Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10. For his handiwork are we. This is the reason there should be no human glorying. The rendering we adopt brines out the emphasis which the original places on the word ‘His,' and brings the word ‘we' closer to ‘created' which agrees with it, not with ‘handiwork.' This term, meaning ‘that which is made,' does not correspond with ‘works' (Ephesians 2:9), but is that which is transferred into Latin and English, as poema, poem. The same notion that poetry is the highest human creation is found in other languages.

Created in Christ Jesus for good works. The reference is to the new creation, the spiritual renewal, and not to the physical creature also. By means of this creation in Christ Jesus there is a ‘new man' (Ephesians 2:15; comp. chap. Ephesians 4:21-22). ‘Unto' is not an exact rendering of the preposition, which here expresses not simply the end of salvation, but also the result. ‘Good work' are those performed in consequence of this new creation in Christ Jesus. Their goodness springs from the new motive of love, not from any forced conformity to law. They are the evidence of the new creation, not in any sense its cause, for the Apostle is here proving (‘for') that salvation as a whole (comp. Ephesians 2:8-9) is by grace, not of works. The statement that salvation is of works involves the fallacy of mistaking the effect for the cause. Moreover, even good works have in them no saving merit, for God new created us so that these might be the result.

Which God before prepared. The construction of the original has occasioned some discussion, but the mass of recent commentators accept the view that ‘which' (referring to ‘good works') is the object of the verb. The compound verb means to ‘prepare before,' and retains that sense here. It is not to be taken as neuter, nor rendered ‘predestined;' comp. Romans 9:23. In the latter the end is made prominent; in this verb, the means. Nor should the force of ‘before' be overlooked in the interpretation. While the term ‘good works,' without the article, does not necessarily point to particular actions of individuals, we must find in ‘before' a previous arrangement, a linking of causes and efforts, to further the performance of good works.

That we should walk in them. Bengel: ‘That we should walk, not that we should be saved, or should live.' This is the design, and therefore becomes the result. It is not the ultimate end, it is true, but an immediate and essential one. God so prepares, by His providence and grace alike, that we may so act as to perform the works He deems good. Countless arrangements in nature, in society, in our lives, external and internal also, combine to provide for us this path wherein to walk. He who has been new created in Christ Jesus knows how real this preparation is, how abundant are the providential opportunities for expressing that love to Christ (the first of faith) which necessarily manifests itself in good works, and which alone can make them good. God accounts those works ‘good' which He has prepared before as the sphere of our moral life. They are the results He designed in a plan of salvation by grace, not of works. The antagonism between ‘faith' and ‘good works' is altogether unscriptural; the real opposition is between ‘faith' and ‘works' which minister to pride. The gospel says: Live and do this; the law (and with it all that ministers to human glorying): Do this and live. The principles are antagonistic, but eighteen centuries of practical demonstration render all the more emphatic the assertions of the Apostle.