Unworthy, Undeserving. Are these biblical concepts? Rethink

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

Introduction

A worship song came under fire recently for its use of the word "reckless." We examined that criticism here. While we are certainly advocates for doctrinal accuracy and clarity in worship songs, and, we would not accept a worship song that was ambiguous or gave us cause to rush to our dictionaries in the middle of a church service, we were not terribly troubled by the use of the word "reckless."

In fact, the song has other, more troubling lyrics, like

I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

It is not our purpose to further analyze this song, except to use it as a spring-off point for our topic, and that is to examine our pre-salvation status, "while we were yet sinners." The typical believer's understanding is steeped in the unfortunate idea that because we were sinners God proclaimed us unworthy of salvation; that He has identified us as undeserving; that we are so low that we don't shouldn't be saved at all - but He did it anyway.

Such concepts are contained in the above-cited song. And we sing those lyrics assuming they're true. But are these claims biblical? Is there any verse in the Bible that records God as saying that we as lost sinners are not worthy and don't deserve salvation? Do Paul or Peter or even Jesus say this somewhere?

We would say no. Now, we should make clear that we don't believe that salvation is deserved. Rather, our thesis is that our worth/unworth or deservedness/undeservedness or merit/un-merit are not considered by God. He does not include them in the equation or regard these concepts at all.

Un-worthiness

We find several uses of the word "worthy" in the NT, including

Mt. 10:37-38 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

The word is axios, which means

properly means, 'drawing down the scale' hence 'weighing as much as,' 'of like value, worth,' befitting, congruous, corresponding" (J. Thayer).

[514 (áksios) is the root of the English term, "axis." This also refers to a balance-scale, operating by off-setting weights.

In this particular passage, "worthy" conveys the concept of not measuring up in comparison to the calling of a Christian. The scale balance is not even; one side is compared to the other. However, there is no sense of a status of being substandard in actual nature. There is no hint of being condemned or being undeserving. Rather, there is some sort of lack identified in comparison to what should be. In this case obedience is the remedy.

Another use of axios is where Luke records Paul's words to King Agrippa:

Ac. 26:20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

"Prove" again is axios. Similarly, the idea conveyed is a comparison, or a weighing of one thing to see if it measures up to a standard.

There is no use of the word axios to describe the condition of a sinner being undeserving.

Is Grace Undeserved/Unmerited Favor?

Let's consider the idea of grace. This may be the place where it all starts, doctrinally speaking. We discuss "grace" in more depth here.

We have all heard the definition of grace as "unmerited favor." The saying goes like this:

Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve

Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve

We shall be direct and to the point regarding our assertion. The problem with this definition is it isn't biblical. There is no Bible verse that describes grace this way, and there is no definition of "grace" that includes this. Yes, it is certainly true that we did not earn our salvation, i.e., God did not grant us salvation with regard to any deeds we might have done:

2Ti. 1:9 [God], who has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time...

We see here that grace pre-exists us. God purposed it from before the beginning of time that we would receive grace. There can be no issue of merit/un-merit if grace was given before we even existed.

Grace is charis:

preeminently used of the Lord's favor – freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is "always leaning toward them").

5485 /xáris ("grace") answers directly to the Hebrew (OT) term 2580 /Kaná ("grace, extension-toward"). Both refer to God freely extending Himself (His favor, grace), reaching (inclining) to people because He is disposed to bless (be near) them.

Grace is actually quite different than the above statements. Grace is not undeserved/unmerited kindness. Grace does not identify "un-merit." Grace is not giving us what we don't deserve. Rather, grace is God coming near because He loves to be with us and freely bless us. Due to this significant misunderstanding of grace, we incorrectly deduce that it means we were undeserving and loathsome to God; and even now after we're saved many of us continue to think we're still in this lowly category. 

Merit/Un-merit Not Part of the Equation

The reader will note there is no mention of merit or un-merit in the above definition of "grace." Both are completely absent from the meaning. In fact, we assert that God does not deem us undeserving. There is no verse that says that He measured us up and declared us as sinners to be unworthy. It is certainly true we have all sinned [Ro. 3:23], and that we need to repent [Mt. 4:17, Ro. 2:5], but nowhere do the Scriptures say we were or are unworthy.

God's non-regard for merit/un-merit is seen here:

Ro. 9:11-12 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad — in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls — she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [Gen. 25:23]

God does not consider merit at all, and that is absolute. That is, He neither considered merit nor considered un-merit. Merit/un-merit did not enter the picture. Therefore, merit/un-merit is a foreign concept inserted into the definition of grace. 

In fact, He regards us even in our low, humble position:

Ps. 136:23 to the One who remembered us in our low estate His love endures for ever.

"Remembered" is zakar, which means mindful, his servants, people, the afflicted, (graciously)... He "graciously" remembers us, does not regard us as low, and from that flows His enduring love.

Now, the reader might cite Ro. 3:23:

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

Notice first there is no pronouncement of deservedness. It does not discuss merit. "Fall short" is hustereó, which means

5302 hysteréō (from 5306 /hýsteros, "last") – properly, at "the end," i.e. coming behind (to "be posterior, late"); (figuratively) coming behind and therefore left out; left wanting (falling short).

5302 /hysteréō ("failing to fulfill a goal") means to be in lack and hence, unable to meet the need at hand because depleted ("all run out"). This state of lack (insufficiency, privation) naturally results when a person misses out on what is vital.

