Not for Your Righteousness

Thursday, November 11

Central to the Christian religion, to all biblical religion, actually, is the great theme of justification by faith alone. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). 

Ellen G. White famously expressed it like this: “What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself. When men see their own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.” — The Faith I Live By, p. 111.

Beyond question, when you consider who God is, and how holy He is, in contrast to who we are, and how unholy in contrast to Him we are — it would have to take an amazing act of grace to save us. And it did: that act of grace happened at the cross, with Christ, the innocent one, dying for the sins of the guilty.

With this context in mind, read Deuteronomy 9:1-6. What is Moses saying to the people here that reveals in a dramatic way the reality of God’s grace for the unworthy? How does what happened here reflect the principle of justification by faith?

If one could encapsulate Paul’s teaching on the gospel, perhaps it could be found in the phrase from Deuteronomy 9:5, “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart” is God going to save you. Instead, He is going to do it because of the promises of the “everlasting gospel” (Revelation 14:6), a promise given us “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9; see also Titus 1:2). If the promise was given us “before time began,” it certainly couldn’t be from our works because we didn’t even exist “before time began,” and thus had no works.

In short, despite your faults, your flaws, your stiff necks, the Lord is going to do this wonderful work for you and in you. Thus, as a result, the Lord commands you to obey Him and His laws. The promise already has been given, and delivered: your works, your obedience, even if they were good enough (which they aren’t), aren’t the means of your salvation. They are, instead, the result. 

The Lord has saved you by grace; now, with His law written in your heart and His spirit empowering you, go and obey His law.

A Slave in Egypt

Wednesday, November 10

In the book of Deuteronomy, one theme appears and reappears: that of the Lord’s redeeming His people Israel from the land of Egypt. Over and over, they are reminded of what God has done for them: “And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders” (Deuteronomy 26:8; see also Deuteronomy 16:1-6). 

All through the Old Testament, in fact, the story of the Exodus has been referred to as an example of God’s mighty deliverance, by His grace, from the slavery and oppression of Egypt: “For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, And redeemed thee out of the house of servants” (Micah 6:4). 

Even in the New Testament, this idea appears, with the Exodus of Egypt by God’s great power a symbol of salvation by faith in Christ: “By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned” (Hebrews 11:29; see also 1 Corinthians 10:1-4).

Read Deuteronomy 5:6-22, where Moses repeats the law, the Ten Commandments, the foundation stipulation of their covenant with Yahweh. Notice the fourth commandment and the reason given here for it. What is being said there that reveals the reality of law and grace?

Moses repeats the basic commandment to rest on the seventh-day Sabbath, but he gives it an added emphasis. That is, though it has been written in stone in Exodus, here Moses is expanding on what had already been given them. Keep the Sabbath, not only as a memorial of creation, but as a memorial of redemption from Egypt. God’s grace saved them from Egypt and offered them rest from their works (Hebrews 4:1-5). Now, in response to the grace God gave them, they needed to extend that grace to others. 

In this case, then, the seventh-day Sabbath becomes not just a powerful symbol of creation but a powerful symbol of redemption and grace. Everyone in the household, not just the children, but the servants, the animals, and even the strangers among them, can rest. The Sabbath extends the grace given to the Jews to others, as well, even to those outside of the covenant people themselves. And it is found in the heart of God’s law. What God has graciously done for them, they need to do for others. It’s that simple.

Read Matthew 18:21-35. In what way is the principle in this parable revealed in the Sabbath commandment, especially as emphasized in Deuteronomy?

Letov Lak

Tuesday, November 9

Skeptics, those looking for reasons to reject the Bible, often point to some strong words of God that appear in the Old Testament. The idea is that the God of the Old Testament was harsh, vindictive, and mean-spirited, especially in contrast to Jesus. This isn’t a new argument, but it’s as flawed now as it was when first promoted many centuries ago.

Over and over, the Old Testament presents the Lord as loving His ancient people Israel and wanting only what was best for them. And this love appears powerfully in the book of Deuteronomy.

Read Deuteronomy 10:1-15. What is the immediate context of these verses, and what do they teach us about how God felt toward His people, even after their sin? What do they teach us, indeed, about grace? 

God’s grace and love for Israel exudes from these texts. Notice, particularly, verses 12 and 13. They are really one long sentence, a question, and the question is simple: What am I, the Lord, asking you to do but the following … walk in My ways, love Me, serve Me, and keep My statutes for your own good?

