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.
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