In this message, Pastor Matt teaches us how Christ has always been near to those who will call upon him by faith, even to the Israelites Moses was speaking to.

The Danger of “Nearly” Christianity

Now, there are a bunch of things in this world that are nearly Christianity. They’re almost Christian. They look Christian. They look like a church. They might even read their Bibles. They might even take things very seriously—they might seem more serious than us. They show love to their neighbors, they go to church, and they say the right things. They have the right views on hot-button political issues. They tithe. They pray.

And yet all of these things could describe those in scripture:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

The Pharisees believed, like too many people today, that they could be righteous on their own—that all they needed to do was to be a “good person” and then God would accept them. But true salvation begins with: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” True salvation is what we receive by Jesus Christ’s work alone, received simply by faith and not by anything that we do.

There is good news today: if you are here striving in fear, wondering if God will accept you, you can be right with God. Not simply by trying harder, not simply by doing more, but simply by believing and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord. Through him alone, you can be completely right with God. You can go from being just “nearly Christian” to having Christ in you—the hope of glory.

Finding Christ in Deuteronomy 30

Now, you might be thinking, “That’s all well and good, Pastor, but I just heard that text, and it seems to say something different.” I will tell you today that Moses teaches salvation by faith alone in Deuteronomy 30, and we are going to see how.

Let’s pray:

Oh Lord, illuminate our hearts and minds by the power of the Holy Spirit to see not just words on a page or things to hear, but that we might see Christ in Deuteronomy chapter 30. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we pray. Make it so. Amen.

All right, let’s do a deep dive. Moses sets before them life and death. And what do they choose? Death. We know this because they go into exile, just as Moses prophesied: “Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book.” And there are a lot of them. Moses shows that they cannot keep the law; it is a weight they cannot bear, a weight their ancestors could not bear, and a weight that no one could bear to this present age. Because they could not obey the law, they received the curse.

And yet, Moses does not leave them there. He says that one day there will be obedience, and one day there will be promises.

The Five Promises and the One Who Fulfilled the Law

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses writes:

“…and you return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and with all your soul…”

We need to focus on that word “all.” Who actually does this? Who obeys God in every single detail? This was not achieved in the return under Ezra, nor under the prophets, nor under John the Baptist. Even when Jesus Christ himself preached—and Jesus was the greatest preacher—the people as a whole did not turn to God with all their hearts and souls.

In fact, there is only one person who ever did this: Jesus Christ. He obeyed the whole law and fulfilled it in such a way that he earned the promises. He fulfilled Leviticus 18:5: “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”

Christ, being the embodiment of all righteousness, is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. His very person fulfills the law. He took the whole law on his shoulders and bore that weight all the way to Calvary. As the one who fulfills the entire law, he is the sole inheritor of all five promises in Deuteronomy chapter 30:

1. The Gathering of the People: God gathering his scattered people together.
2. The Inheritance of the Land: Possessing the promised land.
3. A New Heart: Receiving a circumcised heart.
4. Escaping the Curses: Freedom from judgment.
5. Receiving the Blessings: Abundant life and prosperity.

All of these were earned by one man: Jesus Christ.

How the Promises Are Unfolded

Let’s look at how these promises unfold in the text:

• The Gathering:“Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples… If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you.” This sounds like the doctrine of the last days—the great trumpet when God calls forth his people from the four corners of the earth. Even if you’re on a moon base at Christ’s return, he will gather you in!
• The Land:“And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it.” Israel never fully retained the land; they were under foreign rule up to the day of Christ, and earthly borders remain contested. But what Christ earns—and what Hebrews calls it—is a better, heavenly country, where the meek will inherit the whole earth.
• A New Heart:“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart.” Israel was told to turn with their whole heart so God would give them a circumcised heart. That sounds backwards until you view it through Christ: he fulfills the law, purifies his people, sends his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and promises full restoration at his return.
• Curses on the Enemies & Ultimate Blessing:“And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes… For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you.” We see the ultimate fulfillment of this in the book of Revelation, where God’s enemies receive the final curse, and his people enter into eternal blessing.

Old Testament prophets looked forward to the “latter days” as one big horizon. But looking back through Christ, we see clearer distinction: some benefits we receive now through his life and resurrection, and others we receive in full at his final return.

Receiving the Blessing by Faith Alone

How are these blessings distributed to us? By faith alone.

Deuteronomy 30:11 says: “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.” This sounds surprising coming from Moses, because he just explained that the people would fail and go into exile. But Christ is the ultimate embodiment of all that God commands.

Paul picks up this exact passage in Romans 10 to show that the “commandment” points to Christ himself:

Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim).

To say a word with your mouth is to confess it; to say a word with your heart is to believe it.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Not because of your own works of righteousness, but because Jesus Christ fulfilled the whole law on your behalf.

The Only True Hope

If you limped into church today feeling beaten down by your lack of obedience, here is the good news: Jesus Christ truly paid it all. He has earned God’s favor and blessing for you.

I went to another church a couple of weeks ago while on vacation. During the children’s message, the speaker looked at the kids and said, “I don’t have a lot of hope for this world… but you kids are the hope of the world.”

I had to catch myself from standing up right there. Kids are not the hope of the world. That’s relying on human effort, which fails every time. The only hope of the world is Jesus Christ and his righteousness alone.

Don’t walk out of here today thinking, “I’m just going to try a little harder.” Instead, turn to him in faith.

Oh Lord our God, we thank you that you are faithful. We thank you that you are the One who truly fulfilled all of the commands, and that the weight of our sin was nailed to the cross so we bear it no more. Lord, we cannot save ourselves, but Jesus, you have done it. We believe and confess with our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that he was raised from the dead. Grant us your Holy Spirit to walk in your ways with joy and faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.