Choose Life

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

A point of climax and decision has arrived on the Plains of Moab. Moses is nearing death after leading Israel in the wilderness for forty years. The younger generation is about to enter the Promised Land, and he is preparing them for what’s ahead. So, here it is:

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in His ways, and by keeping His commandments and His statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Moses addresses the whole nation as a unity, but also each individual in Israel. The choice to renew or not to renew the covenant God had made with them is for each one and for everyone. The choice set before Israel at this pivotal moment is between “life and good, death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15).

Moses, who authored Genesis, seems to allude to Eden’s “tree of life” (Genesis 2:9; 3:22, 24) and “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:9, 17). The eating of the “tree of life” would have confirmed the blissful life in God’s presence that our first parents enjoyed in Genesis 2 before the fall. Eating from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” would have and did bring death (Genesis 2:17; 5:5; Romans 5:12-14).

Despite all of God’s good and gracious provision, humanity chose a path that led to slavery to sin and idols. However, in light of that, God Himself committed to setting them free from slavery to sin and unbelief through the promised Messiah, the Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent and reverse the curse that sin brought into creation.

God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt foreshadowed the greater deliverance He would bring through this promised Messiah. In light of all that God had done by great signs and wonders in Egypt and the wilderness wandering to get Israel to the Promised Land, could there now be any other god they would want to worship or any other path they would want to take?

The Lord, through Moses, presents two choices. The first choice is life and good; the second choice is death and evil. The following verses of our text explain what is meant by each. Note that the positive and negative terms in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, leave no room for three or more choices nor for failing to make any choice. The positive terms are: “life, good, love, Yahweh, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, live, multiply, bless, life, blessing, by loving, by listening, by clinging, your life, the length of your days.” The negative terms are: “death, evil, heart turns away, not listen, driven aside, bow down to other gods, perish, not lengthen your days, death, curse.”

You’ll find that idea that only two options are available to humanity in the New Testament as well. The first option is Christ, grace, faith, Baptism, salvation, and eternal life. The second option is false religion, attempted works-righteousness, not believing in Christ, death, and eternal damnation.

Conceived and born in sin, unbelievers do not have the power within themselves to choose life from God. However, Yahweh first chose Israel to be His people (Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6-7; cf. 1 John 4:19). In response, those who have been chosen and who already have the gift of faith from God have the ability, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to choose to keep the life that God has given them. Unbelievers cannot choose life, since they are blind, dead enemies of God. Believers have two choices: to keep what they have by grace or to throw it away and return to the condition of being blind, dead enemies of God.

Jesus’s words to His disciples in Matthew 7:13-14 say the same thing as He contrasts two gates and two ways or roads:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Because God chose Israel, she already enjoys “life and good” (Deuteronomy 30:15). She can choose to keep “life” and its blessings from God. Or she can choose “death” and turn away from Him to the “evil” of other gods. Moses does not mince words about the outcome of the latter choice (Deuteronomy 30:18). You will perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

Moses leaves no doubt about what he wants for the nation. So, he urges: “Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). The words “loving the Lord your God” remind Israel that covenant faith and faithfulness is a matter of the heart and sincerity. Obligatory obedience—merely going through the motions of covenant sacrifices and the “respectable” behavior of worldly society—has no place in Israel. Blessings will come as a result of a living faith and the loving obedience that follows faith. Blessings will never accrue by dead-end legalism and hypocrisy. “Without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6).

Unfortunately, even though Israel would “choose” God and by extension “life,” on this occasion, eventually they would still sin. They said they would obey God, but then they turned back to disobedience.

No amount of our sinful volition will ever choose God rightly, and no act of our will can save us. Instead, God, ever since the creation, in light of our sin, planned to send His only begotten Son as the new Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) and as all of Israel in one person to choose what we will not and cannot.

Adam and Eve could not do it at the tree in the garden and were cast out into the wilderness in sin. Israel could not do it in the wilderness because even though they chose God, eventually their sinful nature was incapable of keeping that promise. We are fully aware that we cannot do it by our own reason or strength (Third Article of the Creed).

But what humanity was incapable of doing on its own, God did for us by sending Jesus Christ to take our humanity into Himself! In light of our sin, Jesus chose to do His Father’s will, and that has opened to us the way of everlasting life. Christ accomplished this by hanging on the cursed tree of Calvary where His vicarious atonement reverses the curse and does what we cannot.

On the cross, Jesus fulfilled the obligation of the law in our place for everyone. He kept God’s holy Word perfectly and died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In Baptism, we were crucified with Christ and raised in His resurrection. We cross into a promised land of faith. By grace, the Holy Spirit creates and keeps these promises throughout the life we have with God in Word and Sacrament.

Considering all God has done for us in Christ, is there any other god worth worshipping? Is there any other way to salvation? There really is no other choice, is there? Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him]” (John 14:6).

As He led Israel out of Egypt, the Lord had taken them to be His chosen people. The whole book of Deuteronomy, really, is taking a long look at what it means to be God’s people. How do we live? How do we worship? How do we fear, love, and trust God above all things and love our neighbor as ourselves?

As we reach our text, Moses is nearing death after leading Israel in the wilderness for forty years. The younger generation is about to enter the Promised Land, and he is preparing them for what’s ahead. His main thought is just as applicable to us today: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (30:15). Choose life!

Life and good looks like this: “You obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” You love Him, you walk in His ways—discipleship—and the Lord will bless you in your new land (30:16). You have no other God before the Lord—not the milk or honey or remodeled kitchen your new job will buy. You don’t take the Lord’s name in vain but pray to Him as a first resort and praise Him in ordinary conversation. You remember His holy day by gladly hearing and (with your best intentional effort to focus) learning His Word. You love your neighbor as yourself by seeing that she has enough of the milk and honey too, that he is invited and welcomed to hear the Word with you on Sunday, that you choose life for the unborn and the elderly (30:19) as well as for yourself.

And when you fail to do the things you should do and do the things you should not do? You repent. You confess your sin, trusting that Jesus died for that sin, too, and you pray for the strength to fight the good fight and by faith to overcome all the temptations of Satan, the flesh, and the world, so that you may finally receive the salvation of your soul.

Having chosen us, God sets before us life and good, death and evil, urging us to choose life by loving the Lord, walking in His ways, and keeping His commandments. This choice is not just a momentary decision but a daily commitment to live out our faith with integrity and purpose. May we leave here today with hearts resolved to embrace God's commandments, knowing that in doing so, we are choosing a path of blessing and life. Let us go forth, empowered by His Spirit, to be a light in the world, sharing His love and grace with all whom we encounter. Amen.