THE DRAMA UNFOLDS: “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). This verse is the corrective of the preceding verses: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). One verse says: “you have been saved . . . not because of works,” and the next one says: “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” This gives the Christian position regarding good works—we are not saved because of good works, but we are saved for good works. Good works do not come out as salvation, they are the outcome of salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith—it is the gift of God. You cannot retain it, however, unless you show this grace at work by good works.
The good works come out of His good workmanship. He doesn’t begin by changing our deeds; He begins by changing us. The good deeds naturally and supernaturally come out of the good person. “The good man out of his good store brings forth good.” The fountain is cleansed, and the stream flows pure.
We are destined to bring forth these good works—“good works, which God prepared beforehand.” Are we destined to do certain things? Yes, and that destiny is written into the constitution of our being—written into our nerves, our organs, our blood, our tissues. Some things throw sand in the machinery of human living. What are they? Hate, fear, self-centeredness, guilt. We are destined by our makeup not to feel these things. On the other hand, other things put oil in the machinery of human living. What are they? Love, faith, self-giving, joy of forgiveness. Then we are destined to love, to have faith, to give ourselves, to enjoy forgiveness, and to give it. That destiny is written in us, hence inescapable. We can live against that destiny, but if we do, we get hurt automatically.
O Father, when we walk in Thy ways we walk; when we try to walk in some other way we stumble and fall. When we take Thy way we take our own. Thy way is our freedom. Help me to take Thy way, for then I shall be free. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I am predestined by the very structure of my being to love, to be like Him.
