For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
When Paul says we are God's workmanship, he means not the act of creation as men, but our spiritual renewal in Christ, we have been formed to righteousness by the Spirit, not by our own power. What room is left for free-will when all good works in us are acknowledged as gifts of God's Spirit? The apostle does not say we are assisted, or prepared to choose, then left to ourselves; he says we are God's work, the whole man formed by His hand to be good.
AI summary
God's great love is the fountain; His rich mercy flows from it. We contribute nothing, no works, no merit, no boasting. Every converted sinner is a saved sinner, brought into this state by grace alone through faith in Christ, and so all glory belongs to the Lord.
AI summary
Commenting on Ephesians 2:4-10
We are God's workmanship as new creatures, not as mere men; this work of grace upon the soul is as intricate as a poem, glorious within though wrought gradually by the hand that began it. Salvation cannot be by works of men, for all their works are either done for them or in them by God; everything good flows from His grace alone.
AI summary