Does God Ever Make Us “Worthy?”

Last updated on: May 5, 2020 at 7:47 am by Roger E. Olson

Does God Ever Make Us “Worthy?” 2020-05-05T07:47:32-05:00 Roger E. Olson

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Recently I heard a contemporary worship song that expresses the idea that a person is never so “dirty” that God cannot make him or her “worthy.” It reminded me of a very old gospel song from the 1950s entitled “Worthy.” The latter song expresses the idea that, although I am unworthy of God’s grace, he makes me worthy by his mercy.” When I heard the first song being sung in an online worship service I immediately thought of the old one that I grew up hearing. And I’ve heard it sung on Gaither Homecoming videos and CDs.

Keith Getty rightly says that we Christians should be careful what we sing. I’m afraid we are not very careful what we sing. And too many writers of Christian songs are not very careful to make their lyrics biblically and theologically correct.

Are we ever worthy of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and righteousness? Can even a Christian with a perfected heart (Wesley’s “Christian perfection”) be worthy in that sense?

Now, I have to be careful to avoid misunderstanding here. Of course we are worthy in the sense that we, all human beings, are loved by God. We have “worth” because we are created in God’s image and likeness. That’s not the kind of “worthy” these songs are talking about. They clearly intend to convey the message that in salvation God makes us worthy of his love and forgiveness and care and personal communion. Or at least some of that—something that comes with salvation. But is that true? Does God make us worthy of any part or portion or aspect or dimension of salvation?

I think not.

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the “Note to commenters” at its end.*

Speaking of Christians songs, I well remember an old one that included the phrase “Nothing in my hands I bring; only to thy cross I cling.” In other words, the gospel is that none of us is worthy of God’s saving work on our behalf—not any part of it. We have worth because we are created in God’s image and likeness, but because of our sin, which is a condition or disposition and not merely an individual act, we are unworthy of God’s mercy and grace. Any righteousness, rightness, we have before God or even within ourselves from God, is a sheer gift and whatever is a sheer gift cannot be something of which we are worthy. If we are worthy of it, it’s not a sheer gift.

“For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Now I know that some Christians will think I am being overly picky, even pedantic. Noted. But that’s because most Christians have no idea about the importance of theology which is to protect the gospel from distortion. At least that is one of theology’s tasks. The idea that we can ever become worthy of God’s saving grace is a serious distortion of the gospel.

Would someone please tell the Gospel Coalition about this? They already know it, but I suspect they think an Arminian cannot agree. They apparently think that monergism (the belief that God does everything in saving us and we are passive in salvation) is the only protection against the heresy that we who are saved can boast of being “worthy” of our salvation. That is false. A true Arminian (there are very, very few of us) always believes that our conversion to Christ in repentance and faith is nothing more than a decision to admit we are spiritually empty and helpless and that we need to turn away from sin and accept what God has done for us in Jesus Christ as our only way of being right with God. God’s gift of salvation is no less a gift because we freely accept it and our free acceptance of it is made possible by God’s prevenient grace. There is no room for boasting of being worthy—anymore than a beggar can boast of having money because someone gave it to him.

Claiming to be “worthy” of any aspect of salvation is evidence of semi-Pelagianism, the default theology, a heresy, of American Christianity. It doesn’t always appear in this particular way (viz., claiming to be worthy), but it appears in many different ways—any way that implies that the sinner being saved contributes something to his or her salvation.

Now, to the monergist (whether Lutheran or Calvinist) who argues that belief in a free decision of repentance and faith (conversion) automatically does that, I offer this illustration (which Arminius himself offered). Imagine a beggar who, without any money or food, will die. Someone comes along and offers the beggar a gift card to the local (nearby) food store. The beggar is incapable, due to hunger, of even walking to the store. The gift-giver goes into the store and brings back to the beggar enough food to relieve his hunger and malnutrition and offers him a place to live, clothes to wear, and everything he needs to find a job. Suppose the beggar then boasts that he became “worthy” of his improved condition because he accepted the gifts. Who would take him seriously? No one would. Suppose the person who gave him the food, the clothes, the place to live and everything else he needed said “He’s an ungrateful wretch for boasting; he didn’t earn anything. It was all sheer gift.” Then suppose a sophist standing by said “O, but you’re wrong, my good man. He earned at least part of his improved condition because his deciding to accept the gifts was the ‘decisive factor’ in his overcoming his helpless condition.” Who would be right? The gift-giver or the sophist? The answer should be obvious. A group of people standing around listening to the conversation would scoff at the sophist and agree with the gift-giver. No doubt about it.

I would love to hear or read a response from someone in the Gospel Coalition.

What is my complaint about the GC? Only this—that they (apparently) make monergism a requirement for membership as if monergism were part of the gospel itself. If I’m wrong, I would love to know that. I may then even apply for membership! However, I have been told by people who attempted to join the GC that they were told they could only join if they could affirm monergism. GC—what do you say? Please respond. (No, to anyone who would respond for them—don’t. I want only to hear from someone in a leadership position of the GC about this.)

*Note to commenters: This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and “on topic.” Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger’s (or guest writers’) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).

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