Monday, September 22, 2014
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
FAITH WORKS
In nature lightning and thunder present a striking illustration of the relationship between faith and works. When lightning flashes across the sky, we know that the roar of thunder will follow. Without lightning, there would be no thunder, because the one is the cause of the other.
Likewise, good works always accompany saving faith in Jesus Christ -- because one brings about the other. As someone once said, "We are saved by faith alone, but faith is never alone." When the Holy Spirit through the message of what Jesus has done brings a person to trust in Christ and His redeeming work, that faith will be living and active. The rescued sinner cannot help but praise and thank His Savior God -- and be (in Luther's words) "a Christ to his neighbors."
When the Apostle Paul by inspiration wrote: "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," (Ephesians 2:8-9) He immediately went on to write: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
But let us never forget the divine order the Apostle lays down. Faith saves because it makes a living connection between our Savior and us. The same God who thus makes us His children also creates us to be like His beloved Son, our Savior. But in the same manner that thunder contributes nothing to lightning, good works add nothing to our salvation. Rather, they are the "sound" that "follows" faith.
The Apostle's meaning is plain and clear -- although we're not saved BY good works, we are saved FOR good works.
