So first, what is faith? Probably Paul tells us in Hebrews
chapter 11, verse one, faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen. So these things that we hope
for in faith, these things that we cannot see in faith, These
are the fulfillment of all of God's promises that he has given
us. These things that God has promised,
they are things we look to the future for. It is a promise of
the fulfillment of all those prophecies that we read out of
John's revelation. And so faith is an assurance
a conviction, a rest in the end of all things, Christ's victory
over death and our eternal communion with him. Right, we cannot see those things
yet, can we? Right, what can we see? We can
see the world around us, we can see the state of chaos that defines
it. We can see so many who wage war against us, against God. It's very different from the
victory that we see described by John in the end of Revelation,
right? Revelation chapter 19, we see
that Christ comes as a judge, one to judge the wicked, one
to judge the nations. John tells us that he will judge
with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of
the fury of the wrath of God. Sometimes it's hard to look out
in the world and see that, right? And so faith is resting in these
promises. I think this was the thing I
told you to write down if you didn't write anything else down. Faith
is resting in promises that aren't necessarily going to make your
life better right now. The evangelical culture of our
day often makes God out to be this cosmic vending machine,
is the phrase I like to use. That God is someone that you're
looking to get something from, to improve your circumstances. We often see teachers allege that faith is
the thing that is keeping you from being healed, or that you
don't have enough faith if your circumstances are not abundantly
blessed. So hear this, the extent to which
your circumstances reflect stability and security, outward righteousness,
good working, these things are not a measure of your faith. We keep coming back to this picture
of Jesus in the garden when he prays and sweats blood. This picture of the God of creation
experiencing the agony of knowing what is about to happen to him? Do we look upon Christ and say,
you of little faith? Faith means that despite the
agony and anxiety that comes from our circumstances, we are
at peace in our souls, knowing that God is sovereign and that
Christ has completed our salvation, that there is waiting for us
an end to all pain and suffering and an eternal communion with
him. How much faith does Jesus say
you need? He uses that parable of the mustard
seed. because it was the smallest of
all the seeds. Then we see in verse eight that
this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God. The observation that I made here
is that we oftentimes find things in scripture that seem inconsistent
with our experience. The way the apostles describe
faith and spiritual things seems to contradict how we experience
and understand these things. And so when we find something
in scripture that's inconsistent with our experience, in our flesh
we try to explain what the word teaches in a manner that is consistent
with our experience. So when I tell you that faith
is not something you do, it's something that is given
to you at the discretion of the Father, it offends our humanity. It offends our senses, it offends
our experiences. And yet here we see, by grace
you have been saved through faith and this is not of your own doing. Faith is a peace that surpasses
your understanding. It is a resting when it doesn't
make sense to your flesh to rest. It does not make sense that you
would have peace in your mind, in your circumstances. When all of your understanding
wants to think that it's something that you have to do, something
you have to dig yourself out of, it is a rest that you must
choose to take. But it is when we think that,
when we feel that way, that the work of Christ overcomes our
understanding. And the grace of God gives us
this rest. So that is the context in which
we should understand verses nine and 10. That we have been saved by grace
in the work of Christ and that faith has given us to rest when
there's no reason at all that we should be resting. Now there's some sense in which
Paul could be seen to be repeating himself here. Verse 9, he says,
not a result of works that no one may boast. You might say, well, verse 8,
yeah, we get it, for by grace. That's what grace means, right?
But I think what Paul is doing here is he's being very careful
to call out, as he often does in his letters, the teaching
of Judaism. We're not that far removed from
Christ the man living, dying, and resurrecting here on earth. We're not that far removed, as
Paul is writing this letter, from the Jews killing God. And so many of the Ephesian church
would have grown up in Judaism and through hearing the gospel
would have come out of Judaism. When you become a believer, when
you are converted, usually you try to smuggle in
the old self, right? We bring with us, when we come
to faith, we bring with us beliefs that we once had. We try to hold
on to those things. And so for the sake of the Jews
in Ephesus, I think Paul is throwing this in there so that we really
understand grace. For the Greeks in the Ephesian
church, they would have Judaism as the religious reference point, if not the mythologies of Rome,
right? And so we see throughout Paul's
letters a correction, a refutation of the theology of Judaism. And
in particular here, Paul is refuting the teaching that God's favor
is earned by observing works of the law. For a more detailed refutation
of this, I mean, we can read Hebrews. I always joke that I
go to Hebrews 8, 9, and or 10 when I'm preaching. Or I joke
that I always go to Romans 3, which I will be in Romans 3 shortly.
