The content and especially the final section of Deut. 9, begs the question: Why bring all this up in front of all Israel? It seems apparent that the reason is to remind them how and why they were delivered. Moses is implying, “You didn’t become God’s special possession because there was something special in you, but rather because God did something special for you. You were slaves in Egypt and God stepped in and set you free with his mighty power. That’s the only way you escaped from the iron furnace of Egypt.”
Like Israel, we can have self-centered thoughts toward our redemption and our status as God’s people. Here are some indicators of that: Are your thoughts more consumed with what you have done; how much you have grown; how much you serve others; how much you show up at things OR are your thoughts more consumed with what Christ has done, namely redeeming you with his own blood and securing for you an eternity in the presence of God?
A person who is self-focused is always a self-righteous person. Apart from Christ we have nothing; no redemption, no adoption into God’s family, no power over sin. That’s why we need to be much more enamored with Christ’s redemption than our own pseudo righteousness because he’s the one who saved us by taking away the wrath we deserved by taking it on himself (1 John 2:1-2).