Dear friends in Christ,
Can we discuss YOUR understanding of this passage?
Sure. Let’s break it down:
" [8] For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God;
Salvation is by grace through faith, that is, via faith as the instrument by which the salvation is received. (The Greek construction translated “through faith” indicates instrumentality.)
So, the faith itself does not save us; it is the hand that lays hold of the offered grace.
[9] Not of works, that no man may glory.
This is a continuation of the description of salvation begun in the previous verse: Not only does it come by grace through faith, it is not the result of works, otherwise man could boast in himself.
[10] For we are his workmanship,
Notice how this verse begins with the word
for, meaning “because,” so Paul is effectively saying, “Not of works, that no man may glory–because we are his workmanship.”
Since we are not saved by OUR works, we are God’s work. It is for that reason we cannot glory in ourselves at all. Our Christian lives are the product of His doing.
So it’s no surprise that Paul goes on quickly to add God created those very works we are to do:
created in Christ Jesus in good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them."
God created the good works for us to do, and this is the result of salvation rather than the means or cause of it. It doesn’t say, “which God hath prepared that we should be saved by them” but rather “which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.” The overall sense here is that the works are the inseparable result of salvation.
This doesn’t mean we are altogether passive. Note the wording: “that we should walk in them.”
Corroborating passages:
Romans 4:5: “5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Yet this does not relieve us of our responsibility to make great effort:
Phil. 2:12b-13: “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
2 Peter 1:3-11: “3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also,
applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren,
be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
