In the sermon 'God's Workmanship and Our Works' by David Green, the speaker explores Ephesians 2:8-10, emphasizing the distinction between grace, faith, and works in the context of salvation. Green argues that while salvation is solely by grace through faith, works play an essential role as evidence of faith, as believers are 'God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.' The sermon highlights the common misunderstanding that works have no place in the Christian life post-salvation, addressing how this can lead to a neglect of good works. Green uses biblical examples, such as the story of Nicodemus and the birth analogy, to illustrate the concept of spiritual rebirth, emphasizing that just as physical birth is not chosen by the individual, neither is spiritual rebirth. The sermon reconciles Paul's and James's teachings on faith and works, explaining that James emphasizes the evidence of faith through works. The speaker underscores that a true believer, being a new creation in Christ, will naturally produce good works as a demonstration of their faith, motivated by love and gratitude for God's grace.

Ephesians chapter 2 and we'll begin reading at verse 8. Brother Justin kind of quoted it a little bit ago, but we'll read it here for our text beginning verse 8 and going down to verse 10. It says, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. Verse 10 is our text for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." I am certain that most everybody here who has been a Baptist for very long, you've been raised up in church, You've been reading your Bible for very long. You're familiar with Ephesians 2, 8, and 9.

We love it. I've preached from it multiple times. I was in this text last week. We ought to be familiar with this and rejoice in it. Oh, how we love the grace of God and the things that are taught therein.

But let us not neglect verse 10. The title of my message is God's workmanship in our works. God's workmanship in our works. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." It would be easy for a person to take a position, Knowing the doctrines of grace and loving the grace of God and the sovereignty of God It would be very very easy For a man, especially if he was raised up Armenian and come to the truth it would be very easy for him to take a position which is opposed to any kind of works. Knowing that works have absolutely nothing to do with our salvation.

And so that has happened before. Folks that are raised up Arminian, they come to know the grace of God, so they don't want to hear anything about works. They're opposed to it. They stay away from it and they don't want to hear it preached. But the divine word of God, right here as Paul wrote this letter, this epistle to the folks at Ephesus, It's almost like he answers that problem when he says, By grace you are saved through faith, that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.

And he doesn't end there. He says, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus on two good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. He says, wait a minute, works have their place. Not in salvation you have no boasting to do but works have a place and so we we see here even as we look at this epistle and we'll be going to some other verses, but we see what has happened. In this chapter, chapter 2, verse 1, we find our condition.

Before we're saved, You hath he quickened, you hath he made alive, you hath he saved, who were dead in trespasses and sins." He doesn't say that we were pretty good. He doesn't say you were nearly dead, half dead, but we were dead. And God, God made us alive. Amen. God made us alive.

What dead man is there in any funeral home or cemetery that can make himself alive. It's impossible. It's impossible. God uses this to show us something that we understand. You see the the folks at Ephesus understood what it meant to be dead, physically.

The folks in Georgia understand what it is to be dead physically. Folks who are in Ohio, you all know what it is to be dead. Not that you've experienced it physically, but you know when something dies That dead person cannot make them self alive again Spiritually we're in it The same shape We're dead spiritually We have no hope in and of ourselves and that's what he says in this text He tells us how we are and then we get to verse 8 No verse 5 and verse 4. He says but God I love that but God Who is rich in mercy? For his great love were with he loved us even when we were dead hath quickened us together with Christ by grace your saved, hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, saved by grace, through faith.

And oh, by the way, that's not of yourselves. You can't even brag about your faith. That also is a gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast. We have nothing to glory in.

He uses other illustrations and pictures to talk about salvation and the shape that we are in. In John chapter 3 In John chapter 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. You'll have to wonder why he came to Jesus by night. Why not in the daytime? But you know, it's kind of interesting there.

But verse 3, he says, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Well what's that bring out? Well that also brings out the power of God in salvation. Because let me tell you something about your physical birth. When you were born physically you chose the day that you were born, the time, the hour, your parents, didn't you?

Did you choose your parents, Daniel? Did you choose the time and the hour that you were born, Isaiah? No. Did you come out of the womb and say to your mom, Mom, that was hard work. I'm so glad you were there for me.

I'm hungry. Now let's get something to eat." No. No. It was a miraculous thing that happened. Praise God for life.

And as you were born, you didn't have a thing to do with it. You were just there. And if you want your mom to slap you a little bit, tell her. Say, hey, I'm glad we worked this out the day we were born. Glad I chose you.

I'm glad you didn't have to do too much work because I was there. She'll probably tell you something like, son, go cut the grass and shut your mouth. Go talk to your father. So it is with our new birth. When we're born again, whether you liken it to being dead, made alive, talk about it as a new birth, what do all these things picture?

