Hope for the Wicked; Warning to the “Righteous”
Today’s reading: Ezekiel 32:1-34:31
My selection: Ezekiel 33:12-13
12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins. 13 Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die.
My reflections: Only perfect righteousness can save a person. One may be generally righteous but one slip into injustice is enough to wipe out all the good deeds he has done. Yet a wicked man may live by repentance and by acting consistently with that repentance.
Here we see the foundations of acceptance before God and of the salvation of repentant sinners. Only the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, could perfectly fulfill the demands of God’s holy law. He did that and His offering of Himself on the cross is the basis for our salvation.
My challenge: If you are weighed down by your sin, do not despair but turn from it to Jesus Christ. Are you confident in your own good works? Be warned; they are not sufficient to save you. Only Christ could be saved by His righteousness, for you and I and everyone else has failed. Trust in Christ’s righteousness for forgiveness and life before God.
Tomorrow’s reading: Ezekiel 35:1-37:28