Ep. 193. Ezekiel 18, 20 | The Soul Who Sins Will Die

EPISODE 193

THE SOUL WHO SINS WILL DIE: EZEKIEL 18,20

We are once again faced with a text that we will try to roll over to the New Covenant if we don't approach it carefully. "The soul who sins will die." But "If a man is righteous and does what is just and right, he shall surely live." However, "If he fathers a violent son who does wicked things, he will not live." But if that wicked man fathers a son who holds to the Law and does rightly, he shall surely live. If an evil person turns from his wickedness and obeys the statutes of God, then he will live. But if a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and instead does abominable things, none of his righteousness shall be remembered, and he will die. But if a wicked person turns away from his wickedness and behaves justly, he shall live.

It is quite repetitive isn't it? And I'm just summarizing the actual text found in Ezekiel. If we roll this forward to the New Covenant we may find ourselves arguing that a righteous person could turn away from his righteousness and die because of their wickedness. But what do we see here in Ezekiel 18? This is not a righteousness based on faith, but a righteousness as viewed from the perspective of the works of the Law. Notice how the righteous person is holding fast to the statutes and commands of God while the wicked person is forsaking the commands of God? Not a single mention of faith here. And the "righteousness" here is based on individual performance, whereas we know that we have received "the righteousness of God."

In chapter 20, Ezekiel continues to be repetitive as he highlights the abandoning of the Sabbath by the Jewish people. But we already know that Christ fulfills the Sabbath in the New Covenant. We who have entered into a relationship with Jesus have effectively entered his rest. We have been set free from our work and rest on his completed work. We have accepted the invitation as weary and heavy-laden people to come to him and find rest for our souls.

So then, read these two chapters as though they are written to Jews under the first covenant and not to people of faith according to Jesus Christ. See how the people have forsaken the covenant of God. View these texts in context, and don't fold them forward on the covenant of Christ and his shed blood.

ADDITIONAL READING: Jeremiah 21:29-30; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 31:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21