And the wicked, if he turn from all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do judgment and justice, he shall certainly live, he shall not die.
Israel complained that they were suffering for their fathers' sins. God answers by dealing with each person on his own account. Verse 21 is the bright side of that answer: the door is not shut on the wicked man, if he will turn.
At the captivity God changed the ground on which He dealt with His people.
This deserves careful weighing. At the captivity God acts on the complaining of His people. He stops dealing with them any longer on the ground of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained that it was hard to suffer for their fathers' failures. So He would now give them what they themselves deserved. It is clear that a sinner must suffer for sin. He may question the justice of paying the penalty for a parent's evil. But he cannot deny that he deserves punishment for his own.
The death threatened here is not the final judgment. The whole chapter deals with God's rule over His people on earth.
The individual would be dealt with by God according to his own conduct. It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own iniquities demanded and would bring on God's judgment... yet where repentance was clear, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that this speaks of judgment in this life: physical death, because of sin now. It gives us no teaching about the eternal judgment of sin, which Scripture teaches elsewhere.
The verse asks for a break with all his sins, and for God's statutes kept from that day on.
In either case, the judgment must be according to the end of the trial. God does not remember former sin or former righteousness. Past sin will not spoil the present righteousness a man has turned to. Past righteousness will not cancel present sin either.
God makes this promise to a man who already deserves the name wicked, and He means it.
This declares a way of salvation, too — not simply a righteousness that needs none. It speaks of the wicked man — the man the name already fits, and who as such needs salvation. God announces forgiveness of sins for him... So God pledges His mercy to a returning soul. And of course He must mean it in all sincerity and truth, or it could not come from Him.
Behind the offer stands God's own disposition toward the guilty.
God would pardon the repenting sinner. For He has no pleasure in the sinner's death. The government of Israel on earth is still the subject. Everyone shall be judged according to his ways.
The offer is real. But it puts a man's future on his own conduct, and so it tests what is in his heart.
It was a further test — a milder one — to prove whether it was in man's heart or will to turn to God, and serve and obey Him. It was as though God said, I will not enforce the claims of My law to the letter. It claims unbroken and universal obedience. That you have utterly failed to render, and the law knows nothing of repentance. But now I give you an opportunity to begin again... It was a fair offer: wipe out all the past and begin again. And God made this offer, remember, to people who were complaining that their destinies were not in their own hands.
Commentators draw a sharp line between this offer and salvation in Christ.
Yet this is not the salvation which we find in Christ. Its condition is not faith in Him but works: to get it, a man must have a righteousness that comes by works. Faith and works are two principles that cannot be joined. So it will not do to say that faith in Christ is present here even though the verse does not mention it.
- Cause. Israel blamed their fathers for their suffering. So God set that older arrangement aside and dealt with each person by his own conduct.
- Gift. God promises the man already called wicked a real pardon. He will not bring up his past against him.
- Scope. The life and death here belong to God's dealings on earth now. Scripture teaches the final judgment elsewhere.
- Test. The offer rests on turning from sin and keeping God's statutes. That is a fair trial of the human will, not salvation by faith in Christ.
- Result. Judgment goes by how the trial ends. Neither past sin nor past righteousness settles it.
None of his transgressions which he hath committed shall be remembered against him; in his righteousness which he hath done shall he live.
Ezekiel speaks to exiles who blamed their fathers for their misery, and God answers by dealing with each person on his own account. Verse 22 is His promise to the one who turns: his record is dropped, and he lives — but what life is meant, and is he earning it?
The exiles complained that they were suffering for their fathers' failures. God ends that complaint by taking them at their word.
This deserves careful thought. At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends the way He had governed them under Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained about suffering for their fathers' failures, so He would now give them what they themselves deserved. Clearly a sinner must suffer for sin. And if a man challenges the justice of paying the penalty for a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he ought to be punished for his own.
The rule runs the other way too. A righteous man who turns to evil loses the credit of his good record.
In either case, the judgment must follow how the trial ends. Neither former sin nor former righteousness can be remembered. That is, past sin will not make the present righteousness a man has turned to worthless. And past righteousness will not cancel his present sin. We must remember through all this that God is not speaking of the final account in eternity. He is speaking of a man entering now into His favour, or coming now under His judgment, in the way He governs.
How far does this promise reach? That depends on which death the chapter threatens.
The individual would be dealt with by God according to his own conduct. It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own sins called for God's judgment and would bring it on them. Long before, God had threatened to visit the sins of the fathers on the children (see Ex. 34:7). Now He sets that principle aside. Each man was guilty in himself, and as such would be judged. Still, where a man showed repentance, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that this speaks of judgment in this life — physical death, because of sin now. It teaches us nothing about the eternal judgment of sin, which is taught elsewhere.
Whatever its limits, the promise is no formality. God pledges Himself to the man who comes back.
This is the voice of God through the prophet Ezekiel, and every word of God will stand. He declares a way of salvation, too — not simply a righteousness that needs none. He speaks of the wicked man, the man who can already be called that, and who therefore needs salvation. God announces forgiveness of sins for him... So the mercy of God is pledged to a returning soul: and, of course, one must say, in all sincerity and truth, or it could not be from Him.
The verse says he lives "for the righteousness that he has done." Those are the terms — and they are not the terms on which a sinner is saved through Christ.
Yet this is not the salvation we find in Christ. Its condition is not faith in Him but works. To get it, a man must have a righteousness that comes from works. Faith and works are two principles that cannot be joined. So it will not do to say that faith in Christ, though not named here, must still be present.
Held out this way, the offer tests whether anyone can recover himself:
This is not pure law. It is law softened and tempered by mercy, giving man, who has failed, the means of self-recovery — if self-recovery were possible. But it was not possible for them, and is not possible for anyone.
Yet forgiveness did not erase every consequence in the life of King David.
We must also remember that in a case like David's sin, the sin might still have to be remembered, as far as outward experience goes, even when it had been forgiven and the soul was once more in the unclouded favour of God... He must maintain His character, and show that He cannot pass over evil in the lives of His own people just because they are His. So the sword was never to depart from David's house.
- Protest — They complained of suffering for their fathers. God sets that older ground aside and judges each person by his own conduct.
- Pardon — For the one who turns, God does not bring up past sins; even so, the outward consequences of past sin may still remain.
- Pledge — The offer is genuine mercy, made in sincerity and truth, because it comes from God.
- Perimeter — The life and death here belong to God's government on earth, not to the final account in eternity.
- Point beyond — The condition named is works, not faith in Christ. So the passage shows that no one can recover himself; it does not give the gospel.