co 6:19-note, 1Co 6:20-note) but now are doubly His, created first in His image (Ge 1:26, 27), and then recreated based on His work of redemption. Hallelujah! Let us live out this truth before a dying world!

Paul again emphasizes the believer's new creation in Christ exhorting his readers to...

put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created (ktizo) in righteousness and holiness of the truth (i.e., to be like God - righteous, holy, and true). (Ep 4:24-note)

In a parallel passage in Colossians Paul reminded the saints that they...

have put on the new self (at the time of salvation) who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One Who created (ktizo) him. (Col 3:10-note)

Comment: "Being renewed” is present tense = “constantly being renewed.” The crisis of salvation leads to the process of sanctification, daily becoming more like Jesus Christ, Who is to be our life-long goal taking priority over all other goals.

This verse is an answer to David's prayer...

Create (LXX = ktizo) in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10) (See Spurgeon's note)

Writing to the church at Corinth Paul reminded them that...

if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (literally = new creation, where kainos = new in kind or quality, unprecedented, unheard of, new in sense that it brings into the world a new quality of thing which did not exist before); the old things passed away (the aorist tense indicates a past completed action and speaks of the decisive change salvation brings); behold, new (kainos) things have come. (2Corinthians 5:17)

Comment: The miracle of regeneration, of being born again and baptized by the Holy Spirit into the spiritual body of Christ (1Co 12:13, cp Spirit in each member of the body = Ro 8:9-note), is a true miracle of special creation, not some psychological crutch as is so often argued by skeptics and scoffers. This creative act of the new birth is indeed comparable in quality to the creation of the universe! No natural process can accomplish or explain either miracle. The evolution of man is foolishness! Man is not getting better. Instead, the Best Man died that all men might attain to the best by grace through faith. That is the miracle of the new creation, God's workmanship!

Writing to the Galatians who were being tempted to add works (such as circumcision) to faith in Christ Paul declared that...

may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:14, 15-note)

Comment: What really matters is not external works such as circumcision but whether we really have been changed into new and different people. Is your life different now that you are in Christ? If not then you might want to think about whether you are truly "in Christ".

The qualitatively new birth creates a qualitatively new appetite and requires a qualitatively new diet.

O child of God, guard well your eyes
From anything that stains the heart;
Forsake those things that soil the mind--
Your Father wants you set apart.
-Fasick

In Christ (See related discussion of in Christ and in Christ Jesus) - don't read over these words too quickly as they should be pondered every time we encounter them in Paul's writings. "In Christ" signifies a brief but most profound statement of the inexhaustible significance of the sinner's glorious salvation, which includes (among other things) (1) the believer’s security in Christ, Who bore in His body God’s judgment against sin, (2) the believer’s acceptance in Him with Whom God alone is well pleased, (3) the believer’s future assurance in Him Who is the Resurrection to eternal life and the sole Guarantor of the believer’s inheritance in heaven and (4) the believer’s participation in the divine nature of Christ (2Pe 1:4-note).

The Bible views all men as either in Christ, or in Adam with no middle ground.

Charles Hodge...

Union with Him is a source of a new life (Ed: cf Col 3:4-note), and a life unto holiness; and therefore it is said created unto good works. Holiness is the end of redemption, for Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Titus 2:14-note. Those therefore who live in sin are not the subjects of this redemption. (Ephesians 2:10 Commentary)

Works (2041) (ergon) describes that which displays itself in activity of any kind and so refers to deeds.

For (epi) literally means upon good works and indicates the God glorifying goal of our salvation. Believers are saved to serve God, not self. This supernaturally enabled shift (even as imperfect as it is in this life, because of the continual struggle with the old flesh) is good evidence that a man or woman is in Christ. Be careful though, because just doing works in a church or a city or a country does not necessarily mean they are "good", Spirit initiated, Spirit enabled, "John 15:5 type" works!

Greene emphasizes that...

