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God's Workmanship (Part 2)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God the Father is the supreme source of all good works, as He initiates and energizes the process of salvation within us. His creative efforts are the cause, and our good works are the effect, a direct result of His divine workmanship. As the ultimate Ruler, He controls and manipulates circumstances, guiding both nations and individuals toward His purpose, much like an artist or craftsman shapes their creation to fulfill their vision. It is God who works in us, energizing us to both will and do according to His good pleasure, ensuring that our salvation and the works that follow are not our own doing but His. Salvation itself is a work of God, a process of divine creation that begins with His call and continues as He draws us to Him. He leads us to repentance, grants forgiveness, provides His Spirit, and reveals truth, creating circumstances that prompt us to choose and act in accordance with His will. Our good works are merely reactions to His initiative, responses to the desires and power He instills in us. Without being in union with Christ Jesus, drawing spiritual nourishment from Him, no true good works as defined by God are possible, for they only begin when He lives in us. God, as the perfect Creator, knows precisely where each of us fits into His grand design, molding and shaping us for specific roles in His Kingdom. He places us in the body of Christ as He sees fit, gifting us to carry out and exhibit our salvation through good works, which are the fruit of His labor in us. His purpose is to create sons in His image, a family of beings who can live in eternal harmony, and He works tirelessly to achieve this, providing everything needed—His Spirit, vision, hope, and power—to overcome human nature, though He preserves our choice to yield to Him. Thus, salvation is synonymous with the new creation, a process that God considers already completed in His confidence, yet one we must continue to work out with fear and trembling, cooperating with His purpose. Good works are not the cause of salvation but the effect of His creative efforts, a manifestation of His nature within us as we respond to His love by living as He does.

God's Creation and Our Works

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God the Father is the Source of all works, orchestrating events and shaping lives according to His divine purpose. He manipulated the circumstances that led Joseph to Egypt, ensuring His desired outcome, though not necessarily forcing the actions of Joseph's brothers. It was God who preserved Moses' life during the slaughter of the children, miraculously delivering him into Pharaoh's household and providing his mother, Jochebed, to care for him. God prepared Moses for eighty years to be Israel's deliverer, equipping him with the wisdom of Egypt. It was God who raised up Pharaoh, hardened his heart, brought plagues upon Egypt, and separated Israel after the third plague. He chose the exact date for Israel's departure from Egypt to fulfill the promise made to Abraham. God determined the path Israel would follow to the Promised Land, deliberately leading them into a box canyon to display His power by parting the Red Sea. His command directs the movements of His people, as they move forward, stop, are dispersed, or brought together by His will. God raises up and puts down leaders in the church, and He is the Creator and Designer of all things on earth and of His Family, shaping each individual physically and spiritually. He decided where Israel would camp, how long they would remain, and the path they would take next. When the church scattered, it was by God's doing, using instruments as He saw fit for His reasons. Growth and conversion are the fruit of yielding to God's creative manipulations, and without Him, no spiritual fruit can be produced, as Jesus declared that apart from Him, nothing can be done. God is reproducing Himself, creating new beings in His image, initiating this process with calling and revelation through His Spirit, transforming the outlook of the called. All things pertaining to the new creation are of God, who reconciles us to Himself, establishing peace through Jesus Christ. His initiative brings us into a new fellowship, providing the means of reconciliation even before the foundation of the world by preparing a Savior. God is a hands-on Creator, not distant, but in a close Family relationship with us, acting first to enable our responses. If He had not called us, sent His Spirit, granted repentance, or empowered belief in the gospel, we would not be transformed. His actions open doors for us to follow, and our works are simply yielding to the pressures of His manipulations. God starts and sustains the entire process from beginning to end, making possible what we become through His grace, which is favor in action. Salvation is not accomplished by our works but by His workmanship, as we are created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand. God infuses us with His life and character as the Head of the body, fitting us into His spiritual organism to be in perfect agreement with Him. He places each of us in the body as it pleases Him, designing and creating with infinite care for specific functions in His Family government. It is the Father who has the vision of what He is creating, forming us to fit within that vision, continually revealing Himself and His purpose to guide our conformity. God works in us both to will and to do, giving the desire, resolve, and drive to perform and accomplish His good works. He gifts us to choose the right and good, masterfully working until we make the correct choices, building character through repeated testing. All glory belongs to Him for bringing us this far, as we did not choose Him as our spiritual Parent; He initiated the relationship, favoring us by revealing Himself and placing us in His Family, making us more blessed and responsible to yield to His creative efforts.

