“And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
The exiles had watched their nation fall, and they said their own sins were crushing them. God's answer cuts both ways, and it raises two hard questions: why does past obedience give no credit, and what do "live" and "die" mean here?
New Ground: The Individual
The judgment on the nation had already fallen. That is the setting for a new basis on which God deals with people:
J. N. DarbyIn view of these judgments, God sets up a completely new principle. Individual conduct is now the ground on which God deals with people. This stands in contrast with the consequences of national sin. So the door was still wide open to personal repentance, based on a testimony that spoke to each person, whatever the national judgment might be.
A Record Is Not A Shelter
Repentance was what the moment called for. And the mercy offered rested on something still to come.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinSince a day of judgment had come upon them, true repentance was what they needed. A past righteousness could not shield them from judgment if they had sinned. "As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness." The wicked person who confesses and gives up his sin would find mercy and forgiveness, while those who refused to repent would surely die and not live. And this gracious promise was given in anticipation of the work of the cross, the redemption by the blood of Christ, through which God's righteousness is declared in passing over the sins of Old Testament believers who turned to God (Rom. 3:25).
The Danger Of Self-Trust
The verse names one man's failure: he trusts his own righteousness. That trust is what collapses. The same word that takes away his prop holds out mercy to the worst offender.
Numerical Bible NotesSuppose someone who had been righteous trusted in that past righteousness of his and gave himself up to wickedness. Then none of his righteous deeds could be remembered. He would surely die in the sin he had committed. But the greater emphasis falls on the mercy that awaits even the worst and vilest person who turns to God.
What "Live" And "Die" Mean Here
The same writer warns against reading this as a verdict on a soul's eternal destiny. He takes it as God's government now, over people still living on earth.
Numerical Bible NotesFormer sin, or former righteousness, cannot be remembered. Past sin will not cancel out the present righteousness a person has turned to. Past righteousness will not cancel out his present sin either. We must remember in all this that the final account in eternity is not in view. What is in view is the present entering into God's favour, or under His judgment, in His government.
Commentators differ in emphasis. One keeps the passage inside God's present government; another reads the mercy in it as pointing forward to the cross.
Not Yet The Gospel
Read as an offer, this verse hands a man his own case to manage. That is its point, and its limit.
Frederick W GrantThis is plainly not the announcement of the gospel, of One who "justifies the ungodly." It is goodness that takes up a wicked man and tells him to turn from his wickedness, do what is just and right, and so save his life. It puts a man on the ground of saving himself, to see if he has the "strength." God may forgive the past; the future the man must provide for.
So where can a righteousness that holds come from? Not from the man himself:
William KellyNo man can have righteousness without looking outside himself to Him whom God always meant to send, as everyone who feared Him knew... To be self-satisfied, or indifferent, is to be unrighteous at the root. To believe God and look for the Saviour is the only right way.
Summary
- Ground — The nation was already under sentence, so God turns to individual conduct. The door stays open to anyone who repents.
- Record — A past righteousness shields no one on the day he sins; the ledger of yesterday is not the measure of today.
- Trust — The man who falls is leaning on his own righteousness. The word that knocks away his prop offers mercy to the vilest who turns.
- Reach — A bad past does not hold back the man who turns. A good past does not carry the man who sins. God weighs where each stands now.
- Refuge — No one's own record can carry him. Righteousness must be sought outside himself, in the Saviour God meant to send.