To what does "the good works, which God prepared beforehand" refer?

Explanation:

In Ephesians 2:1–2, Paul writes that the Ephesians were dead in their sins when they walked according to the spirit of disobedience. He explains that at that time, they lived by the passions of their flesh and were by nature children of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3).⁴ In other words, their life was characterized as one filled with bad works. Next Paul explains that even while the Ephesians lived a life of bad works God saved them by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

In fact, the believers are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus in order to do good works.⁵ In other words, before the Ephesians were saved by grace through faith, they lived a life of bad works that were rooted in their own nature and offensive to God. God’s purpose for them was to recreate them in Christ Jesus so that through the power of the nature of Christ, they would live a life of good works, pleasing to God.^6,7

Counterargument:

While it is true that good works are in contrast with the bad works the Ephesians performed in their former way of life, this does not mean that the good works prepared beforehand have to do with lifestyle. Rather, Paul has moved beyond lifestyle and is talking specifics. His point is that the believers are recreated in Christ with the specific purpose of performing specific works. (See Interpretation 2, argument 1.)

Response to counterargument:

There is no contrast between a lifestyle of good works and specific good words. These notions are not in competition. (See Interpretation 2, argument 1, counterargument.)

Explanation:

When we come to the latter sections of Ephesians, we find that Paul explains the sort of lifestyle that reflects the good works of believers. He exhorts them to live a life worthy of their calling in lowliness, meekness, patience, and forbearance (Ephesians 4:1–2). He tells them to leave all falsehood aside, not to steal, and not to let evil talk come from their mouths (Ephesians 4:25–29). He also reminds them not to live in fornication, or drunkenness and to expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:2–11). In all of this Paul is extrapolating the content of the good works he first introduced in Ephesians 2:10.^8,9 To walk in the good works prepared by God is to live a lifestyle that aligns with God’s holiness and will.¹⁰

Counterargument:

It is hard to see how the good works outlined in Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 could be the content of Ephesians 2:10. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul states that believers are a new creation in Christ in order for good works. The prepositional phrase in the dative case signals purpose.¹¹ Now, if Paul wanted us to see that God created believers in Christ Jesus in order for them to live a life of holiness as reflected in Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 it is hard to see why he would use the phrase good works to denote this. Good works has the connotation of specific actions, while to live a holy lifestyle as described in Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 is more general. For example, Paul tells the Ephesians to be careful how they walk, to live as wise and not as unwise (Ephesians 5:15). This is a generic statement about living rightly before God, while good works denotes specific action. In Ephesians 5:21–33, Paul explains how a married couple should treat one another. Once again Paul offers general instruction that could hardly be characterized as good works.

Added to this, we have a relative clause that directly follows the prepositional phrase, which states, which God prepared beforehand. In English there are two ways to take this clause. Either it could refer to the believers or the good works. If it refers to the believers, it means that God prepared beforehand that believers should walk in good works. Taken this way, we might conclude that God prepared beforehand that believers should live a holy lifestyle that reflects God’s will. The problem with his interpretation is that the relative pronoun is in the dative plural. This means that it stands in for good works. Thus, what God prepared beforehand was good works for the believers to walk in. Taken correctly, it sounds like God prepared specific good works for believers to walk in. While Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 describes some specific actions, it tends to describe Christian behaviour more generally. While it would be convenient to think that the good works mentioned in Ephesians 2:10 are extrapolated in Ephesians 4—6, it is more likely that in Ephesians 2:10 Paul has specific works in mind, while Ephesians 4—6 is about how to live a holy life in general. Of course, the specific good works and the holy lifestyle are empowered by Christ’s Spirit, but that is not the point. The point is to see what Paul means by good works prepared beforehand in Ephesians 2:10.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument implies that the lifestyle Paul describes in Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 is too generic to be prepared beforehand for believers to walk in. In a sense this argument is successful because Paul is fairly broad in his exhortations of how to live a new Christian lifestyle. Still, this counterargument seems to press us in a direction where the good works are specific activities that God has foreordained, and these may or may not have anything to do with Paul’s general instruction through Ephesians 4—6. Such a suggestion goes too far the other way. The fact is, Paul is contrasting the bad works that the Ephesians performed before they were in Christ with the good works they perform as a new creation in Christ. God recreated them, not so they would continue doing “bad works” like drunkenness and fornication, but so that they would begin doing “good works” like forgiving one another as God forgave them (Ephesians 4:32). So, the good works are described generically in Ephesians 4—6. Still, since no good work flows from the nature of man, what good work the believer performs, is a good work prepared beforehand by God, because only through God are good works performed.¹² Thus, there is a correlation between Ephesians 2:10 and the proper behaviour described in Ephesians 4—6. Paul wants the Ephesians to live a holy life by the power of the Spirit. Paul describes generally what this holy life entails in Ephesians 4—6. By living such a life, the Ephesians will perform the good works that God prepared beforehand that they should walk in them.

Possible weaknesses:

The one possible weakness with this view is that it favours the broad literary context over the immediate context. This is fine as far as it goes, but normally one wants to find an interpretation that is consistent with the immediate context and the broader context. In this case, the immediate context favours the idea that Paul is talking about specific good works, not a general Christian lifestyle. Still, this interpretation is nowhere near being inconsistent with the immediate context, so it is a fine interpretation, even if it is unexpected at first sight.

