“Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD swore unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” - Deuteronomy 9v4-5
As the people prepared to enter Canaan God knew that there would be a temptation to think that there was something good they had done to deserve this blessing. Moses wanted to make it clear that this was not the case so he laid the facts out clearly to the people. God told the people, “Don’t think that you are receiving this land because you are so righteous. The reason is because these nations are wicked and I am going to keep the promises I made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Whatever God gives us is not due to anything we can do to deserve it. All of man’s righteousness is as filthy rags. Man’s best attempts at righteousness are only wickedness in His sight. We can’t do anything to earn anything from God. Everything He gives is based in His love and His mercy.
God requires total righteousness for us to enter heaven and enjoy eternity with Him. How is this possible when not one of us is righteous? Abraham showed this when he believed God and his faith was accounted to him as righteousness. He could not make himself, but God counted his as righteous because of His faith. Romans 4v5 makes it clear that we cannot work for righteousness, but only by believing.
No comments:
Post a Comment