"Of course God has blessed me. After all, look how good I have been. Look at the wonderful Christian family from which I come. Look at how I've served God. God blesses and prospers those who believe and are righteous. We are better than all of those other people."
Whew, that was hard for me to write. You would never say something like that, would you? But Christians do need to be careful. Too often we can begin to unconsciously believe that we are Christians because we were good enough and responsive enough to turn to God. Therefore we must be better than those unbelievers. And now that we are maturing in Christ, we are a lot better than those "other people".
Israel was in danger of thinking like that. After all they were God's chosen nation; His special people. God was leading them to Palestine, the land promised to their forefather Abraham. He was going to help them conquer all of those living there, and help them take over that fruitful land as their own. Of course He was doing this because they were people of integrity, so much better, so righteous.
Wrong! God says, "Don't fool yourselves; don't for a moment think that I've given you this Promised Land because you deserve it. This is not a reward for being so righteous." Note that twice God repeats, "it is not because of your righteousness".
'After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,“The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that theLord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people." Deuteronomy 9:4 - 6
In fact in these several chapters of Deuteronomy we find nothing like you hear today on popular talk shows or read in popular self help books. There is nothing about finding the goodness within you or getting in touch with the wonderful true you. Rather God through Moses reminds them of their very spotty track record and the danger of them falling into the exact sinful patterns and idolatry of those who they are about to replace in Palestine. God is definitely a realist when it comes to humans.
We are all just so naturally prone to pride. We can so easily consider ourselves superior. We Christians can too readily think that God chose us because - - well, because we deserved it.
Nope. Chosen by God's grace alone. Unmerited, undeserved, a gift. If I am blessed with salvation, with health, or wealth, or whatever, it is not because of my goodness. It is God's grace. There is no room for pride in a Christian. Nothing to boast about - except in our weakness and in the Lord. (II Corinthians 12:9 and I Corinthians 1:31)
Whew, that was hard for me to write. You would never say something like that, would you? But Christians do need to be careful. Too often we can begin to unconsciously believe that we are Christians because we were good enough and responsive enough to turn to God. Therefore we must be better than those unbelievers. And now that we are maturing in Christ, we are a lot better than those "other people".
Israel was in danger of thinking like that. After all they were God's chosen nation; His special people. God was leading them to Palestine, the land promised to their forefather Abraham. He was going to help them conquer all of those living there, and help them take over that fruitful land as their own. Of course He was doing this because they were people of integrity, so much better, so righteous.
Wrong! God says, "Don't fool yourselves; don't for a moment think that I've given you this Promised Land because you deserve it. This is not a reward for being so righteous." Note that twice God repeats, "it is not because of your righteousness".
'After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself,“The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that theLord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people." Deuteronomy 9:4 - 6
In fact in these several chapters of Deuteronomy we find nothing like you hear today on popular talk shows or read in popular self help books. There is nothing about finding the goodness within you or getting in touch with the wonderful true you. Rather God through Moses reminds them of their very spotty track record and the danger of them falling into the exact sinful patterns and idolatry of those who they are about to replace in Palestine. God is definitely a realist when it comes to humans.
We are all just so naturally prone to pride. We can so easily consider ourselves superior. We Christians can too readily think that God chose us because - - well, because we deserved it.
Nope. Chosen by God's grace alone. Unmerited, undeserved, a gift. If I am blessed with salvation, with health, or wealth, or whatever, it is not because of my goodness. It is God's grace. There is no room for pride in a Christian. Nothing to boast about - except in our weakness and in the Lord. (II Corinthians 12:9 and I Corinthians 1:31)
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