Eph 2:10, 4:24 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 10. For we are his workmanship ] So far is this salvation from being our own work , or granted for our own works' sake , that we are ourselves not only the creatures of God, but our new creation was produced by his power; for we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works . He has saved us that we may show forth the virtues of Him who called us from darkness into his marvellous light. For though we are not saved for our good works, yet we are saved that we may perform good works , to the glory of God and the benefit of man. Which God hath before ordained ] οιςπροητοιμασες. For which God before prepared us, that we might walk in them . For being saved from sin we are made partakers of the Spirit of holiness; and it is natural to that Spirit to lead to the practice of holiness; and he who is not holy in his life is not saved by the grace of Christ. The before ordaining , or rather preparing , must refer to the time when God began the new creation in their hearts; for from the first inspiration of God upon the soul it begins to love holiness; and obedience to the will of God is the very element in which a holy or regenerated soul lives.

‏ Ephesians 2:10

Verse 10. For we are his workmanship] So far is this salvation from being our own work, or granted for our own works' sake, that we are ourselves not only the creatures of God, but our new creation was produced by his power; for we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. He has saved us that we may show forth the virtues of Him who called us from darkness into his marvellous light. For though we are not saved for our good works, yet we are saved that we may perform good works, to the glory of God and the benefit of man.

Which God hath before ordained] οιςπροητοιμασες. For which God before prepared us, that we might walk in them. For being saved from sin we are made partakers of the Spirit of holiness; and it is natural to that Spirit to lead to the practice of holiness; and he who is not holy in his life is not saved by the grace of Christ. The before ordaining, or rather preparing, must refer to the time when God began the new creation in their hearts; for from the first inspiration of God upon the soul it begins to love holiness; and obedience to the will of God is the very element in which a holy or regenerated soul lives.

‏ Ephesians 4:24

Verse 24. Put on the new man] Get a new nature; for in Christ Jesus-under the Christian dispensation, neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Therefore ye must be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

Which after God is created in righteousness] Here is certainly an allusion to the creation of man. Moses tells us, Ge 1:27, that God created man in his own image; that is, God was the model according to which he was formed in the spirit of his mind. St. Paul says here that they should put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, or, οσιοτητι τηςαληθειας, in the holiness of truth. Both certainly refer to the same thing, and the one illustrates the other. From the apostle we learn what Moses meant by the image of God; it was righteousness and the truth of holiness. See Clarke on Ge 1:26. It is not this or the other degree of moral good which the soul is to receive by Jesus Christ, it is the whole image of God; it is to be formed καταθεου, according to God; the likeness of the Divine Being is to be traced upon his soul, and he is to bear that as fully as his first father Adam bore it in the beginning.