The Gospel & Salvation: Salvation by Grace Alone Part 3

Salvation by Grace Alone

Not by Good Works

But for Good Works

Ephesians 2:10 & Titus 2:11-14

 We are deep into this series on the gospel and the work of salvation. We have studied the problem of sin and we have found the solution. We have learned how we become partakers of the solution. When we repent and believe, placing our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved. We are rescued from the penalty of sin and eternal damnation. The solution sounds too good to be true. God takes our sin and placed it on Jesus and poured out His divine wrath. Jesus paid the price in our place. In exchange for our filthy sinfulness we receive, by faith, the sinless righteousness which belonged to Jesus. Oh what a glorious exchange.

It may sound too good to be true, but it is not too good to be true, because of God’s grace. For the third week now we will be looking at God’s grace. In the first week we learned what grace is and what it does. Grace is God’s undeserved favor and blessings given to undeserving sinners. But grace is more than an inert reality that exists, it is an active power that awakens us from death, makes us alive together with Christ, and saves us through faith.

Last week we looked at the truth that we bring nothing to God that makes us deserving in the least of the gift of eternal life. Our salvation is not of works. It does not involve any good deeds, any religious ritual, any keeping of the Ten Commandments, or any religious effort whatsoever. Even though the majority of humanity believes God’s favor is earned by doing good deeds, or being a “good person,” there is no basis for such belief system found in the Bible. In fact, the opposite is emphasized. Our best deeds are filthy garments in the sight of holy God. If we are not clothed in His righteous robes, we will not stand in His holy presence.

This leads us to the question about the role of good works in the life of the Christian. As you read the New Testament you find command after command regarding how we should live the Christian life. We are told to walk in a manner worthy of our calling into the Christian faith. There are attitudes, deeds, and responsibilities associated with the Christian life. So we must come back to the issue of salvation by grace alone through faith alone for one more message because we must finish the message. We have been learning about salvation by grace alone from Ephesians 2. We have looked at verses 1-8 to learn what grace is and what it does. We looked at verse 9 to see that salvation is not the result of our good works. Today we must examine verse 10 to see that while we are not saved by our good works, we are saved for good works. Read Ephesians 2:1-10.

It is easy to see from verses 1-7 that something dramatic happens when we are saved. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but we were made alive. When Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, where he had been dead four days, and Lazarus walked from the tomb fully alive, that was dramatic. There was no doubt that a notable miracle had occurred. That is a picture of what God does for us when He saves us. Also, we go from walking according to the course of this world, according to the power of Satan, directed by the spirit of disobedience, indulging the desires of the flesh and mind, to being made alive together with Christ, and being seated with Him in the heavenly places, the place of God’s eternal domain. That too is dramatic. The picture is of a person who is dramatically transformed. Salvation makes a radical difference in the life of the one who is saved.

The radical difference in the life of one who is dramatically transformed by salvation will be seen in the way the genuinely saved individual lives his or her life. This is Paul’s point in verse 10. “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” We are not saved by our good works, but we are saved for the good works which God has prepared for us.

Let’s consider a few details found in this verse. The Greek word for “workmanship” is “poiema.” (poy-ay-ma) It describes something made, something which is the result of work. We are something made. What we are made to be is the result of someone’s work. This is an important consideration. Who is the workman? We are God’s workmanship. Wouldn’t you think that the workman matters somewhat? If you wanted a statue for your front yard, and you could choose between Michelangelo, or me to create your sculpture, don’t you think there might be a difference in the outcome? 

Consider first that we are the workmanship of the omnipotent Sovereign. The all-powerful Craftsman is the one doing His work to make us into what He decides we need to be to do the good works He has for us to do. His is the workman, we are the work pieces. Listen to the words of Isaiah 29:16. “Shall the potter be considered as equal to the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, ‘he did not make me,’ or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘he has no understanding?’”

God is the Master Craftsman who alone gets to decide what the products will be designed to do. We don’t get to question what He decides. He is the omnipotent Sovereign Maker. So consider this – He hasn’t made His first mistake yet. Whatever He decides to make you or me to do, this is what is perfectly appropriate and right for us.

