Everett Henes: Memory verses
Some Bible verses are more memorable than others. I suppose that’s why they’re often called “memory verses.” One of my favorites is Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” It's not just the ease of the words, but the content as well. It’s important to keep these verses together. Here Paul summarizes the entirety of the Christian life. It begins in faith, rooted in grace, and works itself out throughout our whole life.
First, the Christian life begins in faith. Perhaps the best scriptural summary of faith in Christ is found in Westminster’s shorter catechism, #86, “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.” Faith takes hold of Christ who saves. This is not a onetime faith; it is to be continuing and growing faith. It is a believing and resting in God’s promises and yet calling out for help in unbelief. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Our faith is not a work that we do, or something that we muster up. No, Paul categorizes faith as one of the gifts of God.
Next, the Christian life is rooted in grace. Grace is undeserved favor. Grace is required because of sin. Were God to not be gracious, then all would stand condemned before him. But God is gracious! That is the good news. The grace rooted life is one that holds tightly to what God has promised. This is why it is “by grace through faith” that salvation comes. This is also why the Christian life is often called “growing in grace.”
Lastly, look at the words that Paul uses, “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” Elsewhere Paul says it like this, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) And, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6:15)
To be a Christian is to be made new by God. This newness isn’t like a shiny new toy or some new thing that we buy, and it immediately begins to lose its luster. This newness is a breaking in of the promise of what is to come. In the new creation. When Paul says that we are his workmanship, he means that our new life in Christ is what God is working. Even as our outer nature is wasting away, we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)
Further, in our verses we see that the Christian is called to do good works. This is often thought of as a contradiction in concepts. Christians are those who are saved by grace, through faith, so surely our works have nothing to do with our salvation. Paul has been emphatic about how it is that Christians are saved: it is wholly a work of God and it is only through Christ. But what comes next? Once we have faith, given by God, and once we have been made new, how then should we live? To put it in the terms found here, what have we been created for? Paul gives us two words, “good works.”
While good works are not in any way the grounds of our salvation, they are in every way important to our Christian life. We can hear a not-so-faint parallel of James’ words, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:17) This is not a works-based salvation that Paul puts forth; rather, it is a grace, mercy, and faith centered salvation that results in good works. Why? Because we are new, re-created in Christ, and because God has prepared in advance such good works for us to do. This should cause Christians to always have our eyes open, looking for those good works that God has prepared for us to do. But what are these good works? They are those things God commands, for his glory and for the good of our neighbor. Simply put, good works are those things that are in accordance with God’s word and are evidences of a true and lively faith.
— Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Everett Henes: Memory verses
