“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Eph. 2: 10 NLT).

  • We each have a purpose in this world. We must diligently work to fulfill that purpose. That purpose is for us to do good works (The Manner in which Disciples of Christ Are Merciful).
  • We could say that the good fruit are good works. Discerning God’s voice shouldn’t only be used for our purposes. We should use it to tell others of His Plan of Salvation (The Fruits of Discerning the Voice of God).
  • Flesh is considered our human nature and under Satan’s control. “But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil” (I Jn. 3: 8 NLT). Instead, we are to be crucified with Christ. Remember back in Ephesians, Paul wrote, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2: 10 ESV). We were created in the flesh for a heavenly purpose (How Are We Debtors to God?).
  • No, we don’t need to be law perfect for salvation. “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2: 8-9 CSB). We are accepted by God because Jesus paid the price for our sins. But we do have to follow the laws and commandments after conversion (What Is the Relationship between Righteousness and Wisdom?)
  • How does Paul think we should be spending our time? By doing the good works to which God has created us (Eph. 2: 10) (How Do We Spend Our Time on Our Walk?).
  • God also wants us to use the tools we already have. We may have used them before — maybe in a different way. But God doesn’t just provide for us for the day. God is in this for the long haul — eternity (What I Learned Putting Together the Porch Swing).
  • Paul made the argument that, by doing the good works, we become the creation that God has just recreated. He was saying, to me, that this is how we work out our salvation (Phil. 2: 12) and live a Christian life (How Do We Remake Ourselves?).
  • God’s Plan utilizes us to accomplish it. Our responsibility is not to just live our our lives. We are called to expand God’s kingdom. To accomplish His Plan, God has prepared works for us based on our talents and nature (How Do We Remake Ourselves?).
  • Because it is God’s work that we will be doing, we will be successful at it. Now, we have to be careful that we don’t define success by the worldview. We will be successful in furthering God’s kingdom (How Do We Remake Ourselves?).
  • What Paul meant here by the term good workswas living a Christian life. Good works means that we give God our best to complete whatever tasks He assigns for us to do. We think of good works as activities we do. We don’t think of it as the worship and praise that we raise (How Do We Remake Ourselves?).
  • God’s plan for what we would accomplish for Him was developed long ago (What Does It Mean to Be Children and Heirs of God?).
  • Being merciful is all about doing good works for God (The Manner in which Disciples of Christ Are Merciful).