10 For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
Personal Mission - Be a man of God
Personal Vision - Lead like Christ, Walk
with Christ, Love my wife and children in a way that they understand
As we continue today
to examine the word, "walk," we'll find another word that may be
difficult for us to understand. The word
is "beforehand." In this passage,
the Greek word is proetoimazó or predestine, ready because prepared, made ready
in advance thus ready, already prepared.
Remember, when we conduct our inductive study, we must understand the
context in which the word is used. So,
hopefully, we won't go too far down the rabbit hole on "predestine." We'll continue to use the inductive study W.O.R.D.
acrostic: Worship, Observe, Reveal, and Determine.
Dear heavenly
Father, as I close out another day saved by your grace and mercy, please help
me to stay open and alive for your Word.
Please help me understand this passage and how I should incorporate it
into my daily life. In Jesus' name I
pray, Amen.
Ephesians is broken
into two sections. Chapters 1 to 3 focus
on what Christians should believe showing grace in Christ. Chapters 4 to 6 show the implications of
grace. Paul wrote this letter while in
prison, probably in Rome around 60 A.D.
Prior to this time during his third missionary journey, Paul stayed in
Ephesus for three years. Paul cared for
the people who became part of life during that time. Paul is instructing us to live our life in
good works, happy with the change in our life that grace allows, delivered from
guilt in sin.
The Scripture starts
with "For" or in the Greek, epi,
or on the basis of. This refers to the
previous passages 8 and 9 that also start with "For." So, we are referred all the way to the
beginning of Chapter 2. Paul tells us
that we once lived according to our flesh, but God rich in mercy and love saves
us from our flesh through Christ, a gift
not generated by our own effort.
Understanding the
context of the passage, let's delve deeper into the specific words looking at
other translations than the New King James Version (NKJV). In this case, I used the New International
Version (NIV), New American Standard Bible (NASB), English Standard Version
(ESV), New Living Translation (NLT), and the Amplified Bible.
"Workmanship"
is replaced with handiwork, masterpiece, and work of art. The Greek word is poiema which means thing made, a work that has been made, works
of God as creator. We are God's
masterpiece, His best work.
"Created"
in the Greek is kitzo which means form,
shape, make, always of God, build, begin, found what is habitable and useful,
God alone can make something that wasn't there before. We are shaped into what is useful in Christ.
"Good
Work" is made up of two Greek words.
Agathos means intrinsically good,
inherently good, originates from God empowered by Him through faith, generous,
kind, upright, honorable, useful. Ergon means labor, action, deed, wrought,
made, accomplish, deed that completes intension/purpose, noble action. We are empowered by God to accomplish
intrinsically good deeds for His purpose.
"Prepared
beforehand" is replaced with prepared in advance, prepared long ago,
prepared taking paths He set. The
English word, predestine, is defined as to determine outcome in advance by
divine will. God already prepared the
good works for us to do.
Paul tells us that
God built us in Christ as His masterpiece, that we should live doing the good
works that He prepared. So, don't go
back to the past lusts, don't listen to evil, live like God's greatest
accomplishment. Conduct your life with actions that are
noble, generous, kind, honorable to God. This life is only possible in Christ. Admit your sins, believe in Him, confess Christ as your savior. Be free from the prison of sin.
10 For we are His
workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus
[reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good
works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so
that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made
ready for us].
Amplified Bible
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