To “deserve” is to have merit—something earned because of our actions, qualities, or circumstances. Deserving always implies qualification. Scripture uses this idea in practical ways: the worker deserves his wages (1 Tim. 5:18). In daily life, we see the same pattern. When we do good, we deserve appreciation; when we do wrong, we deserve the consequences that follow. This basic principle helps us understand how human merit works.
Nevertheless, we must understand that not everything people get is deserved. In a fallen world, corruption twists justice; injustice distorts outcomes. Many people suffer consequences for things they never did, while others gain in ways they did not earn. Yet Scripture also shows a different kind of undeserved receiving— one rooted in mercy and faith. In this case, the blessing is not earned but imputed, because another bears the penalty on our behalf. He absorbs the judgment and pays the debt we owed. This is mercy—grace we never merit, given because Christ took what we can’t bear. This is the great contrast between human merit and God’s grace.
Characters of the Undeserving who get God’s mercy
Across the pages of Scripture, the people who undeservedly get God’s mercy share three defining traits. They come humbly, without pretense. They come with honest self‑awareness, acknowledging their sin and need. And they come with faith—trusting God’s character more than their own worthiness.
Humility and Self-Awareness
To rightly understand God’s mercy in Christ—received by grace through faith—we must begin with an accurate view of our own unworthiness and inability to merit it. The New Testament illustrates this through the centurion who sought Jesus when his servant was near death. In this encounter, we see the posture of the undeserving—humility, self-awareness, and a faith that looks beyond personal merit to the mercy of Christ.
“Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, “for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.” Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick” (Luke 7:1-10, NKJV).
People who judged by outward appearance considered the centurion deserving of Jesus’ help. Why? Because he had made civic and religious contributions: he loved their nation and had financed the construction of their synagogue. In their assessment, these visible acts were enough qualifiers—enough merit—for Jesus to respond.
In the same way today, we often mistake outward appearance for spiritual worthiness. We label people as “good” because they have helped us or because they present themselves well. Their community service, their social causes, their generosity, their polished reputation—these become the measures we use. What we see on the outside becomes the standard by which we declare someone deserving.
In sharp contrast to the elders of the Jews, the centurion did not view himself as deserving of Jesus’ help. He believed he was unworthy for Jesus to enter his home, and this humility explains why he did not approach Jesus personally but sent the elders in his place. Scripture does not reveal whether his sense of unworthiness came from being a Gentile outsider or from an awareness of his own sinfulness. What it does reveal is a man who understood his true condition—one who recognized he had no merit, no claim, no right to Jesus’ presence or intervention. His posture becomes a powerful picture of the humility and self-awareness that accompany genuine faith.
Jesus provides another illustration of true self-awareness in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Addressed to those confident in their own righteousness, the parable contrasts self-exaltation with repentance.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9–14).
The Pharisee believed he deserved God’s attention because he was not like other sinners and because he strictly followed religious practices. The tax collector, however, knew he was undeserving and placed no confidence in his own righteousness. His humility reminds us that justification comes not through merit but through mercy.
The prayer of a Christian justified by grace through faith should reflect this posture: “God, I thank You that I am like other people—a sinner in need of mercy. I have been a hypocrite, a liar, sexually immoral, unjust, and in countless ways I fall short of Your glory. Yet You saved me, not because of anything I had to offer, but by Your grace through faith in Jesus Christ.” This is the heart posture of the redeemed—honest about sin, grateful for grace, and confident only in Christ.
When our hearts awaken to the truth that we are not good enough to earn God’s grace, we find ourselves right where salvation meets us.
Faith of the Undeserving
Jesus didn’t challenge the centurion’s sense of unworthiness. He didn’t tell him to think better of himself. Instead, He marveled at his “great faith.” And what was that great faith? Knowing he was undeserving, having no merit, no right, no worthiness, yet still trusting that Jesus had the authority to speak the word and heal his servant.
In the same way, we receive salvation by acknowledging who we are—sinners. We know our thoughts, actions, words, and motives. We know what flows from our hearts. We know we do not deserve God’s grace. Yet we still trust that when we call upon the name of the Lord, He forgives our sins and saves us.
We also see great faith in the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28—a woman who knew she had no claim on Jesus, yet came to Him anyway.
“And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.” (Matthew 15:21–28)
The disciples—irritated by her cries or influenced by the fact that she was a Canaanite Gentile—wanted her dismissed. To them, she was undeserving of Jesus’ intervention. Yet the woman’s great faith was revealed in her persistence. Fully aware of her unworthiness, she still refused to let go of Jesus. She kept pleading, kept trusting, kept believing that His mercy could reach even her.
In the same way, believers are to persist in pursuing Jesus, even with full awareness of our weaknesses and imperfections. We know the Holy Spirit is still at work, sanctifying us day by day. Our persistence in faith is not rooted in our worthiness but in God’s ongoing work of grace within us.
Undeserving Yet Worthy
Our worthiness stands in spite of us—and entirely because of God.
“Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26) is the only moment in Scripture where a creature is explicitly made Imago Dei. God could have placed His image on any being, or even taken on the nature of any other creature. Yet in the incarnation He became man—the very creature made in His image. This profound truth may help explain why, though we are utterly undeserving of His grace, God still considers us worth redeeming. His image is upon us. Humans get their worth from God’s image on them. Thus, we are undeserving, yet worthy.
John 3:16 does not say that God so loved the church that He gave His only Son. Paul reminds us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). God so loved the world—a world full of undeserving sinners—that He gave His only Son to die for our sins. He deemed us worth dying for. Christ died for the undeserving sinners.
The Pharisees were always quick to identify who didn’t deserve to be near Jesus, judging by outward status and visible sin. So when Jesus called Matthew the tax collector and sat at a table full of tax collectors and sinners, they complained to His disciples, insisting that a true teacher from God would never associate with such people. Jesus answered them with a physician’s logic and a Savior’s heart: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick… I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt.9:12-13). The tax collectors were indeed undeserving of Jesus’ presence, yet they were worthy in His sight because they were sinners who bore the image of God.
This truth cuts to the heart: whenever we rely on our own righteousness—anything outside the righteousness Christ gives—we step away from the very grace He came to offer. Christians must remember whose righteousness they bear. Paul reinforces this truth so we never forget it: “For by grace you have been saved through faith… it is the gift of God, not a result of works” (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is entirely God’s doing. Sinners get it undeservingly, by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Christ established His church upon the apostles and prophets—men who, though undeserving, were chosen by grace (Eph. 2:19–22). He even described them hyperbolically as “thieves and robbers” (John 10:8), underscoring their unworthiness apart from Him. And Christ continues to build His church the same way today—from people like you and me, and from the countless undeserving sinners He is saving around the world. Because God still loves the world, He commands us to go, make disciples, baptize those who believe His love for the undeserving, and teach them all that He has spoken (Matt. 28:19).
What Do We Deserve?
Scripture makes it clear that God does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities (Ps. 103:10). If grace is undeserved and given only as a gift, then what is our true desert?
Paul tells us we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Eph. 2:3). Wrath is what we deserved, yet mercy is what we received. The wages of sin is death, yet Christ died the death that belonged to us. Condemnation was our rightful judgment, yet eternal life has been granted. We were exiles outside Eden, wandering far from the presence of God, yet the Tree of Life Himself came so that we partake of Him and live.
We are undeserving of God’s grace, yet worth it. Praise the LORD.
Amen.
