You are “God’s workmanship”, made by him and for him: to love God and others, and to do the good he has prepared. In Ephesians 2:10, the Greek word is poiēma (G4161): something made: a work, the product of someone’s hands. Strong’s says it comes from poieō, ‘to make, to do’.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the word “workmanship” in this verse is the Greek word poiēma (said POY-ay-mah).
It means something made: a work, the product of someone’s hands. Strong’s says it comes from poieō, ‘to make, to do’.
This form, poiēma, is a noun, and Paul puts ‘of Him’, autou, first in the sentence: word for word ‘His we are workmanship’. The weight falls on whose work you are.
It is a rare word: the Berean has it only twice, both times ‘workmanship’. The other place is about creation itself, God’s qualities “being understood from His workmanship” (Romans 1:20):
Word by word
| αὐτοῦ | γάρ | ἐσμεν | ποίημα | κτισθέντες | ἐν | Χριστῷ |
| of Him | for | we are | workmanship | having been created | in | Christ |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul has just said how people are saved: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). Not by works, he adds, “so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:9). Then this verse turns to what that saved life is for. The word for “workmanship” is poiēma: something made, a work from someone’s hands. Before Paul says anything about what you do, he says whose you are: “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” In Greek the sentence begins with ‘His’. You are first of all God’s work, not your own project. The good works are not the price of being saved; they are what the made thing was made for. And God has gone ahead of you: these are works “which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” Think of a craftsman who makes a tool with a job in mind, and lays out the work for it. Christians differ on how detailed that preparing is, a plan for each life or a way of life open to every believer, but they agree that the good itself is God’s gift. You do not have to invent your purpose from nothing. It begins with being God’s workmanship, and it shows up in the good that is put in front of you today.
What the original says
Behind the words “and created” in this verse is the Hebrew word bara (said bah-RAH).
It means to create. When it means to create, as here, it is always God who does it. It is the verb of the Bible’s first sentence.
This form, berativ, is ‘I created’ with ‘him’ joined to the end: ‘I created him’. It is the first of three verbs in a row: created, formed, made.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘create’ 40 times, counting its other forms, beginning with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1):
Word by word
| הַנִּקְרָא | בִשְׁמִי | וְלִכְבוֹדִי | בְּרָאתִיו | יְצַרְתִּיו | אַף | עֲשִׂיתִיו |
| is called | by · name · my | and · for · glory · my | I created · him | I formed · him | also | I made · him |
Original form
What this tells us
Isaiah speaks to a people far from home, and God promises to gather them: “Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east and gather you from the west” (Isaiah 43:5). He calls for his sons and daughters “from the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 43:6). This verse says who they are. The word for “created” is bara, the verb of Genesis 1:1, used for God’s own creating. God says of each person he gathers: “everyone called by My name and created for My glory.” Your life has a reason that comes from outside yourself: you were made to show something of what God is like. Then come three verbs in a row: created, “formed and made.” At the start of the chapter the same God says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine!” (Isaiah 43:1). Think of a potter who shapes a vessel and signs it, so that it carries the maker’s name wherever it goes. To be made for God’s glory is not to be used up. It is to be wanted. If you have wondered whether your life counts for anything, this verse says it was meant from the beginning, and that God calls you by name.
What the original says
Behind the words “were created” in this verse is the Greek word ktizō (said KTEE-zoh).
It means to create, to found something, to bring it into being.
This form, ektisthē, is a ‘done to’ form of the verb: all things ‘were created’. At the end of the verse the same verb comes back as ektistai, ‘have been created’, a finished act whose result lasts.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘create’ 11 times and ‘Creator’ 3 times. Paul uses it for the new life too: “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24):
Word by word
| ὅτι | ἐν | αὐτῷ | ἐκτίσθη | τὰ | πάντα | τὰ |
| because | in | him | were created | the | all things | which |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul is writing to a small church in Colossae, and he opens with one of the Bible’s great descriptions of Christ: “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15). This verse explains what that means for everything that exists. The word for “were created” is ktizō: to create, to found, to bring into being. Paul says everything, “visible and invisible”, was created in Christ, and then says it again: “All things were created through Him and for Him.” Through him and for him: the whole world, you included, has its reason in Christ. John says the same at the start of his Gospel: “Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3). The next verse in Colossians adds, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). A purpose that comes from the One who holds all things together does not depend on how important you feel today. You were made through Christ and for him. That is the widest frame there is for the question of purpose, and every smaller answer fits inside it.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind the word “Love” in this verse is the Greek word agapaō (said ah-gah-PAH-oh).
It means to love: to give yourself to someone’s good. It is the verb that goes with agapē, love.