It is not the quantity of works (how much you do) that proves you are saved, but the fact that good works automatically follow salvation. The believers at Thessalonica proved their salvation by turning to GOD from idols, to serve GOD (Ed: Excellent illustration of repentance!) (1Thess 1:9-note). The Ephesian believers confessed, brought their books of magic and burned them before all the people, thereby proving that they had experienced a change of heart (~repentance) (Acts 19:18-20). The believers at Rome who were the servants of sin, obeyed from the heart the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, and they became the servants of righteousness unto holiness (Ro 6:14-23-note). Works have nothing to do with redemption; but works testify that redemption has been wrought in the heart. We work because we are the sons of GOD. We do not work to try to gain Heaven - we work because we are on the way to Heaven. Salvation is totally and entirely by Grace, the gift of GOD. Our eternal reward will be determined by our faithful works . . . our faithful stewardship. (Study carefully 1Cor 3:11-15.) (Ref)

Spurgeon...

This new creation in connection with Christ, for we read in the text, "Created in Christ Jesus." We are the branches; He is the Vine out of which we grow. Your life, and all your fruit-producing power lie in your union to Christ. You are not merely new-created, but you are created in Christ Jesus. It is not merely a change from a lower nature to a higher, but from separation from Christ to union with Him. What a wonderful thing that is—that you and I should not only be creatures in the world, but new creatures in Christ Jesus! Creatures we were in the first Adam; but our new-creatureship is in the second Adam. Beloved, if you are what you profess to be, you are one with Jesus by that vital union which cannot be dissolved; and good works follow upon that union. Joined to Jesus by faith in Him, love to Him, and imitation of Him (1Cor 11:1, 1Cor 4:16, 1Jn 2:6, 1Pe 2:21, Jn 13:15), you walk in good works. Your creation to holiness is your creation in Christ Jesus. As you become one with the anointed Savior, His anointing (with His Spirit, even as He was anointed - 1Jn 2:20, 27, Acts 10:37-38) ordains you to service, and his salvation leads you into obedience. There cannot but be fruit on that blanch which is vitally joined to that fruitful stem, Christ Jesus, Who did always those things which pleased the Father.

Our good works must flow from our union with Christ by virtue of our faith in Him. We depend upon Him to make us holy. We depend upon Him to keep us holy. We overcome sin by the blood of the Lamb. We reach after holiness by the constraining love of Jesus. Love to Christ is the impelling cause of putting away, first one evil, and then another; and the energy enabling us to follow after one virtue, and then another. Love to Christ burns like a fire in the breast that has conceived it; and, as it burns, it makes the heart to glow, and to become transformed to its own nature. You have seen a piece of iron put into the fire, all black or rusty, and in the fire it has gradually become red with heat; and, as it has reddened, it has thrown off the scales of rust, until at last it has looked to be itself a mass of fire. The effect of the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, is to burn off the rust and scales of sin and depravity, and we become pure love to God through the force of the love of God, which takes possession of our being.

Moreover, that love moves us to patient imitation of Christ. Do you know what that means? "The Imitation of Christ" is a wonderful book upon the subject, which every Christian should read. It has its faults, but its excellences are many. May we not only read the book, but write it out anew in our own life and character by seeking in everything to be like to Jesus! It is a good thing to put up in your house the question, "What would Jesus do?" It answers nine out of ten of the difficulties of moral casuistry. When you do not know what to do, and the law does not seem very explicit upon it, put it so—"What would Jesus do?" Here, then, stands the case: by your creation in Christ you come to exhibit faith in him, love to him, and imitation of him; and all these are the means by which good works are produced in you. You are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." (Ephesians 2:9-10: Agreement of Salvation by Grace with Walking in Good Works)

Good (18) (agathos [word study]) means profitable, benefiting others, whereas the related word kalos means constitutionally good, but not necessarily benefiting others. Saints are made adequate and equipped for "agathos" works by God's Word for

Related resources:

"Does this person deserve my good works?" We are to "abound to every good work" (NIV, 2Cor 9:8).

do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased (He 13:16-note)

Comment: And so we see that good works represent our acts of worship (it's not just Sunday morning when the worship team leads us, but its Monday through Saturday, as the Spirit leads us, fills us and empowers good works) for in God's eyes these good ("God") works are "spiritual sacrifices”!

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. (1Pe 2:12-note).

Comment: Thus a believer's good works are testimonies to the lost (like "Lighthouses" they serve to warn those otherwise destined to crash and die an eternal death).

consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. (Heb 10:24-note)

“profess to know God, but by their deeds they (continually) deny Him, being detestable (root word = "to stink"!) and disobedient and worthless for any good deed” (Titus 1:16-note).