In other words, in our dead, unredeemed state we lack the necessary features to come up to the status of the glory of God. Paul continues by writing

Ro. 3:24 ...and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

So Jesus fills that gap by justifying us by His grace. He knows we come up short. We lack anything that would draw us up into the presence of God. So, he makes us righteous (justifies) by His desire to be close to us and bless us (grace).

What about this verse:

 Ps. 103:10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

Well, the translation is deceptive. Here's the Hebrew interlinear:

If we're honest, we are imposing our sense of deservedness on this, but it isn't found in the Hebrew. We've been so conditioned regarding our worm-like status that we interpret the Bible through this lens. 

But the Bible doesn't teach this. 

Condemnation - It's Either Life Or Death

Our status as lost sinners is described as condemnation. That condemnation is is not a legal determination, it is a divine declaration. There is no trial, no evidence presented, no presumption of innocence, no right to confront one's accuser.  There is nothing in the idea of condemnation that indicates we have been put on trial and found guilty. Condemnation is not a legal process. 

In fact, nowhere in the Bible will you find God pronouncing sinners "guilty." However, we as Christians have been pronounced "justified," that is, deemed righteous, by the declaration of God [Ro. 4:24]. 

That was achieved by the blood of Jesus at the cross. This should not be confused with a declaration of  "not guilty." "Not guilty" is a legal determination that not enough evidence has been presented to convict:

...the prosecution has not proved the defendant guilty of crime.

The Bible says we have been justified, not found "not guilty:"

Ro. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...

"Justified" is 

dikaioó, to judge, declare, pronounce, righteous and therefore acceptable...

This idea of a legal process descends from Calvin, who trained to be a lawyer. It did not exist before Calvin. 

It is not a legal process, it is a sacrificial process. 

This is Paul's thrust throughout Romans, the nature of the Hebrew law in the context of Jesus' gracious (charis) work on the cross. 

Let's give closer consideration to the condemnation referred to in Romans 8, beginning back in chapter 2. Paul writes:

Ro. 2:12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

His topic is the Hebrew law, which will be his theme for several chapters. Sin under the law is death. The entire discussion revolves around the nature of the law and how righteousness is attained. He continues:

Ro. 3:20 Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

The law has value, in that it makes us aware of our sin. 

At the moment the law was given, our death was pronounced:

Ro. 5:16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

From the judgment [krima, especially, the sentence of God as judge] according to the dictates of the Hebrew law comes our condemnation [katakrima, an adverse sentence], but the gift justifies us. What is this gift? Paul tells us:

Ro. 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace (charis) and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

So we have an abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness through Jesus. And again we see no hint at all of merit/un-merit. God simply gives. Abundantly.

Paul continues on to discuss the effect of the law and the just condemnation that comes from it:

Ro. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death...

Just like grace pre-exists us, the krima has been rendered long ago. The lost have already earned this wage. Their status is dead. Sinners do not face katakrima, death is their current status; they are dead already (katakrima). Jn. 3:18:

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

So the krima was our default status. We started out already in condemnation, and every sinner is already katakrima in death from this krima because of sin entering the world. There are only two possibilities: Remain in death or receive life. Condemnation or grace.

Remember we quoted the errant definition of grace?

Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve

Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve

We see that not only is the second statement incorrect, so is the first. Mercy is not "God not giving us what we deserve." Sinners are already dead, their status is presently condemned. Their present status is condemned. This pre-exists their birth, before they have done anything wrong or right. 

Jesus' purpose is to lift that condemnation and save us, to lean towards us and draw near, to rescue us from this death [Ro. 7:24-25, Col. 1:13] and into life [1Jn. 3:14]. 

He did this by His death and resurrection. We must share in this:

Ph. 3:10-11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Paul tells the Roman church this same thing:

Ro. 7:6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Note the key statement: We have been released from the law. Death is the only remedy for the constraints and requirements of the law that bears witness against us. But if we share in the death of Christ we share in His resurrection. Participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus cancels the condemnation of the law.

It is not a legal process, it is a sacrificial process. 

So, we have taken this excursion to in order to understand Ro. 8:1:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...

That condemnation came from the law. The lost are not awaiting a courtroom for krima. The righteous law is already death. And the "no condemnation" is that we are free from the death of the the law. The dead man must die in Christ to be raised alive in Christ via His death and His resurrection.

Further, Jesus did not take our guilty verdict on Himself, He died for our sins as the perfect lamb of God. The OT sacrificial animals were not punished, their spilled blood covered over the sins of Israel. Jesus' spilled blood similarly washed us from our sin. We discuss this in detail here and here.

Conclusion

In order to understand Jesus' work to save us, we need to stop seeing it through the legal lens. We should instead turn to the Bible, and understand the typology of things like the Hebrew temple sacrifices, the scapegoat, the spilling of sacrificial blood, and what those mean in connection with Jesus as the Lamb of God.

We should not make the same mistake as the nation of Israel, about whom Paul declared

Ac. 13:46 We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy (axios) of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

We would assert that it is we ourselves who assert our own unworthiness. How could God love a person like me? How could God love a person like them? We project our own feelings of inadequacy or failure, raising them to the level of doctrine, and essentially ascribe a attitude to God where He despises us and judges us for something He has never said of us.

It is not a legal process, it is a sacrificial process. 

If indeed we are saved without God regarding merit/un-merit, then our status before Him as the redeemed ought to be reflected in our understanding of identity. Our lives now are governed by the ministry of the Holy Spirit (2Co. 3:8), God wants to be near us and bless us, and we are part of His family. He sent His son to die as the lamb of God, simply because of His charis.

This ought to change everything.