Yes — God expects believers to do good works because they are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for that purpose, yet those works never earn salvation.
God saves believers by grace through faith, giving them a new nature and making them His workmanship. Those new creations are designed to produce good works, but the works flow from salvation and are never the basis of it. They are the fruit of the new life and are done for reward, not for salvation.
Ephesians 2:10 — This verse directly states that believers are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Romans 4:4 — It contrasts reward earned by works with the free reckoning of grace, showing that salvation cannot be worked for.
1 Corinthians 3:15 — It shows that saved believers can still lose reward for worthless works.
The Bible places salvation and good works in a clear order. Ephesians 2:8-9 says salvation is by grace through faith and is the gift of God, "Not of works, lest any man should boast." Then Ephesians 2:10 immediately explains why believers are expected to do good works: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The believer is made anew and appointed to walk in good works that God prepared. Romans 4:4 contrasts this with earning: "Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." At the judgment seat of Christ, 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 teaches that while lasting work earns a reward, perishable work is burned; the person is saved but loses the reward. Scripture therefore does not set works against grace as a means of salvation; instead, good works are the expected fruit of the new creation.
Les Feldick is emphatic that no one works for salvation. Salvation is a gift, all of grace by faith plus nothing. But once a person enters into salvation, God expects him or her to work for rewards. The purpose of that work is to enhance God's work and bring honor and glory to His Name. Les explains that when God saves someone, He does not leave that person like a wreck. He makes the believer a new person with a whole new personality. The word "workmanship" in Ephesians 2:10 comes from the Greek poema, from which we get "poem." He also likens it to a symphony: many different instruments brought together into beautiful harmony, which is what God has done in shaping the believer. This new creation is God's own workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God foreordained. Works belong to the area of Christian service and reward, not to salvation. They are the expected result of the transformed life, and they determine rewards, not eternal life.
Les Feldick explains that the word "workmanship" comes from the Greek poema, from which English gets "poem." He also connects it to a symphony: just as a composer brings many instruments together into beautiful harmony, God forms believers into something beautiful. When God saves someone, He does not leave that person like a wreck; He makes him or her a new person with a whole new personality. Believers are the result of a recreation of God Himself.
Les is clear: no one works at all for salvation; it is all of grace by faith plus nothing. Salvation is the gift of God, and for a true gift you do not work. But once a person enters into salvation, God expects them to work for reward. That work enhances His work and brings honor and glory to His name. The reward is not salvation but is earned in the area of Christian service.
Les points to 1 Corinthians 3. If a believer's work is like wood, hay, and stubble, it will burn, and that person will suffer loss — not loss of salvation, but loss of reward. This maintains the difference between salvation and works: they go together, but works stay in the area of Christian service and reward, never in salvation. Paul writes that "if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
God's Workmanship: A New Creation, Not a Wreck
Les teaches that when God saves us, He makes us a new person with a whole new personality, and compares that forming to a symphony.
Working for Rewards After Salvation
Les explains that no one works for salvation, but once saved, God expects believers to work for reward to enhance His work and bring honor and glory to Him.
Recreation by God, Not a Life of Doing Nothing
Les says believers are not saved just to do nothing; they are the result of God's recreation, His workmanship.
Workmanship as a Symphonic Work of Art
Les compares believers to a symphony where many different instruments come together in beautiful harmony, which is what God has done in forming believers.
Created in Christ Jesus for Good Works
Les teaches that believers are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God foreordained before He ever created Adam.
Salvation Is a Free Gift; Works Come After
Les teaches that because salvation is the gift of God, you cannot work for it, but you can and should work after it; the Greek word for workmanship is poema, like a poem.
Rewards Lost vs. Salvation Kept at the Judgment Seat
Les says that works which are wood, hay, and stubble burn and forfeit reward, but the person is still saved; this distinguishes works for reward from works for salvation.
Salvation Cannot Be Earned by Working
Les clarifies that Romans 4:4 is about salvation, not Christian works; trying to work for salvation puts God in debt, which cannot happen.
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Shows that salvation is a gift, not a wage earned by human effort.
Ephesians 2:9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Declares that works cannot be the cause of salvation, so no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Directly answers why God expects believers to do good works: they are created in Christ Jesus for that purpose.
Romans 4:4: Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Contrasts working for wages with receiving salvation by grace.
1 Corinthians 3:14: If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
Shows that lasting work done for God receives a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:15: If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Reveals that a believer can lose reward without losing salvation.
Yes. Because salvation makes a believer a new creation, God expects that new person to walk in the good works He has prepared. These works do not earn salvation; they are the result of it.
No. Les Feldick teaches that salvation is a gift, "not of works, lest any man should boast." You cannot work for a gift. The works God expects come after salvation and are for reward, not for salvation.
God created believers in Christ Jesus for good works, which He before ordained that they should walk in them. This is why God expects a changed, fruitful life.
Watch the Teaching: Why God Imputes Righteousness Without Works — Romans 4