All through the Hebrew in this verse the words for “your” and “you” are in singular. Though God certainly is speaking to the nation as a whole, what good will His words do if the people, each one individually, don’t obey them? The whole is only as good as the sum of the parts. The Lord was speaking one-to-one, individually, to Israel as a nation.

We can’t forget, either, the end of verse 13: keep these things letov lak, that is, “for your good.” In other words, God is commanding the people to obey because it is in their best interest to do so. God made them, God sustains them, God knows what is best for them, and He wants what’s best for them. Obedience to His law, to His Ten Commandments, can work only to their benefit.

The law often has been compared to a hedge, a wall of protection, and by staying within that wall, His followers are protected from a raft of evils that otherwise would overtake and destroy them. In short, out of love for His people, God gave them His law, and obedience to His law would be “for your good.”

What are ways in which we can see for ourselves how obedience to God’s law has, indeed, been for “our own good”?

A Lei em Deuteronómio

Segunda-feira, 08 de Novembro

A nação hebraica nas fronteiras de Canaã, o povo escolhido de Deus, estava prestes a herdar a terra prometida. Deuteronómio contém as instruções finais de Moisés aos hebreus antes de tomarem a terra. Entre essas instruções estava a ordem para obedecer.

3. Leia os seguintes textos. O que é citado continuamente e porque é isso tão importante para o povo? Deuteronómio 4:44; 17:19; 28:58; 30:10; 31:12; 32:46; 33:2

Mesmo a leitura mais superficial do livro de Deuteronómio mostra como a obediência à lei era crucial para a nação de Israel. Obedecer era a sua parte na aliança. Deus tinha feito muito por eles e ainda faria – coisas que eles não poderiam fazer por si mesmos e que não mereciam (isto é graça, Deus a dar o que não merecemos). E o que Ele pediu em resposta foi obediência à Sua lei.

Não é diferente agora. A graça de Deus salva-nos, à parte das obras da lei. “Concluímos, pois, que o homem é justificado pela fé, sem as obras da lei” (Romanos 3:28). A nossa resposta é a obediência à lei. Obedecemos à lei, porém, não numa tentativa inútil de sermos salvos por ela, “nenhuma carne será justificada diante dele pelas obras da lei, porque pela lei vem o conhecimento do pecado” (Romanos 3:20), mas como resultado da salvação que tão graciosamente recebemos. “Se me amardes, guardareis os meus mandamentos” (João 14:15).

Deuteronómio pode ser visto como uma grande lição prática sobre a graça e a lei. Pela graça, Deus nos redime, faz por nós o que não poderíamos fazer por nós mesmos (assim como Israel não poderia ter escapado do Egipto pelas suas próprias forças). Em resposta vivemos, pela fé, uma vida de obediência a Ele e à Sua lei. Desde a queda de Adão e Eva até ao tempo de angústia e da imposição da marca da besta, Deus terá um povo descrito como “os que guardam os mandamentos de Deus e a fé em Jesus” (Apocalipse 14:12). Em toda a história, o relacionamento do Senhor com o Seu povo da aliança envolve a graça e a lei. A graça perdoa a nossa transgressão da lei e permite-nos obedecer-Lhe. A obediência resulta do nosso relacionamento de aliança com Ele.

Como podemos evitar a armadilha de nos tornarmos legalistas ao obedecermos à lei?

Law in Deuteronomy

Monday, November 8

The Hebrew nation on the borders of Canaan, God’s chosen people, are finally about to inherit the land that God had promised them. And, as we have seen, Deuteronomy is Moses’ final instructions to the Hebrews before they take the land. And among those instructions were the commands to obey.

Read the following texts. What point is expressed over and over and over again, and why is this point so important for the people? (Deuteronomy 4:44, 17:19, 28:58, 30:10, 31:12, 32:46, 33:2). 

Even the most cursory reading of the book of Deuteronomy shows how crucial obedience to the law was for the nation of Israel. In a real sense, it was the people’s covenant obligation. God had done so much for them and would continue to do so much for them — things that they couldn’t do for themselves and that they did not deserve to begin with (which is what grace is, God giving us what we don’t deserve). And what He asked in response was, well, obedience to His law.

