Salvation Works #1

What I want you to see is that wave after wave is reinforcing the same thing by God's grace, by what he did, his gift, not of yourselves, not of your works. We are his workmanship.

The source came from God. Did God save us so we might be better people? Well, there's no doubt we do get better when God saves us, but that's not why he did it.

Hi, I'm Bill Wright, and this is The Truth Pulpit. Pastor Don Green is continuing our series, Your Sin and God's Salvation, with part one of a message titled Salvation Works. You'll see that God saved us for his own sovereign purpose, and that there's no question he does the saving all by himself.

After all, the object of workmanship cannot participate in the working. We'll again be in Ephesians chapter 2, so turn there in your Bible as we join Don now in The Truth Pulpit. We're going to expound this text and see two really simple aspects, simple but profound, clear but necessary items on salvation. We're going to see, first of all, the source of our salvation, and then secondly, we're going to see the purpose of our salvation. We have here who it is that accomplishes salvation, and we have the purpose for which he did it, and that's what we're going to see. First of all, the source of our salvation, the source of our salvation. Where did salvation come from? Whose idea was it? Whose power was it?

Whose desire was it? Those questions are so fundamental, and what this text, beginning in Ephesians 1 and all the way down to where we're at today, particularly chapter 2 verses 1 through 10 which sets the context for this verse, shows us that the desire for salvation had to come from God originally, not from us, because we were dead in our transgressions, and we were captive to evil powers, and we had no desire for it. And so if you today find yourself here as a Christian, and you know that you've been born again, the clarity and the simplicity of this text is simply for you to see one more time in one more way that that came from the good heart of God, not from the accomplishment of your life.

And it is a humbling truth, but it is a necessary truth. What is the source of salvation? Look at verse 10 with me. Paul says, We are His workmanship. We are His workmanship. The original language emphasizes the possessive pronoun, His.

It places it first in the sequence of words. Salvation is God's achievement, not ours. It's His workmanship, and it's like Paul is saying, It's His workmanship. So that by the emphasis and the stress of His written voice, he says, Don't think anything else. Let go of your desire to take credit. We live in a world, the spirit of the world is that people want a piece of the action. If there's money to be had, people want a piece of the action. If there's glory to be had, people want a piece of the action. If there's power to be had and influence to be had, people want a piece of the action.

They want to be in on it so that they benefit from whatever is happening. Well, here in Ephesians chapter 2, Paul is confronting the spirit, that spirit of our age, and saying when it comes to the glory and the acknowledgement and the responsibility and who was the source of salvation, what this text is saying is that you and I don't get a piece of the action. We are His workmanship, not God's and ours. This wasn't a collaborative effort.

We weren't in joint partnership. We didn't form a limited partnership or a corporation and do it together with God. God saved us, and that changes everything. And this word workmanship is a word that is used only of the works of divine creation. That the object is on the receiving end of the creative power of God in such a way that the object could not have contributed to bringing itself about. If you turn over to Romans chapter 1, the same Greek term is used. Romans chapter 1, just back a couple of books in your Bible. The same Greek term is used in Romans chapter 1 verse 20, as Paul talks about, in part, the physical universe.

Chapter 1 verse 20. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through... here's the word translated differently, but it's the same underlying term... through what has been made so that they are without excuse. Paul says the physical creation displays the glory and the power of God. He says the nature of God, in part, is displayed through what has been made. And the point for our discussion here is that this created world that he's speaking about did not make itself. God created the world, and what stands after that is the display of His creative power and His originating source of creative ability.

Now, it's that same word, turn back to Ephesians chapter 2, it's that same word that we see here in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10. We are His workmanship. We are the object of something that God has done.

God, if you're a Christian today, here's the way that you should think about yourself. With great gratitude and humility before the throne of God, God did a work of creative activity upon you in your spiritual life to save you. You did not do anything to deserve that, you did not prompt that, you did not earn that, you did not participate in the creative act any more than the universe participated in its own creation.

That's the significance of this word. You were no equal partner in securing your fate. You were not the captain of your soul.

You were not the master of your own destiny. As we've seen, and we can't review it all, but if you follow the course of the Scriptures that we've been expounding up until this point, you realize it could never be that way. You did not bring yourself to spiritual life, beloved, and I didn't bring myself to spiritual life. It was a work of God. And there's no hidden meaning here, there's no qualifications or reservations to what Paul says. The simple clarity of what he says here is the reality of why we are a believer in Christ here today. It's because the source of our salvation was God Himself.

Look at the text again with me. We are His workmanship. We stand today as living, breathing Christians, spiritually alive. We're like that now in an ongoing way because God did a work beforehand in order to bring that result about. And just as the created order stands as a testimony to His creative power in the physical creation, so a Christian now stands as a manifestation and a demonstration of His creative power in the spiritual realm. We didn't participate in that.

