Behold, all souls are Mine... The soul who sins will die.

Ezekiel 18 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

God Deals Justly with Individuals

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

³ As I live,” declares the Lord God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. ⁴ Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

⁵ “But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, ⁶ and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife …⁷ if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ⁸ if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, ⁹ if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ “Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother ¹¹ (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination, ¹³ he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁴ “Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise. ¹⁵ He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ¹⁷ he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹ “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²² All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. ²³ Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. ²⁵ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? ²⁶ When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. ²⁷ Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹ But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰ “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. ³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

Again today, since we are looking at a passage from Ezekiel, a prophet from the time of the old covenant, we should look at it through the lens of what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-20:   “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  So we should not disregard it as though it no longer has value because we live under grace, but rather we should see all that Christ has fulfilled for us and in us.

The text begins saying:  Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.    It continues then with an example of one who lives righteously and says:  If he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live, declares the Lord God.     In the same way it details the unrighteousness of that one’s son and says:   He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.    Just as it was under the old covenant, so it is today. No one stands either blessed or condemned because of their heritage. It makes no difference what the nationality or ethnicity of a person is. It makes no difference what a person’s parents, grandparents; any ancestors did or believed. What God said is still true:   Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.    We are neither responsible for the lack of righteousness and faith of others, nor can we come to God because of them.

Certainly all of us do experience the consequences of the actions and beliefs of those who came before us. We may suffer from their sins or benefit from the good that they did, but the consequences of sin are not God’s judgment. If we go all the way back to the beginning, when Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled against the word of God, all of creation and everything and everyone in it suffered the consequences of their sin. Romans 5:12 says:   Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.    We all did inherit the sin nature of Adam. We then suffer the consequences of his sin and also stand to face judgment for our own sin.  The soul who sins will die.    Romans 5:15-19 explains how Jesus fulfilled this for us:   The free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.    Jesus says that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He has fulfilled that righteousness for us and in us. We are righteous in Him and so, through Him we enter the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus breaks off both the inheritance of sin and also frees us from the power of its consequences. In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”    We may still suffer from the consequences of sin, whether our own or of others, sin will bring difficulties and tribulation, but through Christ, who Himself overcame sin and death, we too can overcome.

Just as through Christ we no longer have the inheritance of Adam, so too can we change the natural heritage we have or had from our ancestors. Romans 8:14-17 says:   All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.    The text today ends saying: “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”  In Matthew 4:17, at the beginning of His ministry, even before He became the fulfillment of our righteousness, Jesus said:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   Even today, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is not far off either in time or distance, but rather is near, it right here for all who repent, for all who change the way they think and act., All who believe in Christ will receive the fulfillment of God’s covenant, they will have peace in Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the inheritance I have in Christ; the fulfillment of righteousness and the blessings of a child of the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.