It’s no different now. God’s grace saves us, apart from the works of the law — “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28) — and our response is obedience to the law. We obey the law, though, not in a vain attempt to be saved by it — “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20) — but as the result of the salvation that we so graciously have been given. “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Deuteronomy could be seen as one big object lesson in grace and law. By grace God redeems us, doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves (any more than Israel could have escaped from Egypt by themselves), and in response we live, by faith, a life of obedience to Him and to His law. From the fall of Adam onward, up to those who live through the time of trouble and the mark of the beast, a people depicted as those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12) — God’s relationship with His covenant people is one of law and grace. God’s grace forgives us for having violated His law, and God’s grace enables us to obey His law as well, an obedience that arises from our covenant relationship with Him. 

How can we avoid the trap of not becoming legalistic as we obey the law?

A Lei No Céu

Domingo, 07 de Novembro

Deus é amor, e o amor é o princípio abrangente do Seu carácter e o fundamento do Seu governo. Ele deseja que O amemos. Por isso, criou-nos com liberdade moral, o que é inerente ao amor.

Algo central no conceito de liberdade moral é a lei moral. Embora partículas subatómicas, ondas do oceano e cangurus sigam a lei natural em certo nível, não cumprem, nem precisam cumprir a lei moral. Apenas os seres morais precisam da lei moral, e é por isso que mesmo no Céu Deus tem uma lei moral para os anjos.

1. Leia Ezequiel 28:15, 16, sobre a queda de Lúcifer no Céu. Encontrou-se nele “iniquidade”, e ele também “pecou”. O uso destas palavras, no contexto do Céu, confirma a existência da lei moral ali?

Tanto “iniquidade” como “pecado” são palavras usadas entre nós, humanos. Mas as Escrituras usam os mesmos termos para o que aconteceu no Céu, noutro nível da criação. Isto diz-nos algo sobre o que existe ali, bem como na Terra.

2. “Que diremos, pois? É a lei pecado? De modo nenhum! Mas eu não conheci o pecado senão pela lei; porque eu não conheceria a concupiscência, se a lei não dissesse: Não cobiçarás.”(Romanos 7:7). Como pode a mesma ideia, pelo menos em princípio, existir no Céu, onde há seres morais livres, os anjos?

Como explica Ellen G. White: “A vontade de Deus se expressa nos preceitos de Sua santa lei, e os princípios dessa lei são os mesmos princípios do Céu. Os anjos celestiais não atingem mais alto conhecimento do que saber a vontade de Deus; e fazer Sua vontade é o mais elevado serviço em que se possam ocupar suas faculdades” (O Maior Discurso de Cristo, p. 109).

Céu, Terra, não importa: se Deus tem seres morais, haverá uma lei moral para governá-los, e a violação dessa lei, onde quer que seja, é pecado.

Lei moral e seres morais são inseparáveis? Sem a lei, o que definiria o que é moral?

Law in Heaven

Sunday, November 7

God is a God of love, and love is the overarching principle of His character and the foundation of His government. And because God wants us to love Him in return, He has created us as moral creatures with moral freedom, the freedom inherent in love.

And central to the idea of moral freedom is moral law. Subatomic particles, ocean waves, kangaroos, though following to some degree natural law, don’t follow or need moral law. Only moral beings do, which is why even in heaven God has a moral law for the angels.

Read Ezekiel 28:15, 16, which talks about the fall of Lucifer in heaven. “Iniquity” was found in him, and he also “sinned.” What does the use of these words here, in the context of heaven, reveal about the existence of moral law in heaven?

Both “iniquity” and “sinned” are words used here among us humans. But Scripture used the same terms for what happened in heaven, in another part of the creation itself. This should tell us something about what exists in heaven, as well as on earth.

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Romans 7:7). How might the same idea, at least in principle, exist in heaven, where moral beings — angels — exist, as well? 

As Ellen G. White explains: “The will of God is expressed in the precepts of His holy law, and the principles of this law are the principles of heaven. The angels of heaven attain unto no higher knowledge than to know the will of God, and to do His will is the highest service that can engage their powers.” — Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 109.

Heaven, earth — it doesn’t matter: if God has moral beings, He will have a moral law to govern them, and violation of that law, in heaven or on earth, is sin.

Why is the idea of a moral law inseparable from the idea of moral beings? Without that law, what would define what is moral and what is not?