…After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4–7
Paul once wrote about some of the seemingly great things that he had accomplished in his life before he became a Christian, and he made this statement about it all: “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Paul came to the realization that we do not find favor with God (as we do with men) on the basis of works of our own merit, but we find favor with God through faithfulness. Paul continues: “And [that I may] be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (v 9).
As Israel prepared to enter the land flowing with milk and honey, God wanted them to understand that it was not for their righteousness that they were to overcome their enemies; rather it was because of the wickedness of the men of Canaan (Deuteronomy 9:5). Throughout the book of Deuteronomy, Moses repeatedly warns Israel not to forget the LORD or His commandments, lest they become like the heathen people they would displace and share in their destruction (Deuteronomy 8:19–20). Israel not only forgot the LORD, but they forgot very quickly (Deuteronomy 9:16–24) and had to be corrected (Deuteronomy 8:5).
We need often to be reminded also that the spiritual blessings that we receive “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) are not ours because of labor which with we have earned them, but rather because of the grace that God has bestowed on His through His Son, “whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:25). “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith” (v 27). Just as Israel had to toil and fight to secure Canaan, we must “work out our own salvation” (Philippians 2:12), but we must never forget that all of our works would be wrought in vain were it not for the grace of God and the marvelous redemptive work that He completed on Calvary!