Ephesians 2:8-10 - “For by grace
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we
should walk in them.”
So the question is, do our works
matter? The answer is yes! Notice vs.10 “for we are His workmanship.” The word “workmanship” POIEMA
emphasizes God as the master designer, the universe as His creation and the
redeemed believer as His new creation. Before conversion our lives had no rhyme
or reason. Conversion brought us balance, symmetry, and order. We are God’s
poem, His work of art. We are now saved TO DO good works! We are
not saved BY good works, but FOR good works! Isn’t that simple? And by the way,
good works are...GOOD! Let’s look at some other verses:
Ecclesiastes 12:14: “For God will
bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or
evil.”
1 Cor. 3:13: “Each ones work will
become clear; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire;
and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”
Revelation 20:13: “The sea gave up
the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in
them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.”
1 Peter 1:17: “And if you call on
the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct
yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.”
Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man
will come in the glory of His Father, with angels, and then He will reward each
according to his works.”
Revelation 22:12: “And behold, I am
coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his
work.”
So what are these scriptures saying?
Two words are very important: BELIEF and BEHAVIOR. To distinguish
between our belief and our behavior is the answer. Our belief determines
where we will spend eternity and our behavior determines how
we will spend our eternity.
Belief determines whether we go to heaven or
to hell. Our behavior determines how many rewards and the degrees of
responsibility and the treasure we will have in heaven. You need treasure in
heaven! Jesus said store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. He didn’t say
store up for My Father and Me, hey we are running short on gold up here for our
streets! NO, we are to store up, and we do that through our good works here.
Did you notice in 1 Peter 1:17 it says “...throughout the time of your stay
here in fear.” We are here but a blink of an eye and then poof!
