His Workmanship
A Sermon on Ephesians 2:10
Originally preached Jan. 15, 1956
Scripture
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Sermon Description
It is through salvation that Christians instantly join the eternal family of Christ. In this sermon on Ephesians 2:10 titled “His Workmanship,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones shows how redeemed men and women now live new lives that are marked by the work of Christ in their hearts. This continual work in the life of believers is what is commonly called sanctification. Dr. Lloyd-Jones proclaims that part of salvation is that all who are truly regenerated are continually formed and fashioned in holiness so that they imitate Christ. God uses many means to conform Christians to the image of Christ, but one of the main ones is the chastisements of God. When believers fall into sin, God brings rebuke and correction into their life as a good father would. This is both a great comfort and reassurance of salvation, for all whom are truly saved are sons and daughters of God and treated as such. Those who claim that one can be saved yet not be sanctified grossly misunderstand the Scriptures’ teaching. From start to finish, all of salvation is under the control of God. For this reason, God works so that those whom He saved will be brought to fulfillment through sanctification and glorification.
Sermon Breakdown
- We are God's workmanship, not our own. We do not make ourselves Christians.
- We are God's handiwork, something he is making and fashioning. We are like clay in the hands of the potter.
- We must stop thinking of our Christian life in terms of what we do and instead think of it as what God is doing to and for us.
- God is the worker, the one actively working in our lives. We tend to wrongly think of God as passive, simply responding to what we do. But the Bible shows God as the active one, not us.
- We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. We are a new creation, something brought into being that was not there before. This is what makes us Christian, not anything we do or are.
- God makes us Christians by applying to us what Christ has done for us. We receive the benefits of Christ's death and life. Christ is formed in us.
- God works through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, circumstances and discipline. The Spirit works in us, the Word gives us new life, circumstances shape us, discipline perfects us.
- God disturbs and convicts us of sin. He enlightens our minds to understand the truth. He gives us a thirst for truth and joy in it. He gives us a new nature and outlook.
- There is a design and purpose to God's work in us. He is shaping us into the image of Christ, to live as Christ did. Ultimately, he is making us perfect, without spot or blemish.
- God will complete the work he has begun in us. He never abandons his work half done. We can be assured he will make us perfect, though the process may involve difficulty.
- We must examine ourselves to see if this work of God is happening in us. Do we feel molded by God? Do we desire holiness? Do we desire to do the good works he has planned for us? This shows his work in us.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.