They picture something where God does some great work for us. And we have nothing to do but to stand in awe and say thank you Lord for your grace. When we are born again, when we are made alive, when we are regenerated, when we are converted, when we are saved. You see, all of these words are used in the scriptures and are used to describe something that happened or happens because God's still in that business, isn't He? He is still saving people's souls.

And Praise God that if you're here today and you don't know Jesus Christ, understand something that even though the wicked is evil and even though you are evil and wicked and dead in your trespasses and sins, you also may be saved. Because God's still in the saving business. Don't walk around this world and think, oh, there's no miracles happening today. There are. There are.

I've seen it. I've experienced it. The Lord saved me at a young age. But I've seen people saved and I think the Lord for it. Something happens, doesn't it?

We're made a new creature. Over in Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six in verse 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. This is right after he had said, but God forbid that I should glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I into the world. Then he says this in verse 15.

What's he talking about? Circumcision and uncircumcision? I'll tell you what he was talking about. Whether you're Jew or Gentile, regardless of your story, Regardless of where you're at, if you're saved, God is the hero of your story. You may have heard the gospel on the radio, you may have heard the gospel from your mother, you may have heard it in the church, wherever you were saved.

May have been a road to Damascus. May have been during a Bible conference, whatever, it doesn't matter. God is the hero. We're nothing. Somebody asked me the other day, said, when were you born?

I made a joke about it. I said, well, I was there, but I didn't really have a lot to do with it. My mom says it was on February 7th. But I don't remember anything about it. It's not all about me.

Spiritually, it's not all about me. It's not all about you, but Jesus. Our God is great. His grace is amazing. He says, a new creature, a new creature, a changed life, changed life.

What happens when someone is dead, is raised up, when somebody is born physically? There's a change, isn't there? There's a change. And we recognize that change. Listen, even, even, even someone who's not a scientist, someone who has a very low education, can understand that, oh, this person was dead.

Now he's alive. Oh, that baby, that baby was Not born and today he's born The Babies I Love that just when a baby's born they'll announce it to the world man. They're crying there If you If you didn't see it, you're going to hear, that baby's born. Praise God for it. There's a change right?

There's there's something different second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17 He says therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature behold Or rather old things are passed away behold all things are become new Brother Justin was preaching about creation Only God could do that I Don't believe in goo to you evolution either brother None of my ancestors were monkeys none of them came to came down from a tree. I like to watch them at the zoo. Sometimes I'll make fun. I'll say hey look Isaiah there you are. Little monkey in there.

The other day, I was opening a banana from the bottom. Yeah. And Daniel said something about it. And I said, well, I seen a primate do that. And they eat a lot of bananas and so you know maybe it was dine and somebody somebody commented about I don't remember I said well they eat a lot of bananas so I thought I'd try it you know so I opened it from the bottom instead of the top I mean it works works for the monkey right and and And monkeys can imitate things we do, don't they?

You watch them at the zoo, they'll imitate things we do through the glass and stuff like that. But they weren't made in the image of God. They can't sit down and write a book, sing a song, reason, That sort of thing. Why? God spoke them into existence.

The Bible is the record. But he created man in his own image. Well, something happened, didn't it? Brother Justin mentioned it. Sin entered into the world.

Death by sin. Part of that death, we see it physically. Physical death, right? The biggest graveyard in the universe is Earth. But it wasn't always that way.

When God looked down at the end of the literal six-day creation and He said it is all very good, there was no There was no death. But sin happened. And part of that death that came was spiritual death. Spiritual death. We see the evidence of it in Genesis.

Adam and Eve had had good fellowship with the Lord and then after the fall, they went and hid themselves. They tried to clean it all back up, but they couldn't. They couldn't. The Lord had to intervene. And we've all inherited that sin nature.

We're all spiritually dead until the Lord intervenes. And beloved, a saved man is a changed man. He's different. He's alive spiritually. He's different.

He's alive spiritually. God has given us a new name, but also a new heart and a new nature. Fellowship, beloved, gets restored through Jesus Christ. It was broken before by sin, but now it's restored. This means that the grace of God in salvation is so great that there is a difference between the child of God and the world.

You see? They have no fellowship with God and not with his son Jesus Christ. Old things, he says, are passed away. What's that mean? That means old habits, old sins, old manners and customs, all becomes new.

Now there's some change that I believe becomes immediate And then there's some that happens over time as a child of God grows. Well these days I'm going to preach on sanctification. I preached on justification recently. But there's some things that don't happen overnight. Even Newton, When he was saved, didn't immediately stop being captain of a slave ship.

