Prepared beforehand (4282) (proetoimazo from pró = before + hetoimazo = to make ready) means to ordain before, to make ready in advance or to be made ready beforehand. The aorist tense points to a specific action that has taken place. This verb is used twice in the Septuagint (Wis 9:8, Isa 28:24) When is "beforehand?" Paul gives us a clue In chapter 1 where he says that God "chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." (Eph 1:4) The only two times this verb is used in the NT, it is used of God's foreordaining for good, referring to glory and to good works. In the only other use Paul explains that... He did so (He withheld demonstration of His wrath on those who were fit only for destruction) in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand (proetoimazo) for glory, (Ro 9:23-note) Vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for good works prepared beforehand! Vincent - God prearranged a sphere of moral action for us to walk in. Not only are works the necessary outcome of faith, but the character and direction of the works are made ready by God. (Word Studies) Expositors Greek Testament - Proetoimazo It means to prepare or place in readiness before, not specifically to foreordain (Aug., Harl.). The pro- describes the preparation as prior to the creation....(Good works) are the goal to which God’s new creation of us looked; they are also in God’s eternal plan. Before He created us in Christ by our conversion, He had destined these good works and made them ready for us in His purpose and decree. There is the unseen source from which they spring, and there is their final explanation. (Expositor's Greek Testament) Pulpit Commentary - A further proof of the true origin of good works. They are the subjects of a Divine decree. Before the foundation of the world it was ordained that whoever should be saved by grace should walk in good works. The term “walk” here denotes the habitual tenor of the life; it is to be spent in an atmosphere of good works. Here we have one of the Divine safeguards against the abuse of the doctrine of salvation by grace. When men hear of salvation irrespective of works, they are apt to fancy that works are of little use, and do not need to be carefully attended to. On the contrary, they are part of the Divine decree, and if we are not living a life of good works, we have no reason to believe that we have been saved by grace. Ray Stedman illustrates this passage... Paul says that God has prepared these works beforehand. I experienced an interesting illustration of this. One of our interns flew to Albuquerque with me. We decided, as the plane was landing, that we would have some prayer together. I hadn't talked to him about this passage at all, but I was struck by the way he prayed. He said, “Father, thank You for the good works already prepared for us in Albuquerque, for the fact that they are waiting for us to step into them and experience them.” Sure enough, after we got to Albuquerque these began to unfold. There was a missionary there from the Amazon region of South America who was discouraged and terribly upset, ready to quit the ministry. Through the ministry we had there he came alive and began to see again what God could do. He came to us with a light on his face and said, “I'm going back to my field completely revolutionized in my approach. Now I've learned how God operates.” A young pastor was facing dissension in his church. He wanted some counsel on how to handle it. God enabled the Scriptures to speak to that situation and give him wisdom and guidance for it. All these good works had been prepared beforehand. All we did was step into them. Do you have any idea how many good works God has prepared for you? They are waiting for you to enter into as you walk in faith and trust and dependence upon Christ. The situations are there, ready and waiting for you to step into. This is what God has called you to. As you do so, you become a vivid display of the greatness and the glory of God. Thank You, Father, that You have prepared beforehand good works for me to walk in. Grant that I might see these opportunities and take full advantage of them in the power of your Spirit. Life Application: Before we step out from home, we usually think about how we look. Do we also think about God's plan for us today how He is going to display Himself through us today? (On Display Daily Devotion) Jeremiah’s good works were assigned before his birth Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5) Paul records God preparing beforehand writing that... when He who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood (Galatians 1:15-16) David testifies that... Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:16) (See Spurgeon's Note) SO THAT WE WOULD WALK IN THEM: hina en autois peripatesomen (1PAAS): (Ep 2:2; 4:1; Deuteronomy 5:33; Psalms 81:13; 119:3; Isaiah 2:3, 4, 5; Acts 9:31; Romans 8:1; 1John 1:7; 1Jn 2:6) Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do. (The NET Bible Notes) Expositor's explains it this way... God’s purpose in the place which He gave to good works in His decree was that they should actually and habitually be done by us. His final object was to make good works the very element of our life, the domain in which our action should move. That this should be the nature of our walk is implied in our being His handiwork, made anew by Him in Christ; that the good works which are the divine aim of our life shall be realized, is implied in their being designed and made ready for us in God’s decree; and that they are of God’s originating, and not of our action and merit, is implied in the fact that we had ourselves to be made a new creation in Christ with a view to them. (The Expositor's Greek Testament) So that (Literally "in order that in them we might walk") (2443) (hina) expresses purpose. This shows the purpose of the good works prepared beforehand. - that we might walk in them. In short, we are saved not by good works but for good works prepared in eternity past. The NT bears ample testimony to the fact that believers are to perform good works. In them - "In them" is locative of sphere meaning that we are to order our behavior within the sphere of these good works. Paul prayed... that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10-note) Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. (2Th 2:16, 17) Writing to the saints at Philippi Paul exhorted them to work out (present imperative) your salvation with fear and trembling; for (term of explanation) it is God who is at work in you (the Holy Spirit, Spirit of Christ in us), both to will (the "want to") and to work for His good pleasure. (Php 2:12-13-See notes Philippians 2:12; 2:13) Comment: Notice that Paul says "work out" not "work for" his point being that once we are saved we are to continue to walk daily in that salvation which includes good works, worked out by God Who is working in us. The writer of Hebrews prayed... Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing (Stop right there - Who's part has been described? Obviously God's!) to do (Who's part is described? So juxtaposed we see God's sovereign provision and man's responsibility to perform! What a wonderful, divine mystery!) His will, working in us (Again emphasizing God's sovereign energizing) that which is pleasing in His sight (the only thing that pleases God is what God works out in and through yielded, obedient saints), through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20, 21-note) Comment: And so we see that it is God working in and through us, not us working in our own strength and will. Hughes explains the believer's work noting that... Each of us has an eternally-designed job description which includes the task, the ability, and the place to serve. You may prefer Jerusalem, but you will glorify him more in Babylon if he has called you there. And whatever the task to which he has called you, you will be equipped for it as surely as a bird is capable of flight. And in doing the works he has called you to do, you will be both more and more his workmanship and more and more your true self. Sometimes as I have been preaching I have become aware of an unnatural silence. The ever-present coughing ceases and the pews stop creaking, bringing an almost physical silence to the sanctuary through which my words sail like arrows. A heightened eloquence invades my speech so that the cadence and volume of my voice intensify the truth I am preaching. Though I know that I am speaking, I have thought at these times, “What is going on here? Is this me?” And then, seeing it for what it is, my heart has cried, “Lord, help me!”...There is nothing more beautiful than his workmanship working for him. Are we doing this? (Ephesians 2:10 Commentary - God's Amazing Word - Partial preview) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/ephesians_210.htm#pb