Here in Ephesians 2:10, Paul is emphasizing that every believer was created for good works which signifies that God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives and that we should walk in His will and fulfill His plan. This is the state of true divine happiness or blessedness.

present (our) bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God (Ro 12:1-note).

redeem (present tense = continually buying up - see study of this verb exagorazo ) the time (opportunities =  kairos- word study), because the days are evil (Ep 5:16-note)

And finally we must daily be diligent to discipline (present imperative = command to do this continually) ourselves for godliness which is

INVEST YOUR
"TALENTS"
WISELY

Jesus commanded us "Let your light shine (aorist imperative = Don't delay! Do this now!)" (Mt 5:16-note), and the entire Bible echoes this truth (cp 1Co 6:20-note, Ps 115:1-note). The powerful impact Christians can make on the lost when they combine a godly life with a loving witness is well known to most believers. We all know of instances of some wonderful conversions simply because dedicated Christians let their lights shine.

The story has often been told about Dr. Will H. Houghton, who pastored the Calvary Baptist Church in New York City and later served as president of Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute till his death in 1946. When Dr. Houghton became pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in Atlanta, a man in that city hired a private detective to follow Dr. Houghton and report on his conduct. After a few weeks, the detective was able to report to the man that Dr. Houghton’s life matched his preaching. As a result, that man became a Christian.

On the other hand, we can recall with grief some lost persons who rejected the Word because of the inconsistent lives of "professed" believers. Gandhi in his autobiography wrote that in his student days he was truly interested in the Bible. He was deeply touched by reading the Gospels, and seriously considered becoming a convert, since Christianity seemed to offer the real solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. One Sunday he went to a nearby church to seek the minister and ask for instruction in the way of salvation. But when he entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left and never came back. He reasoned that...

WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFOREHAND: ois proetoimasen (PPPMPN) o theos: (Eph 1:4; Romans 8:29)

Prepared beforehand (4282) (proetoimazo from pró = before + hetoimazo = to make ready) means to ordain before, to make ready in advance or to be made ready beforehand. The aorist tense points to a specific action that has taken place.

Vincent explains that

God prearranged a sphere of moral action for us to walk in. Not only are works the necessary outcome of faith, but the character and direction of the works are made ready by God. (Word Studies)

Expositors Greek Testament adds that...

Before He created us in Christ by our conversion, He had destined these good works and made them ready for us in His purpose and decree. There is the unseen source from which they spring, and there is their final explanation. (Expositor's Greek Testament)

The only two times this verb is used in the NT, it is used of God's foreordaining for good, referring to glory and to good works. In the only other use Paul explains that...

And He did so (He withheld demonstration of His wrath on those who were fit only for destruction) in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand (proetoimazo) for glory, (Ro 9:23-note)

Ray Stedman illustrates this passage...

Paul says that God has prepared these works beforehand. I experienced an interesting illustration of this. One of our interns flew to Albuquerque with me. We decided, as the plane was landing, that we would have some prayer together. I hadn't talked to him about this passage at all, but I was struck by the way he prayed. He said, “Father, thank You for the good works already prepared for us in Albuquerque, for the fact that they are waiting for us to step into them and experience them.” Sure enough, after we got to Albuquerque these began to unfold.

There was a missionary there from the Amazon region of South America who was discouraged and terribly upset, ready to quit the ministry. Through the ministry we had there he came alive and began to see again what God could do. He came to us with a light on his face and said, “I'm going back to my field completely revolutionized in my approach. Now I've learned how God operates.”

A young pastor was facing dissension in his church. He wanted some counsel on how to handle it. God enabled the Scriptures to speak to that situation and give him wisdom and guidance for it. All these good works had been prepared beforehand. All we did was step into them.

Do you have any idea how many good works God has prepared for you? They are waiting for you to enter into as you walk in faith and trust and dependence upon Christ. The situations are there, ready and waiting for you to step into. This is what God has called you to. As you do so, you become a vivid display of the greatness and the glory of God.

Thank You, Father, that You have prepared beforehand good works for me to walk in. Grant that I might see these opportunities and take full advantage of them in the power of your Spirit.

Life Application: Before we step out from home, we usually think about how we look. Do we also think about God's plan for us today how He is going to display Himself through us today? (On Display Daily Devotion)

Jeremiah’s good works were assigned before his birth

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)

Paul records God preparing beforehand writing that...

when He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood (Galatians 1:15-16)

David testifies that...