Consider this also. God has yet to make anything inferior, or anything that is incapable of doing what He decides it should be designed to do. There are many things to be considered about being God’s workmanship. You could not have been crafted by a better Workman. We are His workmanship. We are His work pieces. 

We are His workmanship, “created…” The Greek word “ktizo.” It means to create or produce from nothing. This makes sense, especially in regards to His work among those whom He saves. He had to produce what He makes from nothing because we were dead spiritually. This same word is used in Mark 13:19 to speak of the creation of all that God created. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth.” The God who spoke all of creation into existence from nothing is the same Craftsman who created us for the good works He has for us as Christians.

He created us “in Christ Jesus.” 2 Cor. 2:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold now things come.” Being created in Christ Jesus we have a new life, with a new nature, with new desires, and a new purpose, and a new power. Let’s turn and read about this work in Colossians 3:1-17.

We were created in Christ Jesus “for good works.” The KJV says, “unto good works.” The word “good” is “agathos” in the Greek. It describes things that are benevolent, useful, profitable, or excellent. These are works that are distinguished, works of quality, works of good character. These are thing things we read about in Colossians 3. In Colossians 1:10 Paul’s prayer for those believers was that they would “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.”

Notice also, these good works for which we are created in Christ Jesus, are works “which God prepared beforehand…” The KJV says “which God before ordained.” The word “hetoimazo” is used only twice in the New Testament. It is used of God foreordaining for good, or for His glory, and to good works. We read in Ephesians 1:4 that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” We also read in Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.”

The final phrase in verse 10 says, “so that we would walk in them.” “Walk” is “peripateo.” It speaks of our manner of life. In Eph. 2:2 we find a description of how we formerly “walked.” In Eph. 4:1 Paul writes, “Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” We are to live in a manner that reflects the workmanship of God, doing the good works which He has determined for us to do.

In this last phrase the verb translated “would walk” is an active voice verb. This means that the subject of the sentence “we” is responsible for the action of the verb. God’s workmanship does not make us robots. The mood of this verb is subjunctive. This is the mood of potentiality or probability. God’s workmanship has made it possible for us to walk in the good works which have been prepared for us. We are responsible to God to walk in the good works He has prepared for us to walk in.

We have made much over the last few weeks of the powerful influence of grace. In the same way that grace does not force us to have faith against our will, grace does not coerce us to walk in the good works which have been ordained by God. On the other hand, just like faith is energized by God’s grace, and my salvation is by grace through faith, my ability to walk in the good works God ordained requires the energizing power of grace.

If we are trying to walk in God’s beforehand prepared good works in our own strength, we may as well be trying to jump over Mt. Everest. It can’t be done. Walking in these good works in our own strength cannot be done any more than saving ourselves apart from God’s grace can happen. It is impossible. So, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, and we also walk in the good works which God has ordained for us by the power of the grace He gives.

This truth is clearly explained in another important passage. Titus 2:11-14 helps us understand the connection between grace and salvation and the resulting good works. Let’s turn there.

This is a pastoral letter written by Paul to encourage and instruct this young pastor Titus who had been assigned duties in Crete. Titus was to set things in order, indicating that some things had gotten out of order. He was to appoint scripturally qualified elders, and Paul spells out the qualifications for these men. These things were necessary because there were some rebels, empty talkers, and deceivers from the circumcision. You should remember those guys from last week. Titus had to confront those who would pervert the gospel.

In chapter 2, Paul instructs Titus to teach sound, biblical doctrine. Biblical doctrine defines both the Christian’s belief and duties. So Paul outlines duties for older men, older women, younger men and younger women. Then he describes the duties of slaves. Many people in slavery in the Roman Empire came to Christ.

When we come to verse 11, it seems almost like Paul has an “oh by the way” revelation. In verses 11-14 Paul gives the theological explanation of why these duties are to be taken seriously. At the heart of this explanation is the reality that we do what we do because of what God has done in saving us. We have hearts which are now predisposed to walk in a manner consistent with the transformation God produced when He made us alive together with Christ. Listen for this theme as we read these verses.