We didn't make that happen. And so Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 is reinforcing everything that Paul just said in verses 8 and 9. Look at it with me. And you see this together and you see how the cumulative power of each word brings this to pass.

Let me say one thing here, okay? Your view of Scripture really affects the way that you look at this. We believe that every word of Scripture was inspired by God. It is the Word of God, word for word. Not just thoughts, but the actual words that we have in front of us are expressing the intention of God and say exactly what He wanted it to say. So that when we read a compact, rich verse like this passage, verses 8 through 10, every word matters. Every word is significant.

There wasn't some excess. Paul wasn't saying more than was necessary. We're reading what God wanted in print to testify to man throughout the existence of the physical world. Jesus said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. And so word by word we treasure what is said here.

This is why we treat it carefully. This is why it takes time to preach the Bible. But look at verse 8 with those things in mind, every word being important. By grace you have been saved. Notice that you're on the receiving end of the salvation, and it's by grace through faith.

That, not of yourselves. Don't think that you contributed to this by your own unaided effort or your own unaided desire. Paul says, No, it's not from you. It's from God. It's the gift of God.

Not as a result of your work, so that no one may boast. Or, he keeps going, you wonder if he even drew a breath while he was dictating this. He says, For we are his workmanship. And what I want you to see is that wave after wave is reinforcing the same thing. By God's grace, by what he did, his gift, not of yourselves, not of your works, we are his workmanship. The source came from God. And so, by a work of God's Holy Spirit on your heart, God enlightened your mind to understand the things of Christ in the gospel. He renewed your stubborn will and drew you to Christ when you would not have chosen to do that if he had not.

But he worked on you. He broke your chains of sin in such a way that you did not come against your will to Christ. He worked in your will in a way so that you came willingly in response to what he had done. Jesus said, No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.

That's what we're seeing here in this text. You came to Christ freely because God first broke your chains. And left to your own desires, you never would have been saved. And so, today, as we stand here as believers in Christ, we recognize that we are on the receiving end of something that God started and accomplished on our behalf.

And we are grateful to him. If you're not a Christian here today, I want you to understand something. That as you sit there alone and separated from God, without the Spirit in your heart, without belonging to Christ, still dead in your trespasses and sins, I want you to understand something. And I say this to help you. But you are hopelessly lost.

I grieve for you in your condition because there is nothing that you can do to make things better on your own. You simply have to cry out to God for mercy and say, God, be merciful to me in this situation and appeal to him to do something in mercy on your soul that you freely acknowledge that you cannot do for yourself. And so, at the same time, understand as we make that appeal to you that Christ says, come to me and I will receive you. Those who come to me, I'll never cast out. When you come to Christ crying out for mercy, you find that he was calling for you first to begin with. And as you feel that sense of conviction and that pull toward Christ, respond to it with a humble submission that says, Yes, Lord, save me too.

Now, we're talking about the source of salvation. You see the source again in the following phrase. This just fascinates me just from the repetition of it all. The multiplied repetitions tell us that we must be slow to receive this, slow to understand it, slow to accept it, slow to embrace it. If it was easy for us to accept this, Paul would have only had to say it once. But because we are so prone to miss the point, because the pride of our hearts so much wants a piece of the action, Paul says it again and again and again under the direction of the influence of the Holy Spirit so that we wouldn't miss it. Look at it with me there in verse 10. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

There we are, passive voice on the receiving end of the creative work of God. Created means that God caused it to come into existence. This word is also used to refer to the physical creation, God bringing it to pass. Look over at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 verse 16. There are a lot of parallels between Ephesians and Colossians, and as you read Ephesians and Colossians, they reinforce each other.

Paul wrote them at practically the same time while he was in prison. But here you see it in verse 16. In Ephesians, he's talking about the spiritual creation of the new birth. Here in verse 16 of Colossians 1, he uses it to refer to the physical universe, among other things. But here you see it, Colossians 1 verse 16. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created, there's our word, through Him and for Him. And when we read that in Colossians chapter 1, no one would seriously say, ah, but what that really means is that creation participated, creation helped out by bringing itself to the table, creation exercised faith so that God would create it.

We would never say that, because it's obvious that that's not what it means in that context. Well, the same word is being used to talk about God's spiritual work in Ephesians 2, but somehow we find our way trying... some people will find their way trying to say, but I had a part. I contributed something to this. I worked together with God to bring about my new birth. And Scripture is saying that's not the case. We're His workmanship.

We were created in Christ Jesus by the overwhelming power of God. Now look at Revelation chapter 4 verse 11, if you would. Revelation 4, 11. The same word being used here. Revelation 4, 11. Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created.

Same word there. God receiving glory, honor, and power because of His creative act. It's Him alone.

He alone gets the glory for it. The physical universe exists because God willed it to be so. The same word shows that you are a Christian by the will of God. It's because He wanted you that way. It's because He worked on your dead heart to bring you to life. It was a divine resurrection. It was a divine liberation. And so, as we wrap this up, and it's all in the realm of Christ Jesus, we are joined to Him.

