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The Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, makes one thing crystal clear to the Ephesians and us. Salvation is totally a work of God. We do nothing to save ourselves. He does it all. In this passage, everything is what God does not want us to do.
From the first chapter, Paul pours out a list of everything God has already done for us in Christ. It’s not a to-do list for us it’s a done list from God. It’s the story of grace from start to finish.
Here’s what God has done, according to Ephesians 1 through 2:10:
He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (1:4).
He predestined us to adoption as His children through Jesus Christ (1:5).
He made us accepted in the Beloved (1:6).
He redeemed us through Christ’s blood (1:7).
He forgave our sins through the riches of His grace (1:7).
He lavished His grace upon us in wisdom and understanding (1:8).
He revealed the mystery of His will, His eternal plan to unite all things in Christ (1:9–10).
He gave us an inheritance and made us His possession (1:11, 14, 18).
He sealed us with the Holy Spirit, marking us as His own (1:13–14).
He made us alive with Christ when we were dead in sin (2:5).
He raised us up and seated us with Christ in heavenly places (2:6).
He displayed His grace through His kindness toward us in Christ (2:7).
He saved us by grace through faith, not by works (2:8–9).
He re-created us in Christ Jesus for good works He already prepared (2:10).
Do you notice the pattern? Every action starts with He. Not we.
This whole passage is one long celebration of what God has done, not what we’ve achieved.
And Paul sums it up with this breathtaking truth:
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
That word workmanship comes from the Greek word “poiēma,” the root of our English word poem. It means “something made,” “a crafted work,” or “a masterpiece.” Paul uses it only twice in the New Testament, here and in Romans 1:20, where he says that creation itself reveals God’s power.
Paul uses the word “poiēma” to make it super clear that it is God doing it all, by His mercy and grace, and that we are His workmanship, masterpiece, beautiful work of His hands. The same Creator God who created all that we know and even what we are still learning is the One who re-created us in Christ. We are left as recipients, not earners.
In the ancient world, “poiēma” was used to describe a skillful work of art, a sculpture, a poem, or a building, something formed with care and purpose. People in Paul’s day understood that he was saying, “You are the artwork of God. Your life is His design.”
So when Paul says we’re God’s workmanship, he’s talking about a new creation. We didn’t just get a moral makeover. We are new creations in Christ Jesus.
And if that’s true, then this truth destroys the spirit of competition, comparison, and critical superiority that too often creeps into the church.
How can we look down on others when we’ve done nothing to lift ourselves up?
How can we compare our “works” when grace gave us life in the first place?
How can we brag when every good thing we have comes from Him?
Seeing that salvation is a gift completely unearned eliminates pride. It silences jealousy. It ends the race to prove who’s more spiritual, more gifted, or more important.
It’s not about us. It’s about our Father and what He has done by His grace, mercy, and unconditional love.
We are not in competition with each other. We are all standing under the same waterfall of mercy. We are all God’s workmanship, each one uniquely crafted, each one intentionally made, each one designed to reflect the goodness of our Maker.
Grace levels the ground at the cross. There are no big and small Christians; there are just sinners turned into sons and daughters.
So the next time you feel the temptation to measure yourself against someone else, remember: you are God’s “poiēma.” You are His art, His creation, His testimony of grace. And so is every other believer around you.
Let the knowledge of that stop your comparison, and fill your heart with thankfulness.
He chose you.
He forgave you.
He remade you.
He gets the glory.
You are His workmanship.
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