God’s Workmanship

In this sermon, Timothy Keller argues that the Christian life is not a self-improvement project but a total transformation initiated by God, who acts as a master artist. He builds this argument on Ephesians 2:8-10, focusing on the precise order of grace, faith, and good works, and what it means to be called "God's workmanship."

The Threatening Nature of Real Grace

Keller insists that the mechanism of becoming a Christian is a three-step process with a critical order: grace leads to faith, which in turn leads to works. Grace must come first. He defines grace as "favor given to someone who deserves the opposite," and argues that authentic grace is always both threatening and transforming.

To illustrate, he uses the story of Jean Valjean from Les Misérables. When the bishop forgives Valjean for stealing and gives him more silver, Valjean realizes he has a choice. He can receive the grace and "lose control of his life," or he can refuse it and remain "self-righteous," in control, and hating everyone. Keller says, "If you've never been threatened, you've never experienced grace." Many people mistake a transactional relationship with God—"be good, do well, follow Christ, and he'll bless you"—for the real thing. That is not grace, and it will not change a person. Real grace, once received, is cataclysmic.

The Kiss That Awakens Faith