The Meaning of Ephesians 2:10 Explained

Ephesians 2:10

KJV: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

YLT: for of Him we are workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God did before prepare, that in them we may walk.

Darby: For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them.

ASV: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  we are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works,  which  God  hath before ordained  that  we should walk  in  them. 

What does Ephesians 2:10 Mean?

Study Notes

created
.
new man
The new man is the regenerate man as distinguished from the old man (See Scofield " Romans 6:6 ") and is a new man as having become a partaker of the divine nature and life 2 Peter 1:4 ; Colossians 3:3 ; Colossians 3:4 and in no sense the old man made over, or improved; 2 Corinthians 5:17 ; Galatians 6:15 ; Ephesians 2:10 ; Colossians 3:10 . The new man is Christ, "formed" in the believer; Galatians 2:20 ; Galatians 4:19 ; Colossians 1:27 ; 1 John 4:12 .
righteousness (See Scofield " Romans 10:10 ") .

Verse Meaning

Here Paul gave the reason salvation is not from man or by works. Rather than salvation being a masterpiece that we have produced, regenerated believers are a masterpiece that God has produced. "Workmanship" (Gr. poieme, from which we get the word "poem"; cf. Romans 1:20) means a work of art, a masterpiece. The Jerusalem Bible translated it "work of art" here. As a master worker, God has created us in Christ Jesus. The word translated "created" here (Gr. ktizo) describes only God"s activity and denotes something He alone can produce.
Good works are not the roots from which salvation grows but the fruit God intends it to bear. God has not saved us because of our works ( Ephesians 2:8-9), but He has saved us to do good works ( Ephesians 2:10). God saves us by faith for good works. Good works are what God intended for us to practice, with His divine enablement. He intended that we walk in them, as a pedestrian walks along a path, before He saved us (cf. Ephesians 1:4). This verse reveals that God is ultimately responsible for our good works (cf. Romans 9:23; Philippians 2:13). Paul developed the idea of walking in good works further in chapters4-6.
". . . God has prepared a path of good works for believers which He will perform in and through them as they walk by faith. This does not mean doing a work for God; instead, it is God"s performing His work in and through believers ..." [1]
However this verse does not say that Christians will inevitably walk in the good works that God has freed us from sin"s penalty and power to pursue. God has saved us so we can do works that are good in His sight, but this is obviously only part of His purpose in saving us. He has also saved us to take us to heaven, for example ( John 14:1-3). He has guaranteed that all who trust in His Son will reach heaven (our glorification, John 10:28-29). He has not guaranteed that all who trust in Jesus Christ will persevere in good works (our progressive sanctification). That depends on our obedience ( Ephesians 4:1; Titus 3:8).
God desires that everyone experience salvation ( 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9), but the fact that some will perish does not put God"s desires or power in question. He has given us enough freedom to choose if we will believe or not (cf. John 3:36). Likewise God has provided salvation so His children will be able to obey Him and do good works, but He does not compel us to do so ( Titus 2:11-12).
"One could legitimately characterize the whole lordship controversy as a dispute over efficacious grace. All points in the discussion ultimately come back to this: Does God"s saving grace inevitably obtain its desired effects? If all sides could come to consensus on that one question, the debate would be settled." [2]
God"s saving grace inevitably obtains all that God has said it will inevitably obtain, including the believer"s justification, positional sanctification, and glorification. However it does not inevitably obtain what God has said depends on the choices of His people. We must be careful to distinguish what God wants to happen from what He has said He will make happen. His desires are not the same as His decrees. [3]
The doctrine of God"s sovereignty means that God is the ultimate authority in the universe. It implies that He has power sufficient to control everything that happens. It does not mean that God will inevitably bring to pass everything that He wishes would happen. If that were the case, no one would go to hell, and everyone would obey Him perfectly.
God does not force Christians to persevere in good works any more than He forced the Israelites to persevere in good works. The Israelites" failure to walk in the good works that God had foreordained for them does not mean that His efficacious grace failed. Neither does Christians" failure to do so mean that.
This section of the epistle ( Ephesians 2:1-10) contrasts what the believer was before regeneration with what he or she is after. All the glory for the change goes to God. He provided salvation for people. We do not need to do good works to merit salvation, but we should do good works because we have received salvation. This is God"s plan for the believer.

