For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

Many of you know these verses; they are incredibly important for our remembering that God's grace through Jesus Christ and nothing else - nothing we do - makes us reconciled to God. We accept that grace through faith, we don't earn it by our good works.

However, fewer are aware of the very next line of Scripture:

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Now that we have been saved by grace, through faith, we are being recreated in Christ (in his image) specifically to do the good works God intended from the beginning. By grace, through faith, we are saved in a way that moves us to good works.

So we don't earn salvation by good works, but we do use good works - or fruit - in our lives to evaluate our faith in God's saving grace. What does God's workmanship look like in your life?

- Rob