It’s a common tenet of salvation that we argue we can’t earn our salvation.
Technically, you’re right. That’s why it’s called grace.
But there’s a difference between obedience and stubbornly arguing that you don’t have to do anything for your salvation whatsoever. God’s grace made the opportunity of salvation available to us. Our obedience through faith accepts that grace (James 2:14-26).
You can see that dichotomy at work here in Deuteronomy 9. Here we’re given another reason why Israel will be allowed to take Canaan (or an expansion on the previous reason, depending on how you look at it).
Sure, God is going to fulfill the promise to the Patriarchs by bringing their descendants into the land (Genesis 12). But He’s also removing the Canaanites because of their immorality. The “wickedness of these nations” is why God will drive them out.
That creates a chicken-and-the-egg conundrum. Is God bringing Israel into Canaan because of the promise, or is He driving the Canaanites out because they’re wicked?
Both.
The iniquity of the Canaanite people is not a secret. God destroyed the earth in Genesis 6 because of man’s wickedness, then destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their own immorality (which is putting it lightly).
Both of those events happened in this region. Do you think things have really improved much since then? Not likely (Deuteronomy 12:31; Psalm 106:37-38; Leviticus 18:24-27).
In a way then, Israel acts as God’s divine judgment on these people by using them to punish the Canaanites. They were going to be punished regardless.
But the promise can be fulfilled at the same time by giving Israel the exact same land and making it their inheritance. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.
That’s where the grace comes in. Israel didn’t have the ability on their own to destroy Canaan. God has made that very clear throughout Deuteronomy.
But the faith comes in their willingness to obey God in the land. When they refused, God removed them from Canaan and sent them into exile. The same measure of judgment that God brought forth on the Canaanites, He will eventually bring forth upon the Israelites.
What does this teach us about our own relationship with God?