For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:8-10
Be it always remembered that we cannot be saved by the merit of our own works, because holy works are themselves a gift, the work of the grace of God. If thou hast faith, and joy, and hope, who gave them to thee? These did not spring up spontaneously in thy heart. They were sown there by the hand of love. If thou hast lived a godly life for years, if thou hast been a diligent servant of the church and of thy God, in whose strength hast thou done it? Is there not One who works all our works in us? Could you work out your salvation with fear and trembling if God did not first work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure? How can that, then, claim a reward, which is, in itself, the gift of God? I think the ground is cut right away from those who would put confidence in human merit, when we show, first of all, that, in Scripture, salvation is clearly said to be “not of works, lest any man should boast”; and, secondly, that even the good works of believers are the fruit of a renewed life; for “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
“All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
My death, was all mine own;
All that I am, I own to Thee,
My gracious God, alone.”
