D. Scott Meadows

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph 2.10).

A bizarre and dangerous interpretation of this verse has lately appeared on the Internet. Essentially, it asserts that the “good works” mentioned here are works of God rather than works done by believers. It claims to be supported by the context and cites many references to God’s redemptive work mentioned in the epistle leading up to this verse. It also assails the common understanding that these are good works done by believers as necessarily and inherently legalistic.

I call this interpretation bizarre because it is so far removed from any responsible and plausible understanding of the words. No serious scholars I can find even raise it for discussion, much less advocate it. There appears to be a universal consensus in a most impressive array of godly pastors, teachers, and theologians for many centuries on the matter.

There is such strong agreement, except for a few blatant Scripture twisters, for at least four good reasons.

1. The general concept of human good works in Scripture. Many biblical passages praise the “good works” of the godly. The first appearance of this phrase in the New Testament is upon the lips of Jesus, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5.16). He hastens to exalt the law and the prophets (i.e., Scripture), warns of breaking “one of these least commandments,” and lauds the person who “does and teaches” them as “great in the kingdom of heaven” (5.17–19). The Bible has many other references to a believer’s “good works” (Matt 26.10; Acts 9.36; Rom 13.3; 2 Cor 9.8; Col 1.10; 1 Tim 2.10; 3.1; 5.10, 25; 6.18; 2 Tim 2.21; 3.17; Tit 1.16; 2.7, 14; 3.1, 8, 14; Heb 10.24; 13.21; 1 Pet 2.12). Indeed, the concept is much more pervasive than the phrase (e.g., Psa 119.1–6). That great Protestant scholastic theologian Turretin said, “Since the will of God is the supreme and indispensable rule of our duty, the practice of good works [obeying the will of God] cannot but be considered as highly necessary” (Institutes, 17.3.5).

2. The broad context of God’s grace and our works in Ephesians. Having recently expounded the whole epistle in many sermons, its broad message and many details remain clearly in my mind. Ephesians 1–3 emphasizes what God has graciously done to save His people, while Ephesians 4–6 exhorts those He has saved to a life of good works. This illustrates the great message of all Scripture that God saves sinners out of His pure, free, unconditional grace, according to His eternal purpose for those chosen of God the Father in Christ Jesus, and by means of His gracious quickening by the Holy Spirit. God’s grace alone to people who were spiritually dead deserves all the credit for the faith, hope, and love that comes to dwell in their hearts, and for the good works they do by His continual prompting and enabling. The fact that any and all of a believer’s good works come after God’s grace to him or her powerfully suggests that those works have in no way been the cause, meritorious or otherwise, of that grace. Ephesians forcefully teaches us that God’s grace produces our good works, not vice versa. The “hinge verse” says, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (4.1). Gracious calling comes first, and a worthy walk comes afterward as the consequence of this.

3. The immediate argument of Ephesians 2.8–10. Read these verses repeatedly and very carefully. Paul obliterates any basis for human boasting in those whom God saves. Only His grace and not anything in ourselves is responsible for our salvation. Anything good we possess is His free gift to us, despite our fearful demerits on account of our sins. Our salvation is expressly denied to be “of works,” i.e., our works, and this absolutely precludes any and all human boasting in ourselves. This use of the term “works” is particularly significant here because it is undeniably referring to human, not divine works (else, it would be saying we are not saved by God’s works, which is precisely the opposite of the passage’s whole drift). Then Paul proclaims that we who are saved by grace alone are God’s “workmanship,” which is to say, “God has made us what we are” (BDAG), and here, the special reference is to what we are as His chosen people saved by His grace. The next phrase links God’s gracious work with what is produced in us: “created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” God’s sovereign power effects a spiritual new creation; believers come into existence and continue by His doing. He does this with a view and specific purpose of our good works. Clearly, in this redemptive plan, God deserves all the credit even for any good that believers do, since He produced it. If any doubt remains about the good works nevertheless being ours, the verse ends, “which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them [i.e., the just aforementioned “good works”].” Any decent Bible student knows that “walk” is a frequent metaphor for an habitual lifestyle. Here Paul asserts God’s eternal purpose that believers should consistently practice good works. That we should walk in God’s good works is a preposterous notion and wholly without any scriptural support. And yet God is to be praised for our good works. Ernest Kevan was very discerning when he wrote, “Some of the essentials of a truly godly action are that it must be commanded by God; it must be effected in the believer by the Spirit of God; it must flow from an inward principle of grace whereby a man is a new creature; and the end must be God’s glory” (The Moral Law, p. 27).

4. The exhortations to good works following Ephesians 2.10. It is also easy to see what good works Paul had in mind as we work our way through his epistle: church members forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4.1), rising above the degenerate practices of pagans and manifesting our new life in Christ (4.17–5.20), embracing our particular roles in Christian households (5.21–6.9), and prayerfully engaging spiritual warfare with the resources we have from God (6.10–20). These are things we do by the grace of God alone, and He delights in our “good works” as His workmanship. There is nothing remotely legalistic about this interpretation, while the proposed alternative is fairly branded antinomian heresy. Ω