Paul tells us that our salvation is completely by grace, and not because of good works. It is the gift of God to us so that we would not be able to boast before God. That we are protected from boasting is His kindness to us. We are saved by faith, which is our side of our salvation. But I thought Paul just said we are not saved by works? Is faith a “work”? Works are rooted in our strength and are done because we think that we can do something. Faith is rooted in humility and brokenness so our response is to believe in Him to do what we cannot do. Our salvation is by grace, but God gives us the dignity of choosing Him even though He really chose us!

Though we are not saved by works, we are saved to do good works. Paul says that we are God’s “workmanship” and that we are created in order to do good works. But the good works that we are to walk in are not arbitrary or random. They have been “prepared beforehand” for us. Every person has a different calling and role in the Kingdom. He wants to reveal to each one of us what this calling is and what the good works are that He would have us to do. Not envying another’s calling is very hard to do in our performance society. Some people will be more visible or honored, while others will be hidden (1 Cor. 12:22-25), but we all serve a purpose. He has thought out our calling and it is good.