Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? And you, mortal, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not save them when they transgress; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, it shall not make them stumble when they turn from their wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by their righteousness when they sin. Though I say to the righteous that they shall surely live, yet if they trust in their righteousness and commit iniquity, none of their righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die’, yet if they turn from their sin and do what is lawful and right— if the wicked restore the pledge, give back what they have taken by robbery, and walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity—they shall surely live, they shall not die. None of the sins that they have committed shall be remembered against them; they have done what is lawful and right, they shall surely live. (Ezekiel 33:10-16, NRSV)
If the wicked turn and repent of their wickedness then their wickedness will not be their downfall.
If the righteous rely on their righteousness and sin, then that sin will be their down fall.
So where is the justice? If the wicked can just turn away from their acts and be accepted, but the righteous messes up once, and they are not accepted? That just doesn’t seem fair. It’s not how I would want it to go down.
But Ezekiel starts by saying that God has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked”. God wants every one to live! You see this passage lays out clearly what Jesus came and told the Pharisees and the scribes what the law said. It is not by works that you are saved. If the righteous depend our their righteousness to get them salvation they will fall. And if the wicked trust in God and give up their self centered ways then they can be saved.
God’s justice is based in His mercy that none should die! So live in the grace that He gives you and cling tight to Him and trust not in your own deeds, but trust in the Lord!
aSacredRebel 