Context Summary

Ephesians 2:1-10 - What Grace Has Done
Evidently dead men may walk; that is, they may be dead to the eternal world but alive to this world, which is moving past like the films of a moving picture. The death of the spirit is compatible with much active interest in the course of this world. Behind the shifting scenes of the material is the great enemy of souls. As the Spirit of God works in the obedient, so does the evil spirit work in the disobedient. Note this trinity of evil-the course of this world, the lusts of our flesh, and the prince of the power of the air. If we desire to save men, we must be in living union with the all-conquering Spirit of Christ.
Notice, also, the past tense which describes the finality of Christ's work, Ephesians 2:5-6. In the purpose of God we have been raised from the grave of sin and are seated with the risen Lord in the place of acceptance and victory. We were one with Christ when He lay in the grave and arose. In God's thought we have already taken our seat with the glorified Christ upon the throne; only the pity is that we do not believe this or act as if we had done so. All this is the gift of God's unmerited love. By grace have we been brought into this position, and by grace are we maintained in it. We are of God's "making;" such is the Greek word for workmanship, Ephesians 2:10. We have been created for good works; they have been planned for us and we have only to walk in them. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ephesians 2

1  By comparing what we were by nature, with what we are by grace,
10  he declares that we are made for good works: and being brought near by Christ,
19  should not live as Gentiles and foreigners, but as citizens with the saints, and the family of God

Greek Commentary for Ephesians 2:10

Workmanship [ποιημα]
Old word from ποιεω — poieō with the ending ματ — ̇mat meaning result. In N.T. only here and Revelation 1:20. [source]
Created [κτιστεντες]
First aorist passive participle of κτιζω — ktizō not the original creation as in Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 3:9, but the moral and spiritual renewal in Christ, the new birth, as in Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 4:24. For good works (επι εργοις αγατοις — epi ergois agathois). Probably the true dative of purpose here with επι — epi (Robertson, Grammar, p. 605). Purpose of the new creation in Christ. Which Attraction of the relative α — ha (accusative after προητοιμασεν — proētoimasen) to case of the antecedent εργοις — ergois Afore prepared (προητοιμασεν — proētoimasen). First aorist active indicative of προητοιμαζω — proētoimazō old verb to make ready beforehand. In N.T. only here and Romans 9:23. Good works by us were included in the eternal foreordination by God. That we should walk in them Expexegetic final clause explanatory of the election to good works. [source]
For good works [επι εργοις αγατοις]
Probably the true dative of purpose here with επι — epi (Robertson, Grammar, p. 605). Purpose of the new creation in Christ. [source]
Which [οις]
Attraction of the relative α — ha (accusative after προητοιμασεν — proētoimasen) to case of the antecedent εργοις — ergois Afore prepared (προητοιμασεν — proētoimasen). First aorist active indicative of προητοιμαζω — proētoimazō old verb to make ready beforehand. In N.T. only here and Romans 9:23. Good works by us were included in the eternal foreordination by God. That we should walk in them Expexegetic final clause explanatory of the election to good works. [source]
Afore prepared [προητοιμασεν]
First aorist active indicative of προητοιμαζω — proētoimazō old verb to make ready beforehand. In N.T. only here and Romans 9:23. Good works by us were included in the eternal foreordination by God. [source]
That we should walk in them [ινα εν αυτοις περιπατησωμεν]
Expexegetic final clause explanatory of the election to good works. [source]
For we are His workmanship []
A reason why no man should glory. If we are God's workmanship, our salvation cannot be of ourselves. His is emphatic. His workmanship are we. [source]
Created [κτισθέντες]
See on John 1:3. The verb originally means to make habitable, to people. Hence to found. God is called κτίστης creator 1 Peter 4:19, and ὁ κτίσας hethat created, Romans 1:25. Compare Revelation 4:11. Κτίσις is used of the whole sum of created things, Mark 10:6; Romans 8:22. [source]
Afore prepared [προητοίμασεν]
Rev, more correctly, prepared. Made ready beforehand. God prearranged a sphere of moral action for us to walk in. Not only are works the necessary outcome of faith, but the character and direction of the works are made ready by God. [source]
That we should walk []
In order that; to the end that. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Ephesians 2:10