But he did eventually. Sometimes you'll see a drug addict that when he's saved he immediately drops the drugs, but other times you'll see that it takes a little bit, but there's a change, you see? There's a marked change in his life. He no longer has the desire to go off to the saloon with his drinking buddies to watch the x-rated movies and get into the garbage and the sin of this world. There's a difference.

The creation, this new creature. And just like in Genesis 1, only God can create, so it is that only God can make a new creature. There are folks who make a profession and they ain't been really saved and so they'll try they'll try to put on a mask and try to deceive and all that sort of thing but listen folks only God can clean up the inside all we can make a pretty we can do it we can do some outside things kind of clean up a little bit, put on a suit and tie, and do some, you know, outside dressing. But only the Lord can change what's inside. When the Pharisees came to John's baptism in Matthew 3, we won't go there for time's sake, but he didn't say, tell me when you were converted, he said bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

You know, the USA may have undercover agents within the FBI and CIA and things like that. They go out and they try to pretend that there's something that they're not. But the Lord does not operate that way. And understand something, a holy heart will never be hidden by an unclean life. Sure there may be seasons of backsliding but that won't last long.

God has a way of getting a hold of the backslider. Go back and read Jonah. There was a place for Jonah's revival and it was in the belly of a fish that had been prepared. And when you and I, we backslide, we get away from the Lord, and if we're one of God's people, He's got a place for our revival too. It may be in the back of a church, It may be in a broken home.

It'll be somewhere. And it could be in the belly of a fish. But understand something, sin will take you further than you ever want to go. It'll cost you more than you ever want to pay. But if you're one of God's people, He'll get a hold of you because you're His.

You're His creation, his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. You see, we belong to the Lord, we belong to the King. We are His by creation and we're His by the new creation. Now, now that we've been created, we've been born physically, and we've been born again, we've been made alive. He says we're created in Christ Jesus on two good works.

Works. They have their place. We work not like the Armenians who work to be saved. We don't work like the Amish and others that work to keep saved. But we work because we are saved.

God has given us life. We have things to do. That's why the order is the way it is. He doesn't say works first. He clears all that up.

It's by grace. And then he goes through and tells us that there is a place for works. In 2 Corinthians for works. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, before church, Brother Justin caught me by there in a study. I was adding this verse in here.

You know, sometimes the Lord will bring something up to my mind, and I thought, well, that will fit in good in here. So I went in there and typed it in real quick, you know, and that sort of thing. Second Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 15. Paul said this, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." So what's that got to do with anything?

Well, think about a meeting like what we've had this weekend. This church spent. Individuals spent and were spent. I don't know about you all, but I was kind of tired. But not only did we spend and were spent, but others spent and were spent for the meeting.

We spend and were spent for them, they spend and were spent for us, you see. It ain't easy traveling, especially brother Justin and brother Larry. They traveled a long ways. That's rough. But even somebody like Brother Pruitt, you know, that's a ways for him.

I don't know, I've never been in my upper 70s, but I'd imagine there'd come a time when I won't want to go to the grocery store. And he came all the way over here with his wife, you know, praise the Lord for that. We gave him a love offering, we put him up in a motel, but there's still some things that come up. Truly, it is more blessed to give than to receive, but often we receive back, don't we? Why do we do all this?

It's not because we're trying to keep saved. It's not even because we're trying to get somebody saved or to be saved. It's because we are saved. What a blessing and encouragement it is that we can be an encouragement to them and they to us. You know, Brother Justin, he's staying over today and he's going to travel into the night.

What a blessing these things are. Works have their place, and we can feel it. It's like money. The work isn't all about money. The work of the Lord isn't all about money, but it does take money to do things, doesn't it?

It takes money to have the electric on. It Takes money to pay the bills, support the pastor, all this sort of thing. Praise God for folks who are willing to Spend and to be spent. And why? Not because I'm a famous preacher.

Brother Justin's more famous than me, apparently. But it's for the Lord, you see? In James chapter 2, is for the Lord. In James chapter 2, James chapter 2, and even though it's not for me, I can tell you for what it's worth, this pastor very much appreciates the effort that's put into things like this. The refrigerator looked like a game of Tetris with everything squeezed in there and stuff like that.

That takes a lot of work. You know? James chapter 2 verses 14 through 24 he says, What does it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what does it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar.

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed God and was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only James here is pointing out that faith without works is dead. It's just a corpse It's just a stillborn right nothing nothing there nothing there no life no life one saved show me the Pharisees well I'm saved I was saved at this time I'm sitting I'm saved because I got Abraham. I'm saved because...

