Does Ephesians 2:8-10 refer only to works of the law?

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

- Ephesians 2:8-10

The above verses are among some of the clearest in Scripture regarding how salvation is obtained. Salvation is by grace, through faith, not of works. It is even said to be the gift of God. Furthermore, verse 10 adds that we are saved to good works. This Scripture alone (though to be sure, it is not alone) should be enough to tell us that salvation is not received by works, but rather, works are a result of salvation. Key word: should. Unfortunately, however, the devil has a way of making even the simplest of Scriptures complicated in the minds of men. Therefore, there are many philosophies out there, be they taught by denominations, or held by individuals, that say salvation is by works.

So how do they get around Ephesians 2:8-10? The first, and most common way is to simply ignore it and cite other Scriptures, such as James 2:24, which, in their view, show that salvation is by works after all. This is clearly a flawed response, as this would render the word of God contradictory. In reality, James 2:24 and Ephesians 2:8-10 are quite harmonious. See, James says that man is justified, not saved, by works, which the rest of the chapter bears out. It follows the simple reasoning that if we have the faith that saves us (and have therefore received the salvation it brings), we will walk in the good works that God ordained we should. If we don't walk in those good works, our faith is likely false.

Other "salvation by works" verses hit the same problem. They are not being interpreted correctly, and would contradict other Scriptures, like Ephesians 2:8-10, if they were preaching salvation by works. The only way around this dilemma is to say that actually, the works-based salvation verses are correct, and so the "not of works" interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-10 is wrong, and would make Scripture contradictory. In my entire career as an apologist, I have heard only one good attempt to make this argument. That is, the interpretation that Ephesians 2:8-10 only refers to works of the law, which, of course, Scripture tells us we are no longer under, as it had no power to save, but was merely a tutor and a guardian until Christ came.

Although this does sound powerful at first (and indeed, I myself was a little taken back when I first heard it), the argument is actually both self-contradictory, and contradictory to other arguments used in defence of works-based salvation.

It contradicts other arguments because these arguments usually involve works which are not of the law. Take, for example, Abraham's offering of Isaac, which is by far the most common example. "Abraham was justified by works!" the heretic cries. But the works he was justified by were offering Isaac upon the altar (James 2:21). Yet, search the law. Read it forwards, backwards, or upside down, the consistent testimony of the law is that offering one's son to God as a sacrifice never entered His heart (Jeremiah 7:31). In other words, Abraham (who, of course, lived before there even was a law of Moses) was justified by works contrary to the law. Ultimately, you cannot just pick and choose when "works" only means "works of the law".

But ultimately, this is what you must do if you insist on taking this interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-10, because there are actually two references to works here. The first is that we are not saved by works, but the second is that we, being God's workmanship, were created anew in Christ for good works, that God ordained we should walk in. So, are we not saved by works of the law, but nevertheless are created to walk in them? Far from it! We are told repeatedly that we are no longer under the law, which is a part of the now obsolete old covenant, which is the very premise of this interpretation! Thus, the only consistent interpretation is that when Ephesians 2:8-10 speaks of works, it means works period. We are not saved by good works, for indeed we would all fail at this, but rather, we are saved to good works, effectively meaning our salvation will lead us to do good.

When taken in context, Scripture clearly tells us that there is nothing we can, or have to do to earn salvation. Thankfully, the work of salvation has been done. Though we sinned, earning death as our wages, Christ was crucified in our place. Now, all we have to "do" to be saved is believe in Him. But of course, it doesn't stop there. If we are truly saved, we will act saved. Therefore, we will walk in the good works that we were ordained for. Works do not lead to salvation, but salvation leads to works.