October 11 2025

Saturday October 11

God Works Through Us

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.”

Today we're continuing to look at Ephesians 2:10. We are talking about the good works that are produced after salvation in our lives through the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit. “God working in us both the will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). We always need to remember we are not saved by good works but we're saved unto good works and for good works for the glory of God. James 2 makes it really clear that we're justified before God by faith, but before men, and even the assurance that we have of our own salvation, is the fact that we have a faith that works for us and in us and through us and produces good works because faith as he says at least three times in verses 14 through 26, that “faith without works is dead”. 

The Bible speaks of many different kinds of works. There are the “works of the law” in Galatians 2:16. There are the “works of the flesh” that are listed in Galatians 5:19-21. There are the “works of darkness” in Romans 13:12 and Ephesians 5:11. There are the “dead works” in Hebrews 6:1 that lead to death. Then there are the “works of righteousness” in Titus 3:5 that refer to religious works, or in other words, good deeds that we think can give us our salvation and make us holy before God. But remember Isaiah declares that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6). My friend, if our righteousnesses are filthy, oh, what must our sins look like?

The works that Paul's talking about in Ephesians 2:10 here have two special characteristics. First, they are good works in contrast to the works of darkness and wicked works. If you contrast Ephesians 2:10 and Ephesians 2:2, you'll see that the unbeliever has Satan working in him and therefore his works are not good. Because the believer has God working in him, therefore, his works are good. His works are not good because he himself is good, but because he has a new nature from God and because the Holy Spirit works in him and through him to produce these good works. My life verse has been Philippians chapter 1:6: “Being confident of this very thing that He who has begun the good work in you, He will perform it. He will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”. 

It is sad today that so many believers put a little emphasis or no emphasis on the works of the believer because they don't want to mix it up with works and salvation. But the Bible makes a big deal about our works in Matthew 5:16. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. We don't perform good works to glorify ourselves but to glorify our Father which is in heaven. The apostle Paul desired that Christ would be magnified in his body even if it meant death. Philippians 1:20-21. We should “abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). We should be “fruitful in every good work” (Colossians 1:10). We are “equipped by God for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17). We should be “zealous unto good works and maintain them” (Titus 2:14). We find also in Hebrews 13:16 that our good works are actually “spiritual sacrifices that we offer to God”.

It's important to note that we don't manufacture these good works. They're the result of God working in our heart. Paul said, "By the grace of God, I am what I am" in 1 Corinthians 15:10, and goes on to say, "And therefore I labored the more abundantly than everyone else.” My friend, when you truly have been born again and the Spirit of God lives in you, there will be good works produced in your life for the glory of God and others will see it and magnify God and many will believe.

Remember our good works are evidence that we have been born again. "Not everyone that says unto Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Our good works are also testimonies to the lost (1 Peter 2:12). Our good works that are produced by the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us will also win us the right to be heard.

Today let's make sure that we let Jesus work in us to do what only what His grace can do through us!

God bless!