(Or) Would you be a “righteous person” in the Old Testament time?

Rick L. McNally / May 2025

Note: I’ve been ruminating on this passage and idea for over a year.  This is my first time trying to express it in writing.  Be gentle, for this is a confession of my sin as much as it is a reminder to others.  I live among sinners.  I am a sinner.  I have sinned against others, specifically.

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I was reading a few years ago in Deuteronomy, and I came across the curious passage where Moses is summing up the end of his “career” and the moment of time that Israel was then going through — it was a time of transition of leadership and a watershed moment.

Here we go.

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.”

What was that command? That command in context was the simple thing of obeying “the voice of the Lord and keeping all his commandments.”  This is mentioned in Deuteronomy 30 prior to this word.

Not too hard?

What?

At first, this seems to contradict what Paul says in the NT, that “all have sinned” and the law was an unkeepable yoke that choked the life out of people.  How could Moses have said that? 

I will try to make some sense of this for you.  But it will cost you in the end.  It may prove too difficult to you because of a hard heart.

Why Does Moses Say it is Not Too Hard?

It’s Nearness

In the context of the passage mentioned above from Deuteronomy 30:11, it is followed by the argument that it is near, not far.

The law does not abide in “heaven” in an unapproachable cloud where we would need some superhuman being to bring it down to us so we could hear it.  Neither is it “beyond the sea” where we would also need someone with other abilities than ours — or greater resources — to get it.

The law of God, the word, is “very near you.”  How near?  “It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”

Here we see the idea that God had implanted the “law” directly into the hearts of people; it is something spoken, it is something known internally.  God was at work in people and worked on the people’s hearts through faith.  God’s law was foreign, but brought near by God himself.  It was intrinsic.

It Is Doable

So, now, what do we do with the “do-ability” of the law?  

What must be understood is that the “doing” of the law was not about “doing the law perfectly.”  By doing the Law, Moses meant a few things for the people of that time:

• To trust in God’s goodness.  Have faith in him.
• To read and know the law well, to know what was offensive to God.
• To be in an attitude of desiring to be obedient.

We hear these attitudes in the Psalms, and in the tongues of the prophets.  But there is more.

• To recognize their inability to keep it; both in general theory and in practice.  This is worked out through the Sacrificial Atonement system.
  • National Sin / To offer sacrifices for the generic breaking of the law / National Sin Offering, Scapegoat (Leviticus 16:21f)
  • Individual Sins / To offer sacrifices for the individual sins (Leviticus 5:6f)
  • Interpersonal Sin / To offer restitution for the people they have sinned against (Numbers 5:8) Restitution of value + 1/5 more, and a ram offering.

(see file at the bottom of document for more study on Mosaic Covenant / Sacrificial System)

What was “doable” about the Old Testament system is not the “keeping” of the law but the “confessing” of the inability to do the law.  To recognize that as a mere mortal, God was good and you were not.  To recognize that sin was not a foreign thing but a reality in every individual life.  

To Confess

An Old Testament saint was not a sinless person, but one who fully recognized his sin on a large scale and on a day-to-day scale.  Yes, to admit internally and also to the system in general their sinfulness.  This system helped people keep “right” with God and also with their fellow men.  

There is an old English, or Scottish, proverb that says “confession is good for the soul.”  It is right and good and true — but it is no longer fully believed.  We avoid confession often to the detriment of our very souls.  But why, look no farther than pride.  We like ourselves way too much and disrespect God and others too often.

We must recognize our corporate sin — that it is a part of the whole world.  It is true, we are nothing but filthy rags before God.  We need to admit it with our tongues and with our hearts.  No matter where we live, our nation is a sinful nation.  No matter what brand of church you go to — it is a faulty and sinful church.  We corporately fail God daily.  Admit it.

We must also make this personal — not only is our corporate group sinful, that extends to each individual.  I am sinful.  I am in desperate need every day of God to come down and save me, for I cannot save myself.  I am “prone to wander” as the hymn humbly states.  I am not above you, nor are you above me.  I am as Paul confessed, “the chief of sinners” too.

We must also consider the effects of OUR SIN on others — our sins affect each other deeply.  We must be ready to confess those sins to them, and also to our brothers and sisters.  When a man wronged another man, they would have to go to the temple and make restitution, confession, and recompense was to be made.  Humble, costly, restitution.

This is what was meant by “keeping the law.”  It is not easy, but it is doable, because God gave them a means to do it.  He worked in the system, in the hearts of men and women who were humble enough to admit their sin and his righteousness, and through their obedience (not to keeping everything perfectly, but to admitting their sins) they became righteous.  Righteousness was not accomplished by doing the right thing, but by admitting the rebellion.

