What should believers understand themselves to be?
Believers should understand themselves to be God's workmanship, a unique creation of the only Creator, made new in Christ Jesus because they believe. They are a symphonic work of art, a thing of beauty formed by God's creative work, and they exist unto good works as the result of salvation, not as its cause.
Les explains that when God transforms a person, forgives them, and makes them His child, that person becomes a symphonic work of art—something with everything put together, a thing of beauty. We are His workmanship, the result of the work of the eternal God because we believe. This implies a miracle as great as God creating the universe: when God saves the son of Adam and makes him a new person, it is as great a work of creation as when He created the universe in the first place. Believers are a unique creation of the only Creator, God Himself, and are created in Christ Jesus unto good works—not for salvation, but as a result of salvation.