Ezekiel 18:29

Verse 18:29 says, Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?  God asked the people of Israel if His ways were not equal to all people and if their ways were not unequal.  God treats everyone the same as He calls them to salvation, and He expects us to treat everyone the same once we have accepted His gift of salvation as we call on them to put their faith in Jesus Christ.  Then, if we do become a follower of Christ, we are to acknowledge that we are no better than anyone else or more deserving of God’s forgiveness by our own merit. 

Verse thirty adds, Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.  God said that everyone would be judged according to their ways and not by where they were born or what ethnic group they were.  Since we will all be judged by our own sins, we need to repent and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, which is the only way to have our sins forgiven.  It is never because we are somehow more valuable than anyone else.   

Verse thirty-one continues, Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  God said that the people of Israel needed to throw away their transgressions and make a new heart and spirit in their lives.  The only way that we can have a new heart and spirit is by accepting God’s gift of salvation, then He will give us a new heart, one that is dedicated to Him, and we will be filled with the Holy Spirit.   

Verse thirty-two concludes, For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.  God said that He had no pleasure in anyone dying, and I believe this means spiritual death, or dying spiritually separated from God.  People may ask how God can send anyone to hell, but He doesn’t.  He just allows them to go of their own will if they refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and even then, it gives Him no pleasure. 

Ezekiel 18:23

Ezekiel 18:23 says, Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?  God asked if He should have ant pleasure in the fact that the wicked would die unredeemed, and the implied answer is no.  God said that He would much rather they repent and return to His ways. The only way to do this was by putting their faith in the coming Messiah then, or in the Messiah Who has come now.  God never sends someone to hell because it brings Him pleasure, but He will allow them to go if they choose not to accept His gift of salvation.   

Verse twenty-four adds, But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.  God then said that nothing we do in life, even if it is a good thing, is going to save us from paying the penalty for our sins.  Only Jesus Christ is qualified to do this, and if we don’t put our faith in Him, we are forever cut off from God.   

Verse twenty-five continues, Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?  God said that the people of Israel accused Him of not treating everyone as equals.  Matthew Henry points out that the God Who created everything would do nothing but treat all of His creation as equal, but it was up to them to acknowledge that He is the only God.  God does not love people of one nation more than He loves the people of another, since He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die to redeem everyone who puts their faith in Him.  If we view other people as anything less than being of the same value to God as we are, then we are not obeying God’s word.   

Verse twenty-six states, When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.  God said that those who thought themselves to be righteous, but who turned away from what God taught were to die.  I don’t believe this will ever apply to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord since they are forever saved, but it will apply to those who rely on self-righteousness to save them.   

Verse twenty-seven adds, Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.  God then said that when the wicked turned away from their wickedness that they would save their soul.  I don’t believe that this means we are capable of saving ourselves, but that turning away from iniquity means that we have turned to Jesus Christ to make us acceptable to God by dying for our sins.  We cannot pay the penalty for our sins by just starting to live more righteously.  

Verse twenty-eight continues,  Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  As just stated in the last verse, I don’t believe that this means we can save our soul by just starting to be a better person.  The wages of sin is always death, which means spiritual death and not physical death, and we either pay that penalty for ourselves or accept God’s gift of salvation.      

Ezekiel 18:18

Ezekiel 18:18 says, As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.  God continues to address the sins of the fathers, who were said to have oppressed their brothers, which did not mean just those who were born in the same family, but all the people around them.   

Verse nineteen adds, Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.  God then asked if the son who had done right and kept all of His commandments should bear the iniquity of his father.  This was what was being taught, but I believe that when God had said that the iniquities of the fathers would be borne by the children that He was talking about material consequences and not spiritual.  If children continue to live in disobedience to God, they will suffer for their own disobedience spiritually, but no matter what their parents may have done, anytime they repent and come to God, they will be forgiven of their sins and restored to a right relationship with God.  Every person will only be held accountable for their own sins.   

Verse twenty continues, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.  This is just another statement that each individual is responsible for his or her own sins.  We cannot be condemned for the sins of others, nor can we bring forgiveness to them.    

Verse twenty-one states, But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  Then God makes a promise that if anyone turns from their wicked ways and put their faith in Him and keep His laws and statutes, they will live.  Of course, since we have all sinned, we cannot justify ourselves by keeping God’s law, since any sin brings death.  For this reason, Jesus Christ had to come into the world and follow God’s law completely so that every person who puts their faith in Him will be spared from spiritual death.  Of course, once we become a follower of Christ, we are to do our best to follow God’s law, even though we will still fail at times.  

Verse twenty-two adds. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned to him: in the righteousness that he hath done he shall live.  This may seem to say that people will not have their sin mentioned because of the righteous things that they have done, but the righteous that He has done refers to Jesus Christ.  We will never have our sins washed away by our own righteousness.

Verse twenty-three continues, All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.   This might seem to say that people could be saved by repenting and then obeying God’s law, but we can never be saved by our own righteousness, because we all fall short living by God’s commandments, so we must rely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ to redeem us.