God's Workmanship (Part 1)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God the Father stands as the source and driving force behind all creative acts and good works. It is He who initiates and sustains the process of salvation, shaping us as His workmanship. As Psalm 100:3 declares, it is He that has made us, motivating us to serve Him with gladness and come before His presence with singing. His creative power did not cease in the Garden of Eden but continues in the spiritual re-creation of those He has called and chosen, granting repentance and giving His Spirit. In Ephesians 2:10, we are described as His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, implying that prior to His intervention, we were not capable of producing works that align with His standard. God Himself is the model after which we are being formed, sculpting us into His spiritual, moral, and ethical image, as seen in Genesis 1:26. He is the potter, and we are the clay being shaped by His hands. Through Isaiah 32:15 and Psalm 104:30, we see that God sends forth His Spirit to restore beauty to what has been defiled and to create anew, demonstrating His rule over creation. This act of sending His Spirit results in both physical and spiritual re-creation, as evidenced in Ezekiel 36, where He causes His people to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments. Good works, therefore, are the effects of His Spirit working within us, not the cause of deliverance or salvation. Romans 4:17 and 21 emphasize that God, the Deliverer, quickens the dead and calls things that are not as though they were, possessing the vision, power, and wisdom to accomplish His promises. Philippians 1:6 assures us that He who began a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, for He is faithful. Salvation is thus a divine creation, a process God is actively working, as Jesus affirmed in John 5:17, stating that His Father works hitherto, and He works alongside Him. In Philippians 2:13, we are encouraged that salvation is primarily God's work, not ours, as He works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, providing the desire and the power to accomplish His will. This creative effort continues to the end, ensuring that we are carried forward toward perfection by His tidal wave of power, as suggested in Hebrews 6. Hebrews 13:20-21 further calls upon the God of peace to make us perfect, reinforcing that we work downwards from salvation, not upwards to attain it, for good works are the purpose and consequence of salvation, not its cause. Everywhere in God's Word, the principle is clear that good works are always an effect of what God does, shaping us as His creation. We are not puppets but are moved by His Spirit to yield and respond, allowing Him to push the clay around as the potter, producing works that reflect His will and image.

God's Workmanship (Part 3)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God the Father is the source of all works, actively directing His creation toward the fulfillment of His purpose. He declares in Ezekiel 36:27 that He will cause us to walk in His law, exercising His creative powers to guide us into a specific way of life. As seen in Proverbs 21:1, the heart of the king is in His hand, and He turns it wherever He wishes, demonstrating His sovereignty over political powers on earth to align them with His plan. Like a farmer directing water to irrigate a field, He manipulates circumstances to achieve His desired outcomes. In Ephesians 2, He clearly states that we, His children, are His workmanship, created for the specific purpose of bringing forth good works. These works are the direct result of His creative process, as we are shaped in His image to live as He does, preparing us to join Him in perfect harmony for His further plans. Without union with Christ, no spiritual good can be accomplished, for He Himself said that without Him, we can do nothing. Thus, good works are not the cause of salvation but the product of His ongoing work within us. God is the Creator, and creation requires works to bring forth what is being created. As Jesus affirmed in John 5:17, His Father is working, and He is working, showing that salvation is a work in progress. God is actively involved in our lives, working salvation in the midst of the earth, as Psalm 74:12 reveals. His purpose in these works is to produce good works fit for His Kingdom, generated and energized by His Spirit, which are only possible after He begins His creative spiritual process within us. The burden of salvation rests on Him, and He never fails, confidently bringing us to the standard acceptable to Him, as the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Power Belongs to God (Part One)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Where does real power reside? All power has its source in God—and not just the kind of power we typically think of.

