For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
— Ephesians 2:10 —
Jose Soria: Instituto de Expositores | USA
Those who love the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation have been strong to assert that justification is by grace alone through faith alone, and not by human works. But does this mean that works have no place in Christianity? Does this truth lead, as some claim, to immoral living? Not according to Paul. Make it your priority today to live a life characterized by good works, all for the glory of His name. He doesn’t undermine the importance of good works. Rather, he teaches that God sovereignly predestined us not only to be adopted as His children (Eph. 1:5) but also to a life of moral excellence with good works (Eph. 2:10). As one carefully reads Ephesians 2:8–10, it is evident that salvation is never the result of good works, but rather good works are a result of salvation. If you have been saved by God, you are then to walk in and perform good works that bring God glory. The Reformers had a saying: “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone!” As Martin Luther explained, “It’s not against works that we contend; it’s against trust in works that we contend.” Since God has done a work in you through regeneration, walk in the works He has for you. Remind yourself regularly that God’s purpose in saving you was that you might live a holy life filled with good works (Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14). Make it your priority today to live a life characterized by good works, all for the glory of His name. If you have been saved by faith, you have been saved for good works.
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