Ezekiel 18:1-32

The justice of God is a reality every man must recognize.  Israel is in the midst of being judged and so they are questioning the justice of God.  Ezekiel defends God’s justice in a very clear and logical way.  Today there is great debate over God’s justice because of confusion over God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.  Somehow people convince themselves that God’s sovereignty over the world eliminates human responsibility and therefore throws into question the justice of God.  One thing must be clearly understood: God would be completely just in sending every single person on the planet to hell for all of eternity.  The fact that anyone is saved and reconciled to God is pure grace and mercy.

THE PRINCIPLE OF RESPONSIBILITY: Israel was complaining that they were suffering for the sins of their fathers but not their own sin.  Ezekiel makes it very clear that God judges every man for his own merits and actions.  The sinful man will be judged for his own sins.  The righteous man will be rewarded for his righteousness.  However a righteous man cannot pass on his rewards to his son if the son is sinful.  In the same way sinful father cannot pass his condemnation on to his son.  Each man is personally responsible before God independent of his father’s sin or his father’s righteousness.  There are blessings being raised by godly parents but each man stands before the Lord based on his own actions.

THE POSSIBILITY OF REPENTANCE: The grace of God is always abundant and surprising.  There is hope for the unrighteous person through the grace of repentance.  Ezekiel teaches us that if an unrighteous man repents of his sin and turns to the Lord; he can be spared from judgment.  God does not want to judge men in their sin.  He longs that all come to repentance so He can forgive.  By the same token if a righteous man tires of his righteousness and repents from his righteousness and turns to a life of sin, that man will be judged and condemned.  God is fully just in this action and abundantly gracious.  This is the only hope that any of us have because none of us are righteous and the only means by which we can become righteous is through repentance of our sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who shares His righteousness with us based on our faith in His death and resurrection.