Ryan: I love the opportunity to point out examples of grace and love in the Old Testament. So many people think the Old Testament is all about laws, rules, fire and brimstone, judgment, etc. But near the beginning of chapter 9 of Deuteronomy, we see a perfect example of grace. In verse 4, Moses warns, “After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, ‘The Lord has brought be here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.’ No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.” In other words, “you have done absolutely nothing to deserve this land that God is giving you, but He’s giving it to you anyways.” That is grace. Our inheritance is the same way: our salvation rests with Jesus in that despite the fact that we have done nothing to deserve being saved, if we claim the righteousness of Christ as our own through baptism, we will be given our place in heaven, no thanks to anything we have done. As we learn from Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Samantha: As Moses encourages the people to follow God’s laws he highlights some of the wonderful qualities that our “God above all gods” possesses. The one that caught my attention was, “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” (Deut 10:18). God cares for the orphans and widows–who else will? Until recent decades, a woman and her children would become destitute without a man or son present to provide for the family. In the New Testament, Jesus’ brother James is encouraging the Christians to not just to listen to the word but to take action. James pointed out that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).
Tags: Discipleship, Salvation
