We Are His Workmanship

Text: Eph 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Introduction

The born again believer is the “workmanship” of Almighty God. The Lord created the world and made us. He allowed man the freedom of choice to either obey Him perfectly or to turn from Him in sin. When the very first two humans turned from Him to sin. The Lord provided the highest quality solution to reconcile sinful man to Himself - His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no compromise in the Lord’s efforts to reconcile lost humanity to Himself.

Equally so when it comes to wooing lost man to Himself. The Lord sent the Holy Spirit to woo us to Himself. Yes He does use those who have been born again, but He uses us in partnership with the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor. 3:9 Paul writes, “For we are labourers with God: …”. Without the Holy Spirit no preacher or soul winner would ever be able to lead any sinner to Christ. Not in truth. They may be convinced to reform their lives, to do their best to conform to what the bible describes as the Christian life, but they will never be born again. They will never know the second birth that the Lord Jesus described in John 3 - being born again of the Spirit of God. We must recognise the partnership between ourselves and the Holy Spirit in spiritual ministry, or nothing will be achieved for eternity.

This study is about what follows in this pattern of God’s dealings with man that I have been describing. We are to recognise that we are the Lord’s workmanship. All who are born again are born into the family of God because the Holy Spirit used someone to lead them to receive Christ. The Holy Spirit did the wooing with the preacher and God’s Word and won them to. I want to point out that we must recognise that the work of the Holy Spirit does not end there. Bringing us to Christ is just the beginning. The Holy Spirit will attempt to lead us to be completely changed - to be like Christ.

We are living in times when even true believers are not allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them. We are picking and choosing what leading, of the Holy Spirit, we will follow and what leading we won’t. The Lord is not pleased with most of us today. The true church is in a very sad state.

Very quickly let’s consider a few scriptures to see this:

The Lord wants believers to demonstrate the life that Christ gives to those who are born again, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead them into a higher life – the abundant life.

Rom 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In today’s true church we have:

Many who are lost …

Mat 7:21-23 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

Many who make the Lord sick to His stomach because they will not make an out-and-out stand for Him …

Rev 3:14-22
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Led Of The Spirit

We are the Lord’s workmanship, but that workmanship will not be successful if we do not co-operate with Him. We must be LED OF THE SPIRIT. Romans 8:14, “For as many are led of the Spirit, they are the sons of God.” I don’t think that I am going beyond this scripture when I say that those not led of the Spirit are not the sons of God?

What is meant by this vital relationship between those born again and the Holy Spirit – being “led of the Spirit.”?

Being Led When We Read / Study The Bible

We must recognise that the only way for us to get to the truth that the Lord has revealed through the Bible is to be led by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise our cultures and personalities will cause us to have a personal understanding of what we read in the Bible. Which will be different from what someone else understands reading the some passage as us. It is not hard to understand this. Someone from one of the 13 cultures in SA will not arrive at the same understanding as someone from one of the eastern cultures. Our views of life are too different. We need the author to tell us both what He wants us to all understand and respond to. The Holy Spirit does this if we will follow His lead.

1Co 2:9-10
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

There are things that we will never know unless the Holy Spirit reveals them to us. We may understand the words that we read in the Bible, but we need the Holy Spirit to help us understand, and believe the spiritual meaning of those words. We need the Spirit’s help to understand what He is saying in the any given passage. What does He want to communicate to us from that passage?

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Spiritual truths will not be understood, and believed and lived unless we are helped by the Holy Spirit.

Example

1Co 1:23-24
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The Holy Spirit must lead us to the true meaning of any passage of Scripture, or else we will never come to the truth that a passage is meant to impart to us.

Being Led When We Are ‘Under The Preaching Of God’s Word’, and ‘If We Are Doing The Preaching’

We need to have God’s Word open so we can carefully consider what the preacher is preaching. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us.

The Berean’s in Acts were great examples:

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

They did two important things when being preached to:

They received the “Word with readiness of mind” – they wanted God’s truth, and so listened carefully. Today we know that the Holy Spirit will be behind spiritual preaching and so we must expect Him to speak to us. To open us the truth and expose error.
They searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. They studied what they were taught to be sure that it did indeed line up with Scripture. Again we must rely heavily on the Holy Spirit to lead us into truth.

Relying On The Leading Of The Holy Spirit In The Practical Outliving Of The Christian Life

The practical outliving of the Spiritual life may be divided as follows as some examples:

Ministry

If we are not lead by the Holy Spirit in ministry, then we could – as many have – find ourselves doing things that we should not. And not doing things that we should.

A frightening example of this is the Ephesian church of Asia Minor. They started so well. The Lord has lots to complement them about:

Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

They sound like the perfect church. But they got careless and lost their first love …

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Romans 8 tells us that we always only have two choices, either we are walking after the flesh, or we are walking after the Spirit (which is being led by the Spirit). The Ephesian’s started out being led by the Holy Spirit, and then they got careless and walked after their carnal flesh.

The Lord warned them …

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

The Ephesian church addressed here came to an end we discover from historical records. They did not repent it seems.

Home

If we are not led by the Holy Spirit and are rather ‘walking after the flesh’, then our homes will be carnal. And therefore contrary to the Lord - displeasing to the Lord. And our homes will not demonstrate the new life that we claim to have in Christ.

And so our homes will serve to rather to mislead the lost, than demonstrate the new life in Christ.

Work

If we are not lead by the Holy Spirit in the work place we will demonstrate anything but what the new life in Christ is.

It is not in us, it is not in our capability to demonstrate the new life in Christ. This must be done in the enabling of the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:3-4
3 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, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

In ourselves we are incapable, but through the Holy Spirit we are enabled to do all that the Lord calls us to do. In this case to be living demonstrations of the new life in Christ at the work place.

Leisure

If we are not lead by the Holy Spirit in our leisure time, we will be indulging the flesh just like the world. We will partake of carnal, sinful pleasures of the world. Whether it is the indulgence of entertainment through the television, or other worldly pleasures that feed the flesh.

We need leisure, and times of relaxing. But how we take those times of leisure will either be walking after the flesh or the Spirit. We will either be offending the Lord or following the lead of the Holy Spirit to do things in our leisure that will refresh us spiritually and physically.

In leisure we can read the bible, read a helpful Christian book, how fellowship with a fellow believer discussing the Faith or what is happening in our walk with the Lord, or our ministry.

The Challenge To The Holy Spirit’s Leading In Our Lives

We need the Lord’s leading on two levels in our lives:

Life’s Direction

If in our live’s direction we are being truly being led by the Holy Spirit we will become Spiritually minded (Romans 8:1-7). Over time our life will be shaped in all areas by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Daily Life

Then in my daily walk with Him I will be continually choosing between walking after the flesh and walking after the Holy Spirit. i.e. Whether or not, in each situation, I am willing to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:1-7
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 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, condemned sin in the flesh:
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 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.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

These daily choices as revealed in Romans 8 may be stated as follows:

Walking After The Flesh Which Leads To Being Carnally Minded

The unsaved and the disobedient born again choose the sinful route

‘Walking after the flesh’ (i.e. Doing as they please, instead of what they know to be right with the Lord.)
Habitually ‘walking after the flesh’ will cause one to ‘mind the things of the flesh’.( i.e have a ‘leaning’ towards sinful things. Or have an ‘appetite’ for sinful things.)
This will cause them to have a ‘carnal mind’. i.e. A mind that we are told in verse 7 is at ‘enmity with God.’ The carnally minded has values and beliefs that are so offensive to God that He declares them, their minds, as enemies to Him.

Walking After The Spirit Which Leads To Being Spiritually Minded

The obedient born again believer, being led by the Holy Spirit in all things, are in this Romans 8 passage described as:

Those who ‘walk after the Spirit (Holy Spirit)’. Mean that He (the Holy Spirit) leads them in all things
Walking after the Spirit will cause the born again to ‘mind the things of the Spirit’. i.e have a leaning towards things that God values. But not just a leaning towards, but having a passionate agreement with God in all things.
Habitually ‘walking after the Spirit’, or being ‘led by the Holy Spirit,’ will make the born again ‘spiritually minded’. Another way of saying this is that the spiritually minded believer has the same values as the Lord. They have been changed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:1-2).

When the Holy Spirit has successfully led the born again believer to being spiritually minded, He has succeeded in a major area in His workmanship in that particular believers life. He will be able to use such a believer in God’s purposes in this life. Use them in being an example of how incomparable life is for a true Christian next to any other way of life. Use them to reach the lost. Use them to encourage and build up younger believers in His workmanship in them.