This form, agapēseis, is a ‘you will’ form spoken to one person: word for word ‘you will love’. Jesus is quoting the old command of Deuteronomy 6:5, where this ‘you will’ works as a command.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘love’ 134 times, as in the second command Jesus gives straight after this one: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39):
Word by word
| Ἰησοῦς | ἔφη | αὐτῷ | ἀγαπήσεις | κύριον | τὸν | θεόν |
| Jesus | was saying | to him | you will love | Lord | the | God |
Original form
What this tells us
In his last days in Jerusalem, Jesus is tested in the temple with one hard question after another. Then one of them, “an expert in the law” (Matthew 22:35), asks: “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” (Matthew 22:36). Jesus answers from the words of Deuteronomy. The word for “Love” is agapaō: to love, to give yourself to someone’s good. Jesus does not answer with a list of tasks. He names a love that takes in everything: “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” At its center, your purpose is a relationship. He adds a second command right away: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), and then says, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40). Think of a compass. Whatever road you are on, the needle keeps pointing the same two ways: toward God, and toward the person next to you. Whatever your work, your place or your season of life, this answer still fits. The question it leaves is simple: whom will you love today, and how?
What the original says
Behind the word “deeds” in this verse is the Greek word ergon (said ER-gon).
It means work: a deed, something done, a task or a labor.
This form, erga, is plural: ‘works’, deeds, more than one. It goes with kala, ‘good’ or ‘fine’: word for word ‘your good works’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘work’ 81 times and ‘deeds’ 43 times, counting their other forms, as in “to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10):
Word by word
| ὑμῶν | τὰ | καλὰ | ἔργα | καὶ | δοξάσωσιν | τὸν |
| your | the | good | works | and | they may glorify | the |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus has just told his followers who they are: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). People do not light a lamp and hide it; “they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house” (Matthew 5:15). The word for “deeds” is ergon: work, a deed, something done. Jesus links your good deeds to God, not to you: people will “see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” The point of a lamp is not the lamp. It is what people can see by its light. Peter writes the same way to Christians who were being slandered: live so that others “may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12). The deeds are often ordinary: a meal brought over, an honest word, kindness to someone who cannot pay you back. A lamp in a house does nothing dramatic. It simply makes the room livable. Your purpose is not always found in something large. Often it is a small light in one room, for the people who happen to be there with you.
What the original says
Behind the word “glory” in this verse is the Greek word doxa (said DOX-ah).
It means glory: honor, splendor, the visible weight of someone’s worth.
This form, doxan, comes after eis, ‘to, toward’: everything is done toward the glory of God. The verse uses the verb ‘do’ twice, for ‘whatever you do’ and for ‘do it all’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘glory’ 131 times, as in “We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father” (John 1:14):
Word by word
| τι | ποιεῖτε | πάντα | εἰς | δόξαν | θεοῦ | ποιεῖτε |
| whatever | you perform | all things | to the | glory | of God | do perform |
Original form
What this tells us
The Christians in Corinth are arguing about food: whether they may eat meat that was sold after being offered to idols. Paul has answered the details, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience” (1 Corinthians 10:25), and now he steps back to a rule that covers everything. The word for “glory” is doxa: glory, honor, the visible weight of someone’s worth. Paul’s rule is wide: “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.” Eating and drinking are the most ordinary things people do. Even they can point to God. In the next verses he adds, “Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:32), and says he is “not seeking my own good, but the good of many” (1 Corinthians 10:33). He writes to the Colossians in the same spirit: “whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17). Here purpose is not one great task, but a way of doing every task. You may be looking for your purpose somewhere far away. This verse finds it at your own table, and in whatever you are about to do next.
What the original says
Behind the word “purpose” in this verse is the Greek word prothesis (said PROTH-eh-sis).
It means a purpose: a plan set out beforehand, an intention. It is also the word for the bread set out before God in the tabernacle.
This form, prothesin, follows kata, ‘according to’: God called us according to his own purpose. Paul sets it against the phrase just before, ‘not according to our works’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘purpose’ 4 times, and it is the word behind “who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28):
Word by word
| ἀλλὰ | κατὰ | ἰδίαν | πρόθεσιν | καὶ | χάριν | τὴν |
| but | according to | own | purpose | and | grace | which |
Original form
What this tells us
Paul is in prison, and he knows his life is nearly over: “the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6). He writes to his young coworker Timothy and asks him not to be ashamed, but to “join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8). The word for “purpose” is prothesis: a plan set out beforehand, an intention. God “has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Your calling did not start with you. It started with God’s purpose. The same word comes in Romans: “And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Christians differ on how God’s purpose and human choice fit together, but they agree that his purpose is grace, given before time began. Think of an invitation written before you were born, with your name already on it. Your purpose does not rest on your record. It rests on a purpose and a grace that were there before you, and that still call you now.
Behind "purpose" are 6 different words
Your English Bible says "purpose" 14 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Paul wrote this about every believer, not only a few. Read it slowly, as a sentence about you:
Name it
Write down one person you could love well this week, and one good thing in front of you that you could do “to the glory of God”.
Carry with you
What is one ordinary thing you will do tomorrow that you could do for God’s glory?
A note
If you feel your life has no point at all, please tell someone you trust today. You are not alone, and that feeling can change with help.