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:16) (See Spurgeon's Note)

SO THAT WE WOULD WALK IN THEM: hina en autois peripatesomen (1PAAS): (Ep 2:2; 4:1; Deuteronomy 5:33; Psalms 81:13; 119:3; Isaiah 2:3, 4, 5; Acts 9:31; Romans 8:1; 1John 1:7; 1Jn 2:6)

 Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do. (The NET Bible Notes)

Literally "in order that in them we might walk". "In them" is locative of sphere meaning that we are to order our behavior within the sphere of these good works.

Expositor's explains it this way...

God’s purpose in the place which He gave to good works in His decree was that they should actually and habitually be done by us. His final object was to make good works the very element of our life, the domain in which our action should move. That this should be the nature of our walk is implied in our being His handiwork, made anew by Him in Christ; that the good works which are the divine aim of our life shall be realized, is implied in their being designed and made ready for us in God’s decree; and that they are of God’s originating, and not of our action and merit, is implied in the fact that we had ourselves to be made a new creation in Christ with a view to them. (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor The Expositor's Greek Testament - Online)

So that (2443) (hina) expresses purpose = in order that or to the that we walk in these works God has already prepared for us. In short, we are saved not by good works but for good works prepared in eternity past. The NT bears ample testimony to the fact that believers are to perform good works.

Paul prayed...

that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10-note)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. (2Th 2:16, 17)

Writing to the saints at Philippi Paul exhorted them to

work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (See notes Philippians 2:12; 2:13)

Comment: Notice that Paul says "work out" not "work for" his point being that once we are saved we continue to walk daily in that salvation which includes good works, worked out by God Who is working in us.

The writer of Hebrews prayed...

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing (Stop right there - Who's part has been described? Obviously God's!) to do (Who's part is described? So juxtaposed we see God's sovereign provision and man's responsibility to perform! What a wonderful, divine mystery!) His will, working in us (Again emphasizing God's sovereign energizing) that which is pleasing in His sight (the only thing that pleases God is what God works out in and through yielded, obedient saints), through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20, 21-note)

Comment: And so we see that it is God working in and through us, not us working in our own strength and will.

Hughes explains the believer's work noting that...

 Each of us has an eternally-designed job description which includes the task, the ability, and the place to serve. You may prefer Jerusalem, but you will glorify him more in Babylon if he has called you there. And whatever the task to which he has called you, you will be equipped for it as surely as a bird is capable of flight. And in doing the works he has called you to do, you will be both more and more his workmanship and more and more your true self. Sometimes as I have been preaching I have become aware of an unnatural silence. The ever-present coughing ceases and the pews stop creaking, bringing an almost physical silence to the sanctuary through which my words sail like arrows. A heightened eloquence invades my speech so that the cadence and volume of my voice intensify the truth I am preaching. Though I know that I am speaking, I have thought at these times, “What is going on here? Is this me?” And then, seeing it for what it is, my heart has cried, “Lord, help me!”...There is nothing more beautiful than his workmanship working for him. Are we doing this? (Ephesians 2:10 Commentary - God's Amazing Word - Partial preview)

Walk (4043) (peripateo [word study] from peri = about, around + pateo = walk, tread) means literally to go here and there or to tread all around. Most NT uses are figurative referring to the daily conduct of one's life or how they order their behavior or pass their life. The present tense indicates that this is now to be the believer's lifestyle - "keep on walking". To walk means to take a series of small steps in the same direction over a long period of time. Walking implies steady progress in one direction by means of deliberate choices over a long period of time. Disciples of Christ can sing the well known secular song "I'll Never Walk Alone" because we have the Spirit of Christ wherever we go (Ro 8:9-note). The Spirit supplies the power which enables our supernatural walk (cp Gal 5:16-note). It is our part to continually renounce our self sufficiency (cp flesh) and rely on His sufficient supply (cp Phil 4:13-note).

Salvation depends upon Christ's work for us, while rewards depend upon our works for Christ.

Seven times the Apostle Paul speaks of the believer’s walk, in the book of Ephesians. This walk refers to how the Christian is to conduct himself before a holy God and a Godless world. It speaks of a course of life that one is following; a manner of living; a lifetime experience. How one walks (behaves himself) reflects on his entire Christian testimony.