Is This Easy?

Now, on one level, this is very “doable.”  But on another, it is not.  How hard is it to confess our sin?  I would suggest there are varying degrees.  Let’s use the categories above.

Corporate Sin / This is fairly easy comparatively.  We can parrot the words “all have sinned” fairly easily.  It is humbling, but we can project this easier onto everyone else and excuse ourselves, or simply compare ourselves with others still; “all have sinned, but mostly them.”  This is legalism at its “best” as we excuse others.

Individual Sin / This is harder.  We have to be willing to place ourselves into the pool of humanity; the lepers, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the Gentiles.  We are no better than any of our fellow man.

Our Sin Affecting Others / This is harder still.  To go before a neighbor and ask forgiveness for slander or abuse or destruction of their property; this is so very hard.  How many times have people come to you and actually taken responsibility for their own hurtful actions toward you?  How often have you done this to others?  I can think of a few instances where this has happened through the years, but it is not often.  Many offenses go unresolved; and this happens both ways.

But, Jesus

Now Jesus has come as the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system.  He is the sacrifice, the scapegoat, the offering we all need.  Not continually, but once for all.  And it is to him we run — he is the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, and the perfect priest.  The Law of the Old Testament always pointed to, and was dependent upon, the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.

Jesus takes care of these things for us.  We run to him and confess our corporate and our individual sin, and the sins against others.  Thank the Lord.

We are free. “But don’t use your freedom…”

But in the church, what about the social offenses we cause against each other?  Do they not happen because we are Christians?  Are they insignificant because we ought to just forgive each other?  What replaces this part of the Old Testament’s plan for reconciliation?

To simply claim the other person should just “forgive” misses the point of forgiveness. Forgiveness is between you and God and is beautiful but not automatic nor can it be done at a moment’s notice.  Reconciliation is about admitting the wrong and making up for the wrong, not forcing someone back into a relationship based upon generic “forgiveness.”  

Proper truth-telling in relationships shows up in a few places in the New Testament, and I will be brief because of the length of this article, not because of the seriousness of these issues.  Each can be a study and a confessional activity on their own.  I will mention three.  Note: these affect our fellowship with God and others, not necessarily our “salvation.”  However, that is not to say they are unimportant.

• Walking in the Light / 1 John 1 / The honesty God aspects in the church by individuals is absolute.  It is about living like God, with no hidden agendas or offenses.  That honesty breeds fellowship with one another; not acknowledging our sins is self-deceit and conceit. We make God a liar when we are not honest with ourselves and others.  That confession seems to be not only Godward, but to others as well.  It is about fellowship.
• Confess Your Sins / James 5:13-16 / In this passage, the word confess is explicitly an “outward agreeing” or a verbal agreement.  An admittance.  It is in the plural, focusing not on just condition but individual offenses.  Our health, physical and spiritual, are affected by not making such confessions.  Our prayer life is affected by this as well.  I don’t believe this means we share all of our dirt everywhere, but rather that we are willing to share it generically in public, specifically with some individuals, and to the ones we have harmed.  This is crucial for a healthy relationship with each other.  
• Reconciling to One Another / Matthew 5:23-24 / While we are worshipping God at the altar and remember that someone has something against us, we go and try to make it right.  Now, I know from experience that because you “try” to do this, sometimes it is impossible because of the hardness of one heart or another, but as far as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men.  To not “make right” what you have done seems to, in this passage, affect our worship of God, and the peace we have with one another, and our very freedom.

Conclusions

A person of the Old Testament who was faithful or righteous was a person who recognized God’s goodness and their sin.  It means confessing — admitting in the mind, admitting with the mouth — our sinfulness.

It is a great paradox as found elsewhere in scripture. To be free, submit yourself to God. To be rich, find poverty. To be strong, embrace your weakness. To be righteous, confess your sinfulness.

This is anathema to a legalistic mindset, but it can break it too. Beware, we are much better at admitting the sins of others and excusing our own faults.

This exercise is for each of us to consider our own sins.  I have had to go to people numerous times to express my sinfulness, and when I did, I received more forgiveness than judgement.  There are consequences to our actions, however, and this is one other reason it is not practiced — we don’t like the consequences of our actual actions.

If you doubt this, good. Study Saul in contrast to David and see his confession brought him godliness. Study the rich young ruler and contrast him with the Apostle Paul. Consider the proud man in the temple, and the humble man who stood with him.

Be a righteous person.  Admit your sin. Not just the theoretical sin, but the real sins that are keeping you from your relationship with God and others.

Easy?  No.

Doable?  Yes.  But God help us as we try to be obedient when there is such a heavy cost to our pride.