Ez18 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
These words crush me because I imagine trying to truly turn from my sin without the all mighty power of God within, and it seems an impossible task.
This is God’s standard and it cannot be lowered by love or mercy, or sentiment. Otherwise God is no longer perfectly just.
Because He is all knowing, however, His standard still makes way for His perfect plan of redemption. A man who has turned from his own way, and receives the life of Christ by faith is freely given a gift of righteousness. God is perfectly fair, because He is not willing that any should perish but all should come to eternal life (2 Peter 3:9)
Matthew Henry, the commenter, says that the sins of others that come upon us are fair for all the sins we ourselves have committed. This is the bio temporal situation and not God’s plan for you.
God’s plan is interwoven around the haphazard things we deal with through our volition and the volition of others.
Remember too, that we can’t know the things that could have and should have happened to us that our Father has mercifully kept us from.
With the plan of grace, God is much more than fair, because that is what it means to be gracious. He has given us the life of God Himself in exchange for our temporary, tarnished lives.
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
These words crush me because I imagine trying to truly turn from my sin without the all mighty power of God within, and it seems an impossible task.
This is God’s standard and it cannot be lowered by love or mercy, or sentiment. Otherwise God is no longer perfectly just.
Because He is all knowing, however, His standard still makes way for His perfect plan of redemption. A man who has turned from his own way, and receives the life of Christ by faith is freely given a gift of righteousness. God is perfectly fair, because He is not willing that any should perish but all should come to eternal life (2 Peter 3:9)
Matthew Henry, the commenter, says that the sins of others that come upon us are fair for all the sins we ourselves have committed. This is the bio temporal situation and not God’s plan for you.
God’s plan is interwoven around the haphazard things we deal with through our volition and the volition of others.
Remember too, that we can’t know the things that could have and should have happened to us that our Father has mercifully kept us from.
With the plan of grace, God is much more than fair, because that is what it means to be gracious. He has given us the life of God Himself in exchange for our temporary, tarnished lives.
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