D10-1: What Does The Phrase God Is ‘Working Out His Righteousness’ Really Mean?

Today we begin Deuteronomy Chapter Ten.

For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.

For the King James version, click here.

When God told Moses He was going to destroy the Israelites for their rebellion, Moses begged God to reconsider for the sake of His righteousness.

This is key to understand.

It was for the sake of God’s righteousness and NOT the people’s righteousness that served as the basis of Moses’ appeal to the Lord to relent from killing off the Israelites.

From the time when Adam and Eve first rebelled by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree to the present day, God has been working out His righteousness through us imperfect human beings.

He has also been communicating to us in customary ways since ancient times.

We saw this with the stone tablets that Moses carried down from the mountain and ended up destroying because of the people’s rebellion.

When Moses smashed the tablets into smithereens, that was the typical way a covenant was rendered null and void in those days.

In His dealings with us, the Lord has no choice but to communicate to us in familiar ways we can understand.

Let’s talk a little bit about the phrase “God is working out His righteousness”.

What does that really mean?

Or perhaps a better question to ask is what’s the difference between a man “working out His righteousness” and God “working out His righteousness“.

Well, there’s a huge difference.

When we human beings attempt to work out our righteousness, it carries the idea that that we may or may not succeed simply because we are frail and imperfect human beings.

Therefore, whatever plans we have to achieve righteousness, may or may not come about.

This is totally different compared to God working out His righteousness.

The Lord working out His righteousness means that He is literally bending and molding human history to accomplish His divine plans…

…and at times this will include overriding the freewill of human beings.

Again, a perfect example of this is when He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so He could work out His righteousness in Egypt.

At the end of the day, we are just tools in God’s Hand as He goes about accomplishing His work of righteousness.

This process is indeed an unfathomable mystery.

We are told we have been given free will.

Yet in some mysterious way, God from on high will overshadow and overide our free wills and sinful natures, even of those who go against Him, to carry out His plans.

I would say the ultimate evidence of this is the fact that we are even saved at all.

It was God who introduced Himself to you.

It was God who put the faith in you so you could even believe in Him…

…and have your sins forgiven.

It was all God and 100% His Grace.