(1) Our previous walk: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air” (Ep 2:2-note). Our old walk is finished.

(2) Our present walk: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10-noe). Our manner of living should be filled with good works.

(3) Our privileged walk: “I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ep 4:1-note).

(4) (Ep 4:17-note)

(5) Our humble walk: “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Ep 5:2-note). The essence of love is self-sacrifice.

(6) Our changed walk: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ep 5:8-note).

(7) Our wise walk: “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Ep 5:15-note).  (From Days of Praise, August 27, 1992)

When we first knelt at the Cross of the Lord Jesus, we were made new creatures. "If any man is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things are passed away, behold they are become new" (2Corinthians 5:17).

But there was an older creation than that. If we read aright the apostle's thought, he takes us back, beyond the limits of our mortal life, to the eternal past, and reveals to us the workings of God's thought before even the earth or the world was made. We were created in Christ Jesus, in the purpose and intention of God, before an angel sped through the newly-created ether, or a seraph raised his first sonnet of adoration. Our creation at the Cross was the realization in our experience of an eternal thought of God.

Let us ponder deeply the Divine purpose in thus creating us in Christ. It was unto good works. The apostle was eager to put these in their legitimate and proper place. There was apparently a tendency among the converts whom he addressed to associate their salvation with their works, or, at the least, to get credit for their faith. He therefore reaffirms our entire indebtedness to grace, and says that even our faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God; "not of works, that no man should glory." We are not to work up to the new life, but from it. The good works we do before regeneration are not even reckoned to our account. The apostle calls them dead works. They are the automatic convulsive movements of a corpse. The only works that please God, and are accepted through the mediation of Christ, are those which emanate from that new life which He imparts in regeneration by the Holy Ghost. We are created unto good works. "He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works." Cain's gift of fruit may be both fair and fragrant; but it is rejected because it is an attempt to purchase God's favour, instead of being the outcome and flower of his faith. It is very blessed to know that our good works have been prepared for us to walk in. Walking implies a path, whether through the cornfield, or over the stretch of moorland, or beside the sea; and we may think, therefore, of our life-course as a path which starts from the Cross, where we entered on our real life, and ends, as Christian's did, at the gate of the Golden City.

All the paths begin and end at the same points; but how different their character! and how different the character of the same path at different places! Sometimes a bit of greensward, where at every step the foot sinks deep in flowers; then a few miles of rough walking over jagged flints, which cut the feet; then a climb up the Hill Difficulty, in the face of the pitiless blast; and finally a descent into the Valley of the Shadow. Now we shiver amid the snows of the mountains; and again we are enervated by the scorching heat of the plains. At times we come into the midst of congenial companions, and enjoy their blessed fellowship in the Gospel; at other times we are carried into loneliness and isolation, and the work itself tries us to the uttermost.

But when once we have learned to believe that the pathway of our good works was before prepared for us by God; that He created for us the prepared path, endowing us with all the qualities it might demand; and that He prepared the path for us whom He created, in order to afford scope for our special powers, we come to rest in the perfect adaptation between God's creations and his preparations. Fear not: go forward! He gives what He commands, and then commands what He wills.

WHAT RELIEF IS HERE!--We have no longer to choose our pathway; or to cut it through the thick undergrowth of the forest; or to scheme it through the trackless waste. It is all prepared, and we have but to walk in it, with God, one step at a time. Put your hand into God's, look up into his face, saying, "Lead me, Father, in the prepared way;" "Teach me thy way;" "Make me to know the way wherein I should walk."

WHAT CONFIDENCE IS HERE!--The only serious matter is to discover the prepared path. We may do this by abiding fellowship with the Spirit. Remember how when Paul essayed to turn aside from the prepared path of his life, and to go first to the left to Ephesus and then to the right into Bithynia, in each case the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not. For the most part the trend of daily circumstance will indicate the prepared path; but whenever we come to a standstill, puzzled to know which path to take of three or four that converge at a given point, let us stand still and consider the matter, asking God to speak to us through our judgment, and to bar every path but the right.

When once the decision is made, let us never look back. Let us never dare to suppose that God could fail them that trust Him, or permit them to make a mistake. If difficulties arise, they do not prove us to be wrong; and probably they are less by this path than they would have been by any other. Go forward!--the way has been prepared. The mountains are a way; the rivers have fords; the lions are chained; the very waves shall yield a path; the desert shall be a highway to the land which flows with milk and honey.