This is a very good description of both God’s work of redemption and the resulting impact on the one who is redeemed. This passage gives the truth of Ephesians 2:10 in a more detailed description.

Look at what is responsible for bringing salvation and instructing us. It is the grace of God which has appeared bringing salvation and instructing us. We need to understand that when Paul says the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all men, he isn’t teaching the idea of universalism. This is a false teaching that says that God has saved everyone. Paul is simply stating that the gift of salvation has brought salvation to all groups of people. People from Jewish backgrounds to people from all kinds of Gentile backgrounds, to men and women, to older people and younger people, to slaves and free. The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all groups of people.

The word “appeared” is the same word from which we get our English word “epiphany.” It means to show forth, exhibit, to shine light upon. It carries the idea of showing oneself openly, coming forward suddenly and unexpectedly. We see the same word used again in Titus 3:4. Read verses 4-7.

God’s grace appeared bringing “salvation.” When did this appearance happen, and in whom? John 1:14 tells us of the sudden and unexpected appearance of grace which brought salvation. It was when the “Word” appeared. John 1:14 says, “and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the Only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Verses 16-17, “for of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” When Christ appeared, the grace of God appeared bringing salvation.

Titus 2:12 tells us that the grace that appeared and brought salvation is also, “instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” This is a present tense participle. This denotes continuous and repeated action. Grace is continuously and repeatedly instructing us. This word “instructing” describes the bringing up of a child. It means to educate with the goal of moral and spiritual development which influences the will and actions of the child being trained. It also includes the idea of chastening to educate someone regarding how to conform to divine truth. Grace trains us, disciplines us, and instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires.

Justification brings us to the reality of sanctification. God never saves without also sanctifying. The grace that rescues us from the penalty of sin will immediately begin to train us to walk away from the sinful, ungodly, and worldly desires to which we were once enslaved. I told you a couple weeks ago that God’s grace is a complex of divine favors granted to those who deserve wrath and judgment. Grace is a divinely wrought power that functionally manifests itself by transforming those who repent and believe. We know that grace that saves, sanctifies, and will one day glorify us. Grace is a divine force God pours into the lives of His people at all points to grant them all they need to become all He created us in Christ Jesus to become.

The same grace that appears to bring salvation to us becomes apparent because of what it does to train us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age. Clearly, we are saved, not by our good works, but unto, or for, good works. Because this is true we will turn away from those things which were part of our former lives, things which do not please God, and we will devote ourselves to those things which are spiritually sensible, righteous, and godly.

Grace also points us to the future when we won’t have to deal at all with the presence of sin. Look at verse 13. Grace reminds us to look forward to the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. This is a reminder that grace will not stop before its work is complete. Our corrupt mortal flesh will be done away with and we will put on immortality and sin will be no more. This becomes our reality, and our blessed hope will be realized, at the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. This isn’t just a great promise of things to come. It is also a tremendous declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ.

We must also notice the great proclamation of verse 14. Jesus Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. “Redeem” is “lutruoo.” The noun for is translated into the word “ransom.” This verb means “to bring forward a ransom.” Our Savior appeared as a Redeemer. He delivered us from bondage to slavery in sin.

1 Peter 1:18-19 reads, “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Jesus redeemed us from the slave market of sin to make us His own possession. We have a new Master. The proof of our ownership is our deeds. We become, as a result of our redemption, a people zealous for good deeds. We will walk in the good deeds which we were redeemed to walk in. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we would walk in them. We will even be zealous for these good deeds. We know what a zealot is. It is one who is more than eagerly desirous of something. We will be very eager to do the good deeds of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

By grace we have been saved through faith. Our salvation is not a result of our good works. We produce nothing to add to the finished work of Christ as the basis for our salvation. There is nothing we do about which we can boast. We are saved by God’s grace. And God’s marvelous grace not only  saves us by redeeming us from slavery to sin, but it also works in us to make us the new creatures who are zealous for the good deeds that will please, honor, and glorify our new Master.

Salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ alone, will make us into the people who will walk in the good works which God prepared beforehand. Are you walking in those good works?