Christ's Creative Power

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And THIS is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)(CAPS added) "This" refers to both grace AND faith. The "gift of God" is that He give us the grace and faith necessary to be saved. The whole process is "not your own doing". This is a hard thing to grasp, but if you think about it, "this" places ALL the glory on Christ, not on anything we did or said. Now let's look at verse 10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10 ESV) His workmanship, means to acquire or to provide a thing for one's self (I love that) and it can also mean to produce, construct, form, fashion. So Christ is the one who produced constructed our faith. How did He do it, He granted us grace and created us by completely changing and transforming us. If you are still not impressed, try to "change" someone and see how far you get (LOL). This, to me, is the most glorious creation that Christ performs. To take a sinner filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness; Who are gossipers, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless (Romans 1) and transforms them into someone who pursues love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV). Though they may not be perfect at it, they at least pursue these things. Can you see how Christ had to do this for us? No prayer, no act of kindness, no decision can transform you into a Child of God. It is "His workmanship" that creates us into a righteous person. As a result of His creation, we are given the power to walk in His grace and faith.