In Hebrews 8, 9, and 10, we see the ultimate, most clear, most
detailed refutation of Jewish theology. Your salvation, your faith, it
is not a result of works. Stop trying to earn God's favor. Again, I want to reflect on what
Paul says in verse 8, that this is not of your own doing, not
a result of works. This is not of our own doing.
It tells us that our salvation is grounded in something that
is done for us and given to us. There's something else that props
it up, that holds it up, that causes it to become outside of
ourselves. It also tells us that there's
nothing that we can do about it. It's not of your own doing. You cannot change what has been
done. And you might recall last time
that the whole point of the sermon was that the thing that was done
was Christ's work on the cross. But in verse nine, when Paul
says, not a result of works so that no one may boast, Paul is
refuting a particular type of judgment and hypocrisy in the
church, a particular type of attitude that is reflected also
in Judaism. Last week, James posted on his
Facebook, he said, we are saved by grace alone, not the belief
that we are saved by grace alone. We must avoid believing that
we are saved because God has gifted us some measure of good
working or right belief. We must avoid believing that the source, the cause of
our salvation is that we got the theology right. The gift of God in verse eight
is not your good works and it's not your good theology. For by grace you have been saved
through faith, this is not of your own doing, it is the gift
of God. My favorite error, my favorite judgment that
comes out of making this mistake is this question. James, I know
you've heard this question many, many times, and that is, would
you call someone a brother who blank? There are people out there who,
when it comes to judging your profession of faith, they're
going to ask you who you hang out with. Because they think that That
is how they can judge your beliefs. If you call this person a brother,
then you obviously don't check all 15, 16, 17 boxes of doctrine
that I have put on my list as required for your salvation. But what's really going on when
we make that mistake? It is looking to something that
we have done. It is looking to something inside
ourselves that we have brought about. It is a boasting in our knowledge. Back to Judaism in Luke chapter
18, verses nine through 14, we see this report. He also told
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and treated others with contempt. Two men went up
into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself
prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I give
tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing
far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat
his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself
will be exalted. This Pharisee believed that this
gift of God was his righteousness, his good works. Right? He says thank you. He thanks
God for how righteous he is. Right? Which, that's okay. in
private, right? You can look at your life and you can see that you are
different from some people, right? You can pray and thank God for
how he has changed you. That's okay. But the mistake
of this Pharisee here is he is using that to judge the tax collector,
right? And this tax collector recognizes
that he has nothing to offer. He has nothing to bring to the
table of salvation, and that it is only by the gift of God,
the grace of God, that he may be saved. It is the only boast that he
has. The only assurance of salvation
that he has is the promises of God. I'm gonna read a quote. I've read it before. James knows
whose it is, I'm not gonna tell you whose it is. The famous teacher
once said, the only validation you will ever have of your salvation
is a life of obedience. It's the only possible proof
that you really recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Obedience
is the only validation of your salvation. It's the only possible
proof that you recognize the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Does that sound like the tax
collector or the Pharisee? God did not gift you good works
or good theology for your salvation or for your assurance. God did not gift to you theological
precision. God did not gift to you a generous
heart so that you might look at that and say, that's why I
am saved. That's how I know I am saved. So what did God gift to you? What is the thing that Paul is
talking about here? This gift of God that is not
a result of works so that no one may boast. There's an error that often comes
up when we talk about this gift, this thing that God has given
to us. This gift of salvation is often spoken of as something
that God has bought, and that he's holding on to,
and that he then delivers to you, and then, as though he were
the UPS guy, is now asking for you to sign for your package. Okay? The gift is not what God
bought. The thing that God bought and
paid for is you. Jesus did not buy a transferable
salvation package on the cross. Jesus did not buy a warranty
contract on the cross. to be given to those who uphold
one end of an exchange or transaction. On the cross, Jesus paid for
his people. You were the exchange. You were
transferred. The debt of your sin is what
Jesus paid for, and in that he transferred you from unrighteous
to righteous, unholy to holy, sinner to saint. And here we are in Romans 3,
verse 23. All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as
a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. That word there in Romans 3,
propitiation, that's what I'm talking about. The law makes a demand of us,
doesn't it? What is the demand of God's law?
