Have I any pleasure?
23026
Ezekiel 18:23-24 The Context: In the middle of Ezekiel chapter 18, which talks about our misconceptions about the results of righteousness and the consequences of sin, God asks what we think about how He responds to our righteous or sinful behaviors. Central to the question is what kind of life or death God is talking about.
God Asks Us: Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
JNE: We tend to think of life and death in physical terms; our heart beating or stopping. This chapter talks about a person moving into and out of righteous living at various stages of life, so it is not about physical living or dying but about spiritual life and death. Sometimes we think that God must be glad to see sinners getting what they deserve, living unhappily (death) apart from God. On the contrary, God’s pleasure is to have people LIVING in glad harmonious relationship with Him. In fact, God withholds His spiritual LIFE from us, letting us experience living apart from Him (in spiritual death), to prompt us to repent and return to LIVING in harmony with Him. It is not that we earn God’s LIFE by our good behavior, for none of us could ever be that good. In the process of repenting and turning toward God He is merciful and gracious to give us His LIFE, which is a pleasure to us and to Him.
Read "The Gospel?"
Ezekiel 18:23-24 The Context: In the middle of Ezekiel chapter 18, which talks about our misconceptions about the results of righteousness and the consequences of sin, God asks what we think about how He responds to our righteous or sinful behaviors. Central to the question is what kind of life or death God is talking about.
God Asks Us: Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
JNE: We tend to think of life and death in physical terms; our heart beating or stopping. This chapter talks about a person moving into and out of righteous living at various stages of life, so it is not about physical living or dying but about spiritual life and death. Sometimes we think that God must be glad to see sinners getting what they deserve, living unhappily (death) apart from God. On the contrary, God’s pleasure is to have people LIVING in glad harmonious relationship with Him. In fact, God withholds His spiritual LIFE from us, letting us experience living apart from Him (in spiritual death), to prompt us to repent and return to LIVING in harmony with Him. It is not that we earn God’s LIFE by our good behavior, for none of us could ever be that good. In the process of repenting and turning toward God He is merciful and gracious to give us His LIFE, which is a pleasure to us and to Him.
Read "The Gospel?"