WHAT SCOPE FOR LOVE IS HERE!--Envy and jealousy need have no place. God has prepared the path for each of us, according to His infinite wisdom and love. One way is adapted for one, and another for another. Peter is girded and carried whither he would not go; whilst John tarries until the Master comes for him in the peaceful decease of old age. "What is that to thee? follow thou Me." Each, then, can take a loving interest in the life-plan of another, sure that nothing can interfere with the evolution of his own, save his indolence or sin. Prepare us, O God, for all that Thou hast prepared for us. We will not be ambitious of great things, but to walk, day by day, humbly with Thee, and so fulfil our course. Thus shall we become thy workmanship.

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Evangelist D. L. Moody often said,

 Every Bible should be bound in shoe-leather.

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Illustration - The Way People Choose -  Michelangelo and Raphael had totally different perspectives on lifestyle. Michelangelo lived alone, with only a servant; Raphael traveled with a retinue. “You go about with a suite, like a general,” Michelangelo stormed at him. “And you go about alone, like a hangman,” Raphael sniped in reply. City dwellers of the Renaissance urged escape to the country to enjoy its delights and pleasures. One farmer replied: “Had I not been born a rustic, I should readily have been touched with pleasure” by the descriptions of rural happiness. However, being a farmer “what to you are delights are to me a bore.” Contrary to his brother’s greed for multiplied possessions, Prospero declared, “My library was dukedom large enough.” God orders no single lifestyle for humanity. Instead, by stressing our individuality, he allows each person to determine how to dress, where to live, or what career to pursue. But we must not confuse personal lifestyle with the life God planned when he created us. When God envisioned beings to share his fellowship, he created a person in his own image. (Hurley, V. Speaker's Sourcebook of New Illustrations Dallas: Word Publishers)

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Raku - Some friends gave us a piece of Raku pottery. "Each pot is hand-formed," the tag explained, "a process that allows the spirit of the artist to speak through the finished work with particular directness and intimacy." Once the clay has been shaped by the potter it is fired in a kiln. Then, glowing red hot, it is thrust into a smoldering sawdust pile where it remains until finished. The result is a unique product—"one of a kind," the tag on our piece insists. So it is with us. We bear the imprint of the Potter's hand. He too has spoken through His work "with particular directness and intimacy." Each of us is formed in a unique way for a unique work: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

But though we are created for good works, we're not yet finished. We must experience the kiln of affliction. Aching hearts, weary spirits, aging bodies are the processes God uses to finish the work He has begun. Don't fear the furnace that surrounds you. Be "patient in tribulation" and await the finished product. "Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:4-note).—David H. Roper (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

We are here to be perfected,
Only God our needs can see;
Rarest gems bear hardest grinding,
God's own workmanship are we.
—Anon.

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Home Improvement - If you've ever wanted to live in a castle, this is your chance. The state of Saxony in eastern Germany has a dozen castles for sale, each priced at one German mark (which is just over half a US dollar).

There is a catch, however. According to a New York Times article, the historic structures are in advanced stages of disrepair, and buyers must restore each property "consistent with its historical architecture." Estimates for restoration run from $7 million to $60 million per castle.

It has occurred to me that buying a fixer-upper's nightmare gives us a picture of what God has done for each of us in Jesus. Ep 2:1 (note) bluntly states our condition without Christ--"dead in trespasses and sins." But the hopelessness of the human condition never deters God's love.

The renovation and renewal the Father carries out in all who receive His Son begins with new life. "But God, . . . even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Ep 2:4, 5-note). And what God purchased at the great cost of His only Son, He gives to us freely (Ep 2:5, 6, 7, 8, 9-see notes  Ep 2:5; 2:6; 2:7; 2:8; 2:9).

Like derelict castles restored far beyond their former glory, our transformed lives point others to God, who is rich in mercy, grace, and love. --D C McCasland (Ibid)

When we receive Christ,
God's work isn't over--it has just begun.

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Living Up To The Name - A new Christian was reading through the Gospels. After she finished, she told a friend she wanted to read a book on church history. When her friend asked why, the woman replied, "I'm curious. I've been wondering when Christians started to become so unlike Christ."

We can understand why this new convert was perplexed. There is a great disparity between the life of Christ and the lives of many who bear His name. In fact, some believers are even imitating the world instead of trying to live like Jesus.

