All religions boil down to one of two options: either 1) We contribute something to our own salvation; or 2) we contribute nothing. We either deserve salvation or we don’t deserve it. We earn it or we don’t earn it. We do it ourselves or someone else does it for us.

Genuine Christianity fits into the second category—we don’t contribute anything; it’s all of God’s mercy and grace, not through our own contributions. Whenever a religion claims that we deserve or can earn God’s approval, you can write off that religion as false. It is certainly not biblical Christianity.

Since that is true, there is no room in the faith for self-righteousness. God saves us in spite of our sins. Cf. Rom 5:8—“while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Deut 9, Moses is assuring the people that God is not giving them the PL because they deserved it or earned it. In fact, God is giving them the PL in spite of their serious, persistent, and stiff-necked rebellion. Their own righteousness has nothing to do with it. In fact, they are not righteous at all. It’s only because of God’s grace and Moses’ intervention that they were not destroyed several times out in the wilderness. It’s only because of God’s mercy that Israel will inherit the PL, not because of any merit on the part of Israel.

Last week, we looked at the Perils of Prosperity from Deut chapter 8. Moses could foresee a time when Israel has conquered the land and become prosperous. That prosperity, he fears, may lead to independence, pride, and self-sufficiency.

Chapter 9 presents another set of perils—the perils of self-righteousness, rebellion, and stubbornness. Even before they conquer the PL, Israel might think that they deserve that land. They are better than the Canaanites; they’ve earned God’s approval.

No one earns God’s approval. God always relates to us on the basis of mercy and grace, not on the basis of merit. We do not earn or deserve any of the blessings God gives us. These come to us purely by God’s grace and mercy.

As we make our way through this text, we’ll see how Moses warns Israel here about the perils of self-righteousness, rebellion, and stubbornness.