This week I want to look at a parallel idea that comes two chapters later. In Deuteronomy 9.4-6, as the Hebrew exiles prepare to enter the promised land, Moses tells them:

Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.

Whereas before the young nation of Israel needed to be reminded that their strength was not a reason for God's blessing, now they must be reminded that their faithfulness is not a reason either, since they had none. Following this passage, for the remainder of the chapter in fact, Moses rehearses the people's rebellion, God's anger, and Moses' own intercession for the nation:

And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the LORD your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you. I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and smashed them before your eyes. I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the LORD listened to me that time also. (9.16-19)

These people were so rebellious, this happened twice!: First when Moses was on the mountain receiving the Law from God (vv. 9-21), and then again when the people first arrived at the promised land and did not believe that God could establish them in the land (vv. 22-29). It was only because of Moses' prayers that God chose not to destroy the nation, and these prayers are strange indeed:

So I fell down before the LORD the forty days and nights, which I did because the LORD had said He would destroy you. I prayed to the LORD and said, 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 'Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin. Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness." Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.' (vv. 25-29)

What do we learn from these verses? Several things, including God's continued faithfulness in the face of our rebellion, and God's concern for his name among the nations. But I want to focus on the aspect of God's choice of this rebellious people, for in truth, we too are rebellious. So what does this passage show us about God's grace?

Simply put, we learn that God's grace does not depend upon our righteousness. In fact, the very nature of grace is diametrically opposed to merit: as soon as we have some merit to stand on, grace becomes impossible to receive. God will not show grace to us as long as we think we can stand before him with some claim of our own. He might be merciful to us during these episodes, but he is unable to show us grace, because we refuse to accept it.

This is frightening because it cuts at the root of our entire way of life. Modern culture is very much based on merit -- capitalism and democracy could neither one last very long without it. Worse, we tend to idolize self-reliance, so that our sense of merit can be based on our individual efforts alone and not on anyone else's help. Consider how we praise the self-made person.

What we cannot stand as individuals is the notion that we are not able to bring anything of our own to the table: not our good works, not our faith, not our sincerity -- none of these things matter. God gives grace merely because he chooses too, and the only thing we can do to earn it is to accept that we have nothing worthy of it ourselves. And if there is one thing we particularly cannot stand, it is being given something we know we do not deserve -- it cuts into our pride and reveals to us our complete and utter dependence.

For most of us, even as Christians, this simply will not do. We approach our faith the same way we approach our jobs: we have to prove ourselves. Most of us, whether we admit it or not, are still trying to ensure that we are doing enough good things to earn God's favor. We pray, we read the Bible, we go to church, we join the choir, etc., etc. But simply put (as a pastor of mine often said), we cannot earn God's love. Why? Simply because he has already given it to us! We cannot earn what is already ours!

Yet we have not accepted that God already loves us. Sure, we've heard it and we believe it in our heads, but it hasn't yet transformed our actions: we don't act as though we really believe that God, in spite of all we have done to prove our unworthiness, actually does love us. Some of us are unable to let go of our sin, and we keep promising that we'll get it right the next time. But God has stopped keeping track of our sins! No matter how badly we screw up next time, it doesn't matter! God already loves us, and our sin is taken care of!

Others of us are too invested in our good works. Maybe we don't think of ourselves as sinful, or maybe we can accept that God has forgiven our sin and have instead put all of our energy into good works. Either way, we're still trying to earn what is already ours. But we have worked to hard and sacrificed too much to accept that our goodness means nothing -- we will not acknowledge that our righteousness is as nothing to God, for it embarrasses us to have spent so much energy on tasks that now prove worthless.

The Gospel is radical grace, pure and simple: God loves us, and in Christ Jesus has poured out all his wrath on our sins. We are forgiven, we are accepted, we are redeemed, and we are loved. All we have to do is accept this. Once we do, we become truly free. But not until then.

If you are weary or heavily-burdened by trying to be good enough, I urge you to put aside your own good works and allow the God of grace to show you how much he loves you. I guarantee you that once you hear God speak those words to you, "I love you!", it will change your life forever. This is the testimony of the saints for centuries past, and for ages to come.

Taste and see that the LORD is good! Come to the table!

Peace in Christ,
steve