Almost 2,000 years have passed since followers of Jesus were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). Today, we who have placed our trust in the Savior still bear that name and march under the same banner as those early believers.

The Bible says that we are God's "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). When we call ourselves Christians, we are saying to the world that Christ is our Savior and that we are following Him.

Christians have a glorious name. It is a great privilege to be identified with Christ--and a great obligation to live up to His name! --R W De Haan  (Ibid)

More like the Master I would live and grow,
More of His love to others I would show;
More self-denial, like His in Galilee,
More like the Master I long to ever be.
--Gabriel

When you walk with Christ,
you'll be out of step with the world.

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Crucible Steel - Frank has a toolbox full of knives and chisels that are designed for his woodcarving hobby. His favorite is a German-made, all-purpose carving knife. He has honed it repeatedly, and it still holds an edge. "I'm going to be sad," Frank said, looking fondly at his knife, "when this blade gets too thin to sharpen."

Like all reliable carving tools, that knife is constructed of "crucible steel." To produce this durable metal, raw material is placed in a crucible where it is subjected to intense heat. Once it is glowing with molten brightness, the white-hot metal is maintained at precisely the right temperature until it qualifies as crucible steel. When it cools, it is neither so soft that it won't hold an edge nor so hard that it is brittle.

Christians, as the handiwork of God, are shaped and formed by His will. Sometimes He places us in a crucible of affliction. Peter wrote about the faith of Christians and said that it may be "tested by fire" (1Pe 1:7-note). That testing may come in the form of "various trials" to refine our faith (1Pe 1:6-note).

If you're in a crucible of testing right now, don't be discouraged. God knows what He is doing. He has promised to stay with you and help you to become a useful tool in His strong, loving hands. --D C Egner (Ibid)

All things work out for good we know--
Such is God's great design;
He orders all our steps below
For purposes divine.
--Peterson
© 1961 Singspiration, Inc.

Gold is tested by fire;
man is tested by adversity.

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Saved--To Be Good - Many people assume that we qualify for heaven by doing good deeds. This fallacy is illustrated by a comment made after the death of a man who had been held in high esteem. A friend said, "If anyone goes to heaven, he'll certainly be there, for he was such a good man!"

According to the apostle Paul, however, salvation is based on God's gift of grace and not on good works that anyone can boast about (Ep 2:8, 9). So where, then, do works belong? In the next verse, Paul described believers as "created in Christ Jesus for good works [not by good works], which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ep 2:10).

If we're not straight on this matter, we'll make the mistake of trying to earn our way into heaven, which the Bible says no one can do (Ro 3:23-note, Ro 3:24-note, Ro 3:25, 26-note, Ro 3:27, 28-note). How does grace deal with this problem? An elderly man on his deathbed said it well: "I have just taken all my good works and all my bad works and thrown them right overboard, and I am going to heaven on the basis of free grace."

The only safe and sure foundation for both life and death is God's free gift of grace. That's not cheap grace, however, for remember that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. We are saved for good works. --J E Yoder (Ibid)

Naught have I gotten but what I received,
Grace has bestowed it since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase--
I'm only a sinner saved by grace!
--Gray

We are not saved by good works
but for good works.

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The Sculptor - Early in the last century, sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) gazed at the cliffs of South Dakota's Black Hills. He envisioned what no one else could—the sculpted faces of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Borglum and his crew were suspended on ropes 500 feet above the valley floor. They used everything from chisels to dynamite to create the 5-story-high visages. It took 14 years to complete the project.

Borglum's housekeeper occasionally went to visit the site. She once asked a worker, "How did Mr. Borglum know that Mr. Lincoln was in that rock?"

How indeed? Borglum knew what was in the rock because he saw with his artist's eye what he could create out of the raw material with which he had to work.

And so it is with God. With His artistic eye, He sees the potential in the most unpromising, hardest human material. With His loving hands, He begins to make of us a monument to His genius and grace. God "loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses" (Ephesians 2:4, 5), and made us alive in Christ. And He can make you more and more like Christ—if you put yourself in His hands. —D H Roper   (Ibid)

In ourselves we may see hardened ground,
Empty spaces that long to be filled;
But God sees our heart, and if we let Him start,
An image of Christ He will build. —Carbaugh

Our rough edges must be chipped away to bring out the image of Chris

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God's Song - A church organist was practicing a piece by Felix Mendelssohn and not doing too well. Frustrated, he gathered up his music and started to leave. He had not noticed a stranger come in and sit in a rear pew.