Explanation:

The grammar of the Greek text is fairly clear. God recreates the believer in Jesus Christ in order that the believer might walk in the good works that God has prepared beforehand for them to walk in. The prepositional phrase for good works denotes purpose.¹⁵ In other words, the believers are recreated in Christ Jesus for the purpose of good works. Further, the relative clause that follows the prepositional phrase indicates that God prepared the works beforehand, and the final so that, along with the subjunctive form of the verb to walk, makes it clear that the works were prepared in order that we might walk in them.

Taken at face value, this clause states something like the following. God accomplishes some of his purposes in the world through the humans he created. For example, God wants to communicate to all generations of people, so he inspired human authors to record sacred Scripture. The human authors who recorded sacred Scripture accomplished the task that God had planned for them. All they had to do was walk with the Spirit who inspired their efforts. In the same way, God uses believers who are in Christ to accomplish other plans. These might be feeding the hungry, or preaching the gospel, or volunteering at worship services. The point is, God has a plan, and he accomplishes some aspects of that plan by inspiring humans to be his hands and feet.

What Paul is saying in Ephesians 2:10 is that God has prepared certain good works for all believers to participate in order to accomplish his vast and intricate plans. We do not always know what these works might be, or how one particular work contributes to God’s overall plan, but we do not need to know. The fact is, by being recreated in Christ Jesus, we are enabled to accomplish the good works that God prepared beforehand. All we have to do is walk with the Spirit who inspires such efforts.

Counterargument:

This argument is fine as far as it goes. It is true that God has prepared good works for the believers to walk in, and these good works could be used by God to accomplish his plans. Still, Ephesians 2:10 does not explicitly state that the good works will be used to accomplish God’s plan; rather, it simply states that God recreates the believers in Christ so that through the Spirit of Christ, they can perform good works that God prepared beforehand.

So, Paul is not explicit that these good works will be used to accomplish God’s plan (although this is not ruled out) so we have to make an argument for why we should think the good works are specifically meant to accomplish God’s plan. Added to this, we have reason to think that the good works reflect a general holy lifestyle. The reason for this comes from Paul’s use of the verb to walk. Paul uses the same verb in Ephesians 2:2 to remind the Ephesians that they once walked according to the sons of disobedience. In Ephesians 2:10 he says that they were recreated to walk in good works. Then through Ephesians 4:1 – 6:24 Paul repeatedly exhorts the Ephesians to walk in the right way.¹⁶ For example, in Ephesians 4:1 he urges them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. In Ephesians 4:17 he explains that they must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. Instead, he explains they are to walk in love (Ephesians 5:2), and to walk as children of the light. For Paul, walking in good works has to do with living a life that reflects the character and holiness of God. Of course, these works are only possible through the Spirit of Christ, and in fact, on each occasion that a believer walks in love, or as children of the light, the believer walks in a good work that God prepared beforehand.

Will walking in some of these good works result in God’s purposes in history coming to fruition? Quite possibly, but that does not seem to be Paul’s emphasis. In either case, God wants us to live a life worthy of our calling, which means walking in the good works God prepared beforehand through the power of Christ.

Possible weaknesses:

The possible weakness of this view is the assumption that if a good work is prepared beforehand by God, it is a good work meant to move history forward. In other words, does every good work contribute to God’s plans in history, or are some good works simply good works that reflect the character and holiness of God, whether they move history forward or not? This is a big question, and not easily settled. We know that our actions have consequences, so should we characterize each action as an action that moves history forward, whether or good or bad? Maybe, but it might take argumentation to show this. The fact is, according to Ephesians 2:10, every good work we do, whether it propels history forward or has no impact on the trajectory of the overall state of affairs, is a good work rooted in Christ and prepared beforehand by God.

Explanation:

God had a plan before he created the world. His plan was to reconcile us through Jesus Christ. Further, he planned to enable us to place our faith in him. Now, we know that we cannot perform any good work unless the Spirit of Christ dwells in us. The fact that God planned beforehand that he would reconcile us through Christ, and enable us to place our faith in him, means he prepared good works for us beforehand.¹⁷

Counterargument:

The problem with this view is that it seems to overlook the context of Ephesians 2:10. Nowhere does Paul state in Ephesians 2:10 that before the creation of the world, God planned that we would be reconciled to Christ. Nor does Ephesians 2:10 state that before the creation of the world God planned that he would enable us to put our faith in him. Those statements are true, but they are not found in Ephesians 2:10. Rather, what God planned beforehand, according to Ephesians 2:10, is good works for believers to walk in. Thus, Paul does not state that beforehand God planned to reconcile us to Christ, but that beforehand, God planned that we should walk in the good works that he has prepared. Who enables us to walk in those good works? The Spirit of Christ.

Possible weaknesses:

This interpretation does not appear rooted in the text. It seems to conflate the fact that God prepared good works beforehand with the fact that he planned to reconcile us in Christ before the creation of the world. Even if Ephesians 2:10 was about God’s planning to reconcile us before the creation of the world, it is not clear why such a plan implies that believers would walk in good works. While Ephesians 2:10 is more difficult than it looks at first glance, this interpretation muddies the water more than it clears things up.