In Deuteronomy chapter nine Moses makes a point to tell the people that they are not being brought into the promised land because of their righteousness. Telling them they had not lived in a way that made them worthy of the blessing they were about to receive. Then he proceeds to lay out a list of trespasses they had committed since the Lord brought them out of Egypt. Reminding them of all the ways they had fallen along the way and had received forgiveness for their sins. A situation that is not too different than our own.
Deuteronomy 9:4–7 (ESV)
4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.
We all know that we were not saved by anything we did but by grace alone. God made a way for us to be saved while we were still sinners. Nothing we can do or ever did makes it possible for us to receive this. It remains a free gift of God available to all people.
Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Romans 5:8 (ESV)
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That being said though after we have received salvation we can often get our minds off track. Believing we are going to gain entrance to heaven only because of the righteous acts we now do. But that simply isn’t the case. Still, our salvation and eternity in heaven are made available by God’s grace and not our actions alone. That’s not to say how we live does not play a role in our salvation. As we know from scripture that those who live a sinful lifestyle will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (ESV)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
But the key is lifestyle. Because the truth is we are all going to fall and sin against God in some way along the way. Just as the Israelites did and Moses pointed out to them. They were not always righteous but at the same time, they were not always unrighteous. As they spent time serving God alone, honoring Him with worship, and living according to His commands. But still fell multiple times. In the same way that we often fall. Even though we are still going to church, reading our Bibles, and loving others.
What Moses wanted the people to understand was that it was because of God’s righteousness and not their own that they would enter the promise land. Yes, they need to live righteously under the commands of the Lord. But they needed to understand that they had not been or ever would be righteous enough to deserve what God had prepared for them. It was only because of the mercy, love, and forgiving nature of God that they would be able to enter the promise land. We too need to understand the very same thing today.
Titus 3:5–7 (ESV)
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Galatians 2:16 (ESV)
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
We can just as easily believe in our hearts that our righteousness is the reason God blesses us. The reason why heaven is on our horizon. But God could lay out a list of every way we have sinned against Him since our salvation. One that would probably shock many of us. Since we have forgotten all the ways we have fallen since God saved us.
It is not because of our own righteousness that we will gain salvation, forgiveness, blessings, heaven, or anything else from God. And it’s good that’s not how it works as we will never be righteous enough in this life to deserve those things. They are gifts from a compassionate, merciful, and forgiving God to those who seek Him with their whole heart. So thank God that even though you aren’t perfect He has still chosen in His perfect righteousness to bless you.
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