Power Belongs to God (Part Two)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Human beings, even those who have been called, have an innate fear that God will not always provide. This fear originates in doubt about God's power.

Power Belongs to God (Part 2)

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

We may be going through a period of hopelessness, but must believe that all things work together for those who believe and are called for His purpose.

Truth and God's Governance (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

The best human leaders are those who recognize that they are not the ones running things. Exceptional leaders submit to the reality of God's sovereignty.

Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part Four)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

The Bible makes it plain that salvation is by grace, but it is also clear that we are 'created in Christ Jesus for good works.' Grace and works fit together.

Themes of Ruth (Part Two): God's Providence

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

As we count the 50 days toward Pentecost, we should consider the events of our lives, coming to understand that they reveal God's on-going maintenance.

Living by Faith: Humility and God's Justice

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Humility, poverty of spirit, and acknowledging our total dependence on God are of the utmost importance. God responds to those who are humble.

The Providence of God (Part Seven)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Jesus and Abraham rose above their emotional pulls by exercising living faith—a faith built on acts of obedience. Faith can never be separated from works.

Living By Faith and God's Grace

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

God gives grace from start to finish in a person's relationship with Him. It cannot be limited merely to justification and His forgiveness of our sins.

Living by Faith: God's Grace (Part Three)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Grace implies empowerment for growth. It is the single most important aspect of our salvation, and His giving of it is completely unmerited on our part.

The Father-Son Relationship (Part Six)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The Father and the Son are two distinct beings, not co-equal as the trinity doctrine proclaims, but with the Son deferring to the Father in all things.

Jesus and the Feast (Part One): Alignment With God

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Only in John 7 do we find some evidence of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day, providing a gold mine to discover what was on Jesus's mind during this time.

Christ's Revelation of the Father

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

John 1:1-3 reveals Jesus' pedigree as the Logos (Spokesman), whose function was to declare or reveal the Father. He had existed with His Father from eternity.

The Father-Son Relationship (Part Seven)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The Holy Spirit is never venerated as a separate being. Our hope is the indwelling of Christ, used interchangeably with 'Spirit of God' and 'Spirit of Truth.'

Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part Six)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Grace's influence extends beyond justification, into the sanctification stage where the believer yields himself to righteousness, keeping God's commandments.

Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part Seven)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

In terms of building character, God does the creating, assaying, testing, and proving; we do the yielding and walking in the pathway He has set for us.

The Patient Pineapple

Sermonette by Ted E. Bowling

The majority of the growth or maturation of a pineapple plant takes place from within. The same holds true for our calling and conversion.

Without Me, You Can Do Nothing (Part One)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

We tend to avoid acknowledging our weaknesses, but at some point, each of us will admit our powerlessness and inability to carry out God's will on our own.

Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part Two)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God is intimately involved with the smallest details of our life, including our conception and birth, supplying spiritual gifts to carry out His work.

Unleavened Bread and the Holy Spirit (2019)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Egypt is not directly a symbol of sin, but instead the world. The Days of Unleavened Bread symbolize what God did for us, not what we did by our own power.

Leadership and the Covenants (Part Eleven)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

As God sanctified Noah, saving him from the flood, we must trust God to sanctify us, protecting us from the holocaust of fire which will burn this earth.

All in All (Part 2)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

While we are not yet 'all in all' with God's purpose for us, we will, if we yield to our calling and sanctification, become at one with God.

Deuteronomy (Part 6)

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

God is absolutely faithful to finish what He started, knowing the end from the beginning. Our strength is dependent upon the relationship we have with God.