Obey or die. What was the promise given to
Adam? If you eat of this tree, you will die. This is the same demand made
by every single command found in God's law, obey or die. This is propitiation. This word
in Romans 3, where you have fallen short of his glory and the law
demanded your death. God the Father, the righteous
judge looked upon his son and poured out his wrath upon him
in your stead. The law demanded your death and
Christ demanded your life. The son demands of the father
that his people, his bride, be declared clean and justified.
The son makes this demand of the father that we are washed
in his blood. And so this is the gift. This is the gift of God. It's
not by works, because the work has already been done. The exchange
has been made. The transaction has been fulfilled,
completed, resolved. And since this is not our working,
but Christ's working, we have nothing to boast about, except
that we boast in Christ. And this offends our humanity,
doesn't it? This is offensive to our flesh
because our flesh wants to look at the good works that we do
perform in our life and point to them as though they
earn God's favor in some way. And that is the wisdom of the
world. 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says, consider
your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according
to worldly standards. Not many were powerful, not many
were of noble birth. God chose what is foolish in
the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the
world to shame the strong, and God chose what is low and despised
in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing the
things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence
of God. And because of him, you are in
Christ Jesus, who came to us wisdom from God, righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let
the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. Second Corinthians chapter 10.
Apparently the Corinthians didn't get the message. Paul says it
again. It is not the one who commends himself who is approved,
but the one whom the Lord commends. In both of these places, Paul
is echoing the words of the prophet Jeremiah. Who is echoing the
words of the Lord? Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23.
Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom.
Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich
man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this,
that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices
steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Back to this Pharisee
and tax collector. And what does the tax collector
boast? Nothing. except that God is powerful to
save him. Now in verse 10, Paul says, we
are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I like this passage because it
so clearly shows us the place of works in our lives, right?
There's no room for confusion about which side of salvation
works belong, right? I'll spend several verses here
making sure to emphasize that it is the work of Christ, not
the work of Trey or the work of Mike. that brings about our salvation.
And then in verse 10, it says, all right, let's talk about good
works. We are his workmanship. So we've established that we
belong to Christ entirely on account of Christ. Christ's work, not our own work.
And Paul declares Christ's ownership over us and our works. And so we see that good works,
the workmanship of Christ, these are positioned as a what? A blessing that flows forth from
the grace that has saved us, rather than a requirement of
or a participant in our salvation. I'll say it again, your good
works are a blessing that flows forth from your salvation. not
a requirement of or a participation in it. So when Paul says that we are
his workmanship, this indicates that Christ is doing something
with us. He's building something with
us, using us for something in the context of his people and
his kingdom. So Paul goes on and says that
we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. I've seen others try to connect
this particular phrase with God's decree of election saying that
the elect are created in Christ Jesus for good works in their birth. I don't think
that's what Paul is talking about here. Created in Christ Jesus
does not refer to our first birth. It does not refer to the way
in which we were created in our mother's womb. Right? Because we were created under
the curse of Adam. Right? Psalm 51, behold I was
brought forth in iniquity and in my sin did my mother conceive
me. Psalm 51 is David's repentance
of his sin with Bathsheba. He recognizes that not only did he sin with Bathsheba,
but he was born into it. First Corinthians 15, Paul makes
this contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam. Thus it is written, the first
man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving
spirit. Verse 46, it is not the spiritual
that is the first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first
man was from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is from
heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of
the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who
are of heaven. Just as we have been born, Just
as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also
bear the image of the man of heaven. So Paul here makes a distinction
between the one born under Adam and the one born under the last
Adam. And so created in Christ Jesus
refers not to your birth by woman, but your birth by spirit, the
new birth described in John 3. Jesus answered him, Jesus speaking
to Nicodemus, John 3, verse 3, truly I say to you, unless one
is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
says, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, truly,
truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit,
cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not
marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind
blows where it wishes and you hear it sound and you do not
know where it comes from or where it goes and so it is with everyone
who is born of the spirit. And so created in Christ Jesus
is this new birth, this regeneration, this being born of the spirit.