John 1:3 Were made [ἐγένετο]
Literally, came into being, or became. Expressing the passage from nothingness into being, and the unfolding of a divine order. Compare John 1:14, John 1:17. Three words are used in the New Testament to express the act of creation: κτίζειν , to create (Revelation 4:11; Revelation 10:6; Colossians 1:16); ποιεῖν , to make (Revelation 14:7; Mark 10:6), both of which refer to the Creator; and γίγνεσθαι , to become, which refers to that which is created. In Mark 10:6, both words occur. “From the beginning of the creation ( κτίσεως ) God made ” ( ἐποίησεν ). So in Ephesians 2:10: “We are His workmanship ( ποίημα ), created ( κτισθέντες ) in Christ Jesus.” Here the distinction is between the absolute being expressed by ἦν (see on John 1:1), and the coming into being of creation ( ἐγένετο ). The same contrast occurs in John 1:6, John 1:9. “A man sent from God came into being ” ( ἐγένετο ); “the true Light was ” ( ἦν ). “The main conception of creation which is present in the writings of St. John is expressed by the first notice which he makes of it: All things came into being through the Word. This statement sets aside the notions of eternal matter and of inherent evil in matter. 'There was when' the world 'was not' (John 17:5, John 17:24); and, by implication, all things as made were good. The agency of the Word, 'who was God,' again excludes both the idea of a Creator essentially inferior to God, and the idea of an abstract Monotheism in which there is no living relation between the creature and the Creator; for as all things come into being 'through' the Word, so they are supported 'in' Him (John 1:3; compare Colossians 1:16sq.; Hebrews 1:3). And yet more, the use of the term ἐγένετο , came into being, as distinguished from ἐκτίσθη , were created, suggests the thought that creation is to be regarded (according to our apprehension) as a manifestation of a divine law of love. Thus creation (all things came into being through Him ) answers to the Incarnation (the Word became flesh ). All the unfolding and infolding of finite being to the last issue lies in the fulfillment of His will who is love” (Westcott, on 1 John 2:17). [source]
Romans 14:20 Work of God []
The christian brother, whose christian personality is God's work. See 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10; James 1:18. [source]
Romans 9:23 Afore prepared [προητοιμασεν]
First aorist active indicative of προετοιμαζω — proetoimazō old verb to make ready (from ετοιμος — hetoimos ready) and προ — pro before, in N.T. only here and Ephesians 2:10. But same idea in Romans 8:28-30. [source]
Romans 9:23 Afore prepared [προητοίμασεν]
Only here and Ephesians 2:10. The studied difference in the use of this term instead of καταρτίζω tofit (Romans 9:22), cannot be overlooked. The verb is not equivalent to foreordained ( προορίζω ). Fitted, by the adjustment of parts, emphasizes the concurrence of all the elements of the case to the final result. Prepared is more general. In the former case the result is indicated; in the latter, the previousness. Note before prepared, while before is wanting in Romans 9:22. In this passage the direct agency of God is distinctly stated; in the other the agency is left indefinite. Here a single act is indicated; there a process. The simple verb ἑτοιμάζω often indicates, as Meyer remarks, to constitute qualitatively; i.e., to arrange with reference to the reciprocal quality of the thing prepared, and that for which it is prepared. See Luke 1:17; John 14:2; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 2 Timothy 2:21. “Ah, truly,” says Reuss, “if the last word of the christian revelation is contained in the image of the potter and the clay, it is a bitter derision of all the deep needs and legitimate desires of a soul aspiring toward its God. This would be at once a satire of reason upon herself and the suicide of revelation. But it is neither the last word nor the only word; nor has it any immediate observable bearing on the concrete development of our lives. It is not the only word, because, in nine-tenths of Scripture, it is as wholly excluded from the sphere of revelation as though it had been never revealed at all; and it is not the last word, because, throughout the whole of Scripture, and nowhere more than in the writings of the very apostle who has faced this problem with the most heroic inflexibility, we see bright glimpses of something beyond. How little we were intended to draw logical conclusions from the metaphor, is shown by the fact that we are living souls, not dead clay; and St. Paul elsewhere recognized a power, both within and without our beings, by which, as by an omnipotent alchemy, mean vessels can become precious, and vessels of earthenware be transmuted into vessels of gold” (Farrar). See note at end of ch. 11. [source]
Galatians 6:15 A new creature [καινὴ κτίσις]
Comp. 2 Corinthians 5:17. For καινὴ newsee on Matthew 26:29. For κτίσις see on Romans 8:19; see on 2 Corinthians 5:17. Here of the thing created, not of the act of creating. The phrase was common in Jewish writers for one brought to the knowledge of the true God. Comp. Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 2:15. [source]
Ephesians 4:24 Created [κτισθέντα]
See on Ephesians 2:10. [source]
Ephesians 2:15 For to make [ἵνα κτίσῃ]
Rev., that He might create. See on created, Ephesians 2:10. The work was to be a new creation on a new foundation. [source]
1 Thessalonians 4:7 Unto uncleanness [ἐπὶ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ]
Better, for uncleanness; ἐπὶ denoting aim or intention. The intention is viewed as the basis of the act ( ἐπὶ upon). Comp. Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 2:10. [source]
Hebrews 13:9 Which have not profited them that have been occupied therein [ἐν οἶς οὐκ ὠφελήθησαν οἱ περιπατοῦντες]
Lit. in the which they who walked were not profited. Περιπατεῖν towalk about is often used to express habitual practice or general conduct of life. See Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 10:3; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 3:7; Colossians 4:5. [source]

What do the individual words in Ephesians 2:10 mean?

Of Him for we are workmanship having been created in Christ Jesus for works good which prepared beforehand - God that them we should walk
αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς οἷς προητοίμασεν Θεὸς ἵνα αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν

αὐτοῦ  Of  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἐσμεν  we  are 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ποίημα  workmanship 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: ποίημα  
Sense: that which has been made.
κτισθέντες  having  been  created 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: κτίζω  
Sense: to make habitable, to people, a place, region, island.
Χριστῷ  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
Ἰησοῦ  Jesus 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰησοῦς  
Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor.
ἔργοις  works 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Plural
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.
ἀγαθοῖς  good 
Parse: Adjective, Dative Neuter Plural
Root: ἀγαθός 
Sense: of good constitution or nature.
προητοίμασεν  prepared  beforehand 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: προετοιμάζω  
Sense: to prepare before, to make ready beforehand.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεὸς  God 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
περιπατήσωμεν  we  should  walk 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: περιπατέω  
Sense: to walk.