As the organist turned to go, the stranger came forward and asked if he could play the piece. "I never let anyone touch this organ!" came the blunt reply. Finally, after two more polite requests, the grumpy musician reluctantly gave him permission.

The stranger sat down and filled the sanctuary with beautiful, flawless music. When he finished, the organist asked, "Who are you?" The man replied, "I am Felix Mendelssohn." The organist had almost prevented the song's creator from playing his own music!

There are times when we too try to play the chords of our lives and prevent our Creator from making beautiful music. Like that stubborn organist, we only reluctantly take our hands off the keys. As His people, we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand" (Ephesians 2:10). But our lives won't produce beautiful music unless we let Him work through us.

God has a symphony written for our lives. Let's allow Him to have His way in us. —David C. Egner  (Ibid)

Once we stop our own devising,
Quit the schemes of our own choosing,
Cease from all our fruitless striving,
God steps in with grace and power! —D. De Haan

God's ability is not limited
by our inability.

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Our Very Best - Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was a lonely and unhappy child, with no siblings or friends. One day he was investigating the backyard of his home and discovered a hole in the fence surrounding the yard. Suddenly a small hand reached out toward him from the other side of the fence. Then just as suddenly the hand was gone. On the ground was a small toy sheep.

Pablo ran inside the house and brought back the best thing he had—a pinecone. He set it down in the same spot and ran off with the sheep. That toy lamb became his most cherished possession.

The exchange brought home to him a profound yet simple fact: To know that you are cared for by someone is one of life's greatest gifts. "This small and mysterious exchange of gifts remained inside of me," he said, "deep and indestructible."

Reading this story made me think of God's gift to you and me—His hand reaching out to us with His love that sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. Salvation is the "deep and indestructible" gift of God, received by grace through faith.

What should our response be to our God's infinite love and grace? Let's give Him in return our very best—our heart.—David H. Roper (Ibid)

Oh, help me, Lord, to take by grace divine
Yet more and more of that great love of Thine;
That day by day my heart may give to Thee
A deeper love, and grow more constantly. —Mountain

Jesus gave His all for us;
are we giving our all for Him?

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Our Daily Bread- But do you want to know, 0 foolish man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20).

In nature, lightning and thunder present a striking illustration of the relationship between faith and works. When lightning flashes across the sky, we know that the roar of thunder will follow. Without lightning, there would be no thunder, because the one is the cause of the other. Likewise, good works always accompany saving faith, because one causes the other.

We must keep before us the clear truth that we are saved by grace and grace alone. Ephesians 2:8, 9  (notes) says,

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

But many believers who glibly quote this passage ignore the verse that follows: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ep 2:10).

In the same manner that thunder contributes nothing to lightning, good works add nothing to our salvation. Rather, they are the "sound" of faith and will follow every genuine conversion experience. The one without the other is not the real thing.

Genuine faith is always evident by what follows—a life of good works. —R W De Haan (Ibid)

Faith without works is presumptuous
Faith with works is precious.

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In Our Daily Homily F B Meyer writes the following...

We are his workmanship.

The Greek word might be literally rendered his poem. As the meter varies in the poems of a laureate, so does the course of one life differ from another; but God has a thought, a plan, a purpose for each. This lyric, that heroic, another dramatic.

Created for good works. —

How carefully the apostle defines the true position of works in the divine life. In the foregoing verses he insists that we are not saved by our works, that none should boast; but, as though to meet the objection that his system was inconsistent with holy living, he affirms that the whole intention of God was that we should manifest our new life in Christ by the holy life in which it fruits. We were created in Him unto good works. Whatever good works may be demanded of you, dare to believe that you were created in Christ Jesus to do them. There is a perfect adjustment between the two.

The good works prepared. —

Our new creation in Christ Jesus and the preparation of our life-work are due to the same mind. God who made us has prepared our path for us. It may lie up hill or down dale; may be lined with grassy sward or be full of jagged stones; may be short with the years of childhood or long with those of old age; may consist in lying on a couch to suffer or in strenuous activity — but every yard has been prepared.

Our daily walk. —