What Is The Worth Of A Person’s Soul?
“My soul is of more worth than ten thousand worlds.” – John Flavel
Is that quote by John Flavel a biblical statement – if indeed Mr. Flavel ever said such a thing? It is a statement that can be said of the Lord Jesus Christ but can it be said of a sinner, even a sinner saved by grace?
Romans 5:6 states: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
It does not say that Christ died for the valuable.
Also, Isaiah chapter 59 is not describing people of infinite value:
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” – Isaiah 59:1-4
Timothy Morton makes this observation: “Where is mercy, grace, and love when one is buying something that is worth the price? Were you showing these traits to the salesman when you bought your last vehicle? Or did you buy it because you thought you were getting a pretty good deal? How is salvation a gift if it is merely a mutual transaction for something of value? That nullifies the entire concept of giving.”
Looking at Job 25:6 we get a better picture of our “value” compared to an infinitely valuable sinless divine Savior:
“How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” – Job 25:6
The great Bible scholar and commentary author John Gill made these insightful comments about this verse in the book of Job:
“How much less man, that is a worm? – whose original is of the earth, dwells in it, and is supported by it, and creeps into it again; who is impure by nature and by practice, weak and impotent to do anything that is spiritually good, or to defend himself from his spiritual enemies; and is mean and despicable, as even the best of men are, in their own eyes, and in the eyes of the world: and, if the best of men are comparable to such creatures, and our Lord himself, in human nature, was content to be called a worm, and no man; what must the worst of men be, or man be in and of himself, without the grace of God and righteousness of Christ, by which he can be only clean and righteous?” – John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible on Job 25:6
So it should be clear to you by now, that the idea that sinners are of infinite value to God is a serious misunderstanding of the death of Christ for sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ died to display the magnitude of God’s grace and mercy to the world, that Christ would dare to die for unworthy, ungodly, rebellious sinners, not to display the value of sinners to God.
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:7-8
Conclusion:
This idea of our enormous value to God never sat right with my spirit so I delved into the issue further and ended up with this article. If we were so valuable, one could make the case that God would be foolish to send any of us to hell. Christ in us is what gives us value. Amen? Isn’t it a case of seriously misplaced pride to think otherwise? — RM Kane
“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” – Colossians 1:26-29