John said, show me. Prove it. That's what the works is about. It shows that we've been born again. Made alive.

You know, if we're at a funeral, and the casket is here, And somebody comes in and says, hey, this man is alive. And he's still laying there. No heartbeat. No speech. No movement.

Everybody knows that person who says he's alive is crazy. Sometimes people in their grief will imagine things and that sort of thing. And so we've got to be careful with that sort of thing if we're ever in a situation like that. Just kind of be careful with that. But understand that there's got to be proof.

There's got to be proof. And so it is with us spiritually. That's what James is talking about. Now when he says faith without works is dead, and he gives the examples here that he gives, we can say amen about that. We understand what he's talking about.

Somebody comes and that sort of thing. But then you get into his example of Abraham. There are folks who say that there's contradiction in your Bible because Paul also used Abraham as an example in the book of Romans chapter 4. So you can hold your place there in James and go to Romans chapter 4 verses 1 through 3. What shall we say then that Abraham our father is pertaining to the flesh hath found?

For if Abraham were justified by works he hath whereof to glory but not before God. For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." Some folks will say, well, there's a contradiction in your Bibles. That's what the skeptics will say. The Armenians say that the doctrines of grace are wrong.

There's a problem there. I believe it was Luther who questioned whether James should even be in the Bible. So there's all sorts of controversy that have come up on this. And the problem is not that there's anything controversial in the Bible. The problem, the controversy arises within our understanding or lack thereof of what's going on here.

But the reality is there is no conflict between what James is saying and what Paul was saying. The Holy Spirit inspired both of them. He's not conflicted or contradicted. Paul used... Paul and James both used the same Greek word here.

Paul used it to mean declare, pronounce, want to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be. Well, James uses it to show, exhibit, one to be righteous or such as he ought to be. Paul says that Abraham was justified in the sense that he uses the term before circumcision. In fact, if you keep reading there in Romans, chapter 4, verses 9 and 10. He says, cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also.

For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. On the other hand, James says that Abraham was justified in the sense that he uses the term when he offered Isaac.

Go back to Genesis, I was hoping Brother Justin would get there, but he didn't. But in Genesis 17, you can write it down there. We'll look at it later. But Abraham was circumcised a year before the birth of Isaac. Genesis 17, Genesis 21, right in through there.

Now, at the time that Abraham was asked to offer up Isaac, Isaac was probably about 25 years old. He wasn't some little kid. My point is Paul and James weren't talking about the same event in Abraham's life. Works have a place in our life. They had a place in Abraham's life.

Nobody, Genesis to Revelation, Revelation until now, nobody has ever been saved by works. Nobody has ever been kept saved by works. Taking these two passages into context, Paul was writing to formalists, those who tended to believe in a works-based salvation. Think of it this way. Think of it as if he was writing to Arminians and he was trying to correct their error.

James, on the other hand, was writing to antinomians, those who felt that the law had no place for us today. Truth is very narrow, folks. And if you were on the Sydney Linear Bridge, going up across that river, if you go too far off the right side and too far off the left side, you'll end up in a bad way, no matter which side you end up on. And that's the way it is with the Word of God. Understand that Far from contradicting with Paul, James is arguing that Abraham's faith was accounted to him for righteousness.

He is maintaining that his faith was a living faith evidenced by his works. And James applies this to his audience and to us that we can understand that there is a relationship between faith and works. The reality of it is that works do have their place in our lives, even as we serve the sovereign God of the universe. Jesus said in John 14 and verse 15, if you love me, Sit on the sidelines and do nothing. No, that's not what he said.

He said, if you love me, keep my commandments. That's doing something. You've got to be doing something if you love me, he says. Prove it. Prove it.

Faith without works is dead. I love Jesus, I love Jesus, I love Jesus. Do you now? Faith without works is dead. You see.

It's really rather elementary. If you have a child and you tell that child, I love you, and then don't feed that child, Do you really love that child? No. It's just words. It's just words.

Faith without works is dead. If you've been born again, if you've been made alive, you're going to show it. Titus chapter 2, And verses 14 and 15. Who gave himself for us, talking about Jesus Christ, of course, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise thee." God's people are to be a holy people, a peculiar people, a separated people, different from the world.

He didn't save us so that we can live like the world and go through life and then someday end up in heaven with a life story that looks no different than the rest of the world. No. There's expectations. In fact, 1 Peter chapter 1 has often intrigued me, especially as I've dealt with folks who argue that the law and works have no place to the child of God today in 1st Peter chapter 1, or sorry, 1st Peter chapter, yeah, 1st Peter 1, and verses 15 and 16. Well, let's start with verse 14.

