Walk the Walk
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 EHV
Today we begin a study of the book of Ephesians. The letter to the Ephesians encourages you to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. This term is used today in sports and life but goes back 2000 years to the New Testament. Your walk is your life as a redeemed child of God. Six times in Ephesians, the Holy Spirit stresses the importance of your walk. Our text follows Paul’s hymn of amazing grace in chapter two.
Sometimes we are so concerned about not teaching that good works save us that we hesitate to speak of the necessity of good works. In Luther’s day, there was a pastor who went so far as to say that good works are harmful to salvation. The Formula of Concord responded by saying that good works are not necessary for salvation, but they are necessary.
It is even more dangerous to think that what we do or say doesn’t make any difference because, after all, God forgives our sins. In Romans 6, Paul dealt with this devilish perversion: Does God’s free forgiveness mean that we should sin all the more so that God can forgive us all the more? The answer in the Greek is a strong “God forbid!” or “No Way!” We have been joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection by baptism; so just as he was raised from the dead, we too would also walk in a new life.
We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus. By grace, he made us spiritually alive in Christ. He made us a new creation by washing us from our sins and guilt in the blood of the Lamb. God created us as his holy people for good works. What is even more amazing is God prepared these good works in advance. By grace, God created you in Christ for good works.
Grace first inscribed my name In God’s eternal book,
And grace has brought me to the Lamb, Who all my sorrows took.
Grace led my wandering feet To tread the heav’nly road,
And grace supplies each hour I meet While pressing on to God.
Worship Supplement 778:2