And so four good works indicates the purpose of this new birth,
not the cause of it, created in Christ Jesus for good works. And so there are then good works
to be done. There is service to be done as
a result of this new birth. And so Paul tells us that God
prepared these works beforehand, that we should walk in them. Good works prepared. I'm gonna borrow sort of from
systematic theology here. So I think it, in this instance,
provides a helpful lens through the different ways in which we
might understand God's preparation. I think there are two different
categories of good works here that Paul is talking about. One
is really only secondary to the conversation. But this secondary category is
the one that's typically discussed when we get here. Most sermons
I've heard preached on Ephesians 2.10 leave out what I think is
the primary point of the passage, or at least of the verse. The categories I'm going to borrow
from systematic theology are this idea of what is hidden and
what is revealed. In systematic theology, when
we talk about the will of God, we talk about God's revealed
will and God's hidden will. God's hidden will is the will
of God, the counsel of God that we don't know about, right? You
know the phrase, God works in mysterious ways, right? We don't
know why God does most of the stuff that he does, except that
we know he does it for his own glory, for the glory of his son
and for the good of his people, right? We see mentioned throughout Ephesians
chapter one here this counsel of the Lord, the hidden will of God. It consists
of those decrees of God that are not revealed to us in the
word. The operation of the Father,
Son, and Spirit that the Bible doesn't tell us about, right?
Because there's most of the stuff the Bible doesn't tell us about,
right? What does John say? If I wrote everything I could
about Jesus, it would fill up all the books in the world, right? So in contrast, the revealed
will of God then is those things that God has revealed to us,
those decrees, those explanations, those reasons for doing things
that God has laid out for us in his word. And so I'm gonna take this sort
of framework of revealed versus hidden to understand the good
works that God has prepared for us. And so this secondary work,
this not the point of the passage, I think, is going to be God's hidden preparation. And what I mean by this is that
God is preparing for you opportunities to engage in good works. God
is preparing for you opportunities to serve your neighbor. God will
put people in your path and present you with opportunities to serve
him in your everyday life. Right? We know that God does
this. But God's preparation of these
good works is hidden from us. We don't know how he does it.
We don't know why he does it. We don't know when it's going
to happen. We don't know where these opportunities
to serve him will appear. The ability to recognize these
opportunities is trained as we mature in our faith and grow
in our knowledge of the word, right? And that's usually what we talk
about when we get to Ephesians 2.10. That's usually where the conversation
of Ephesians 2.10 stops. But I don't think it's the primary
focus of the good works prepared beforehand. And so in contrast, I believe
that the good works which God prepared beforehand are those
that have been revealed to us in His Word. Created in Christ refers to the
new birth, and so the four good works refers primarily to that
thing that we are brought into in our conversion. Which is what? That is the assembling of the
saints and the means of grace that are given to us to walk
in. We are created new in Christ
by the Spirit in our conversion, and in doing so, we are pulled
out of darkness, placed into light, and God has prepared for us a
body of believers to serve. God has prepared for us a family
with which to live. The good works that God has prepared
for us beforehand are the things that are revealed to us in the
word, that the assembly is given to us for peace and joy, and
that we are given to the assembly of the saints to serve them,
and that in the assembly, we are given the means of grace,
those things that God has commanded for the maturing of our faith. Remember I told you when I talked
about that hidden preparation, those things that God is preparing
for us to do out there. It is this revealed preparation,
this engagement with the assembly that begins to prepare us for
those things. So just as God is preparing good
works for us, He is preparing us for good works as we gather together. It is here that we hear the word. It is here that the grace for
maturity begins. It is here that we are given
brothers and sisters who need our service. It is here that we sing and worship. The Lord fills us up with joy. It is here that we are reminded
of the work of Christ on the cross as we take of his table. It is here that God pours out
his grace on us for growing in our faith, for growing in our
love of our brothers and sisters. So it is here that God has first prepared good works
for us to walk in. I think this is what is in view
as Paul encourages the members of the Ephesian church This preparation to serve one
another, this preparation to grow in Christ, which is ultimately
the preparation to go out into the world and engage in those
good works that God is preparing for us out there. And again, all of this is a blessing
that flows forth from the faith that we have been given by God. And so if you boast, boast in
Christ. Let's pray and then we'll take
the table. Father, we thank you for the
work that was done. The only work that could be pleasing
and acceptable to you. The work of Christ, your son
on the cross. As we take of your table, God, show us that grace,
pour out that grace on us. Fill us up with the confidence
and the assurance that we can have in your promises, because
we know that it was secured by Christ's perfect work on the
cross. We pray these things in his name,
amen.