As obedient children, what do obedient children do? Isaiah, what's an obedient child do? Obeys. Obeys who? His parents, right?

Exactly. Good answer, son. So you obey your father. Spiritually, who is our father? God in heaven.

Where does he tell us what to do? Does he send us visions and dreams that we hear in the night? Seeing the day, did he write it on the stars? Did he put it on the fossils? No.

It's in His Word. It's in His Word. Brother Justin preached about being hearer of the Word, but in that same text he said that we need to be not hearers only, but doers. Doers. And what's he say here in 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 15 or verse sorry verse 14, as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance.

You see what we were doing before we were saved, it was sin, high treason against God. It was disobedient to God. But why did we do it? Well, partially, a lot of it was we were ignorant. We had no idea.

But now we know. How do we know? We got to get into the Word of God. Senator preaching, good preaching of God's Word. He said, that word conversation doesn't just mean the way we talk that's part of it but it's the way we live now I said that there's this passage intrigues me and the reason it intrigues me is he says as it is written, because it is written, where is it written at?

It's written in the book of Leviticus, folks. Right there smack dabbing the law of God. That book of the Bible that many of you skip over when you're reading your Bibles because your eyes glaze over, you don't want to hear about shellfish and mixed fabrics and all that sort of thing and the Levitical priesthood and you think well this none of this is relevant to me but it is. It is. We've got to have discernment to understand which pieces are relevant, in what ways.

Certainly we don't need to go kill animals and sacrifices in the way that they did in those days. But Peter writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he quotes from the law of God, Tells us to be holy as He is holy. We're created in Christ Jesus on two good works. I don't know, Sometimes I think we overcomplicate things. People get all concerned as to the calling of God in your life and in our life.

Listen, whatever you are, whoever you are, wherever you are, If you've been born again, if you've been saved, you were created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And here's the kicker folks, nobody in this world has to see what you do for the Lord. The Pharisees were good about that, weren't they? They did something good. Man, they wanted to make sure everybody saw it.

Jesus said they have the reward. Don't be like them. We were created in Christ Jesus on two good works and I guarantee you he knows. He knows what's going on. He knows what you're doing, even if no one else does.

Even if no one else does. Bathe there in Ephesians 2 verse 10 as we kind of begin to wrap this up here. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, and two good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Before, before Justin was ever famous, before he was ever born again, before he was ever born. I know y'all find this hard to believe, but Justin's actually older than me.

I know I look, Well, I look young, but I don't look as young as Justin. But before we were ever born, there was a plan in place. That word ordained means before prepared sometimes in the scriptures that's how it's how it's used. God is absolutely sovereign over everything. He chose us before the foundation of the world.

He also ordained that we should walk in these good works, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, as we've read in the Scriptures. And I'd like for us to consider, you know, we've looked at some other things. Without the Lord, even our righteousness is ours filthy rags. So that means without Jesus Christ, the very best that you can do, you can try to do it, but Jesus has to die for that, same as your most awful sins, because it's a filthy rag. It's not good enough.

It's not good enough. Praise God He did die for those sins and those filthy rags. But now that we're saved, now that we're saved, there's a difference. In Hebrews chapter 11, In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, He says, but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Before a person can ever come to God with works that are pleasing to him.

He's got to have faith. He's got to have faith. You see how this all works? Faith without works is dead. You see it can't be works and then faith.

It's got to be faith and then works. This is God. This is God's pattern. And now that we're saved in Galatians chapter 5, We've got two more passages of scripture we want to look at. Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 and 17.

This I say then, walk in the Spirit, ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. We're to walk after the Spirit. Praise God that we have been made spiritually alive so that, verse 18, but if you be led of the Spirit and you're not under the law, the curse, the penalty, the fear of the law, all that's gone.

All that's gone. See, sin was our master before. But now, Jesus is. Oh, I could get into that. We're slaves to Christ, folks.

And He's a good slave master. We have no fear of the law. We're not under the law. The penalty of it. The death.

The law could never save, but we're in Christ. In Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, beginning of verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemn sin in the flesh. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, so that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be, the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Verse 10 says, and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is Spirit is life because of righteousness.

We have been ordained to walk in these good works. How in the world do we do it? We walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. As we live our lives in this life, we work not because of the good that we are or the good that we think we are, but because we are His workmanship.

All the glory and the praise goes to our Father. All the glory and the praise goes to the cross of Jesus Christ. And we thank God for this teaching, God's workmanship in our works. Let's stand and be dismissed.