As we wrap this up, it's clear. It's humbling. It's at the same time very exhilarating to realize that Paul is not congratulating us for having exercised faith in Christ and that by our human act we distinguished ourselves from others who do not believe. That is not his point. Paul is saying that the distinguishing mark, the reason that you are distinct, the reason that you are in the body of Christ is because of the work of God and the will of God, not because of the will of man. John chapter 1, verse 12. Not by the will of man who received Him. Not by the will of man. We're born not from ourselves.

A baby cannot bring about his own birth. His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Martin Luther said this, and I quote, he said, a man cannot be thoroughly humbled until he comes to know that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, counsel, endeavors, will, and works, and is absolutely dependent upon the will, counsel, and pleasure of God, end quote. Salvation is of the Lord.

That's what that means. Paul now having explained the source of salvation beyond any question, and Scripture says, look at verse 4 with me, it's so important for you to understand this, that this work of God in the lives of believers is a display of His mercy. It's because God had compassion upon us in our lost condition and wanted to help us and rescue us from it before we perished eternally. With nothing in us to draw out His affections, nothing to compel Him, nothing to earn this kind of motion from God to us, nothing like that at all simply from the pure perfect goodness of His attributes. In His great mercy, verse 4, with His great love by grace in verse 5, in verse 7, in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, God did this. And so far from this making us withdraw in coldness from God, perish the thought, we realize that God has shown such an utterable, eternal, magnificent goodness and kindness and affection toward us to bring us into His family so that He could secure us and bless us forever, to realize that He did a work in us to bless us like that makes us say, Hallelujah, Lord God, You are so very good to me. And we love Him with a softened, tender heart rather than turning away because we can't take any credit for ourselves. And you see, Beloved, the sooner, the more completely that we divest ourselves of trying to take any sliver of credit, the more our hearts have now been released and free to give God the glory which He so richly deserves. When you understand that a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, bled on a cross in order to bring this about for you, that He left heaven in order to shed His blood with such mercy and grace that He could look down upon those who were crucifying Him and mocking Him and say, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. When you realize that He was gashed and bruised and endured the wrath of God as your substitute, that the crown of shame that was thrust into His scalp was the scalp that should have been on you, that that sense of eternal separation, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, was your destiny apart from His intervention. Oh, Beloved, don't you see?

Don't you see that these truths from Scripture are what bring forth the love for God in our hearts? And it's not until we let go of wanting credit that we can fully embrace honoring Him exclusively and not trying to stand up on the top tier of the podium with Him with our arms around it, Lord, we did it together. Oh, the thought of that.

Oh, the thought of that just shatters me. No, Christ ascends to the top of the platform, as it were, receives the gold medal, and we're in the audience applauding Him, not trying to steal the moment by our so-called participation in the work. He gets all the glory, and when we embrace that, then we love Him far more than when we tried to keep some for ourselves. That's when we're thoroughly humbled, and that's when the blessing of God is unleashed on the human soul. It's not like you were a little robot toy that God wound the key up at your conversion and then let you go, and you just kind of went off into your life unchanged, and God says, hey, I'll see you in heaven, as if you could continue on after that kind of miraculous work, unchanged or unaffected by it. God didn't wind us up and then let us go, and with no intent of anything else to come from it, rather than making a transaction in His book that says this one goes to heaven, not to hell, and nothing else matters.

No, no. God's creative act, God's workmanship was for a purpose. It was to take ownership of your life so that, watch this, so that understanding that your secure, blessed, spiritual position, having come exclusively from Him, would now, watch this, places a sense of gratitude and obligation and responsibility and desire on your part that you want to return all of your energies to this God who exercised His creative energy in order to deliver you from your horrible state in sin. And so this massive power of God that was brought to bear on us was for a purpose so that our lives would be transformed, so that our lives would have an eye on, that our hearts would be motivated what He declares to be good and the purpose of our existence now. He saved us, and now He owns us, and we like it that way. We want it that way.

When you make or create something, you own it, and you decide what to do with it. As you've seen today on The Truth Pulpit, so it is with God and His creation, including, of course, us. Pastor Don Green will conclude his message and our series, Your Sin and God's Salvation, next time, so be sure to join us then.

Right now, though, Don's back here in studio with some closing words. Well, friend, if you have enjoyed this broadcast today, let me encourage you to do something that would be an encouragement to the partners who help make it happen. Drop a note, if you would, to the radio station that you've heard this broadcast on. They would love to hear that they have ministered to you because they love to share God's Word with you, and also it will help them know that they're reaching people with God's Word through the ministry of The Truth Pulpit. So drop them a note and give them thanks, and be sure to tell them that you heard The Truth Pulpit on this station. Thanks, Don, and friend, remember also to visit thetruthpulpit.com, where you can learn more about podcasts and free CDs of Don's teaching. That's thetruthpulpit.com. I'm Bill Wright, and we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit.