Ephesians 2:10
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Paul reminds his readers of who we once were. We lived according to our own desires, without regard for God or what was right. Nothing about our behavior earned God’s favor. Salvation was not a reward for improvement or effort. It was an act of grace. What is striking is that God did not simply rescue us from something, but raised us up with Christ himself. Our new position was not achieved alongside Jesus, but because we are united with him.
That truth cuts against how easily I think about myself. It is tempting to believe that I deserve God’s blessing because I have behaved better, given more, or tried harder than someone else. But this passage removes all of that. There is nothing about me that separates me from anyone else apart from God’s grace. The only reason I stand where I do is not because of something special in me, but because of what God has done.
The right response to this is not pride, but purpose. Grace does not lead to arrogance. It can’t. It leads to obedience. God saved me for a reason, not just from something. He prepared good works for me long before I was aware of them, and my life is meant to be shaped around that calling. I was not created to prove myself worthy. I was created to live out the will of God with humility and gratitude.