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AKSIWS

November 10, 2022

The Greek adverb, aksiws, is translated “worthy of” in all six of its New Testament uses.  Five of those uses refer to our acting “worthy of God” or the gospel or our heavenly calling. What does this mean? Does it mean that we are to become “worth” God’s favor? That is, does “worthy of” mean – deserving or meriting or earning God’s favor? Does it call attention to our worth which God is obliged to acknowledge because it enriches his worth, the way a great computer programmer might be worth $200,000 to a computer company?

Here are all five of these uses:

  • [3Jo 1:6 KJV] 6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:
  • [Col 1:10 KJV] 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
  • [Phl 1:27 KJV] 27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
  • [Eph 4:1 KJV] 1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
  • [1Th 2:12 KJV] 12  That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

I don’t think these texts mean that we merit from God or the gospel or our call; but that they merit from us. That is, to “walk worthy of the Lord” means to walk in a way that the Lord deserves from us, not in a way that we deserve from the Lord.

A clue is found in Col. 1:10 which says, ” That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.” But Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him.”  So the call to walk “worthy of the Lord” is at least a call to walk by faith.

But faith looks away from itself to the worth and ability and grace and strength of another. So walking “worthy of the Lord” would mean acting in a way that shows how worthy and able and gracious and strong the Lord is.

Another clue to this interpretation would be Matthew 3:8 where John the Baptist says, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet (aksiws) for repentance.” This surely does not mean: Act in a way that deserves repentance or merits repentance. Rather it assumes that repentance is there as something extremely valuable and calls us to act in a way that fits the value and nature of repentance.

Act in a way that fits the great value and glorious nature of God and the gospel and your calling. And what fits with that great value? Faith. Above all things, faith and its fruit of love fits the worth of God and the gospel.

So think this way. NOT: I must have faith and love so as to be worth God’s favor; BUT RATHER: God’s favor is free and it is infinitely worth trusting. Walking worthy of that favor means walking by faith, because faith is the one thing that agrees with our depravity and God’s infinite “worth.” Looking to God’s infinite worth for our help and satisfaction is “walking worthy of God.”

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