Created for Good Works

I. Dead men don't do good works. The order of Ephesians 2 is very clear. We start out dead in sin. Then we are made alive in Christ through regeneration. Then we do good works. We don't and cannot do good works while in a state of spiritual death. Dead men do dead works.

II. What about James 2?
If we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone, then what does James mean when he says we are saved by works and not by faith alone? Does scripture contradict itself?

III. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works.
*As God's workmanship, we have been specifically crafted by God to do the works God has for us specifically. He doesn't shape us and craft us to do other people's good works.
*Why did God save us? One answer is, "For good works." This is our purpose. God has good works for us to do. That's why we're not dead yet. That's why He didn't translate us to heaven immediately upon regenerating us.
*We should not be envious of others and the good works God has called others to do. We can be amazed at the biographies of "great" men and women. But God fashioned them and shaped them specifically for their work. He has not fashioned us in the same way. It is unlikely that God called you to be the next Charles Spurgeon or George Whitefield or Amy Carmichael.
*God pre-ordained the specific works we are to do. We don't know what they are, but we follow the general principles and instructions from God's Word, and through the process of "loving our neighbor" as ourselves, we walk in the good works God predestined for us.