Moving On

In an effort to re-energize my blogging, I've set up a new blog site. See you there! Grace and peace to all!

The Soul Who Sins Shall Die

You have heard it said, "The soul that sins, it shall die!" in a very prooftext-ish, condemning sort of voice, right? I've heard that most of my life as proof that certain eternal punishment awaits anyone who sins, even once. But, once again, upon reading the text in its context, that's not what it says, at all! Check this out, Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." So, this whole chapter in Ezekiel is an argument against the prevailing wisdom among his culture, the Jewish exiles in Babylon, that the punishment for the sins of the father carry on to his progeny. And they have Scripture for that, too! Right there in the middle of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:5-6 says, "You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." But God (my favorite phrase in Scripture), desires repentance and reconciliation, so He makes it clear that no one is condemned for the actions of anyone else, even their own family! His grace is extended to all! And we haven't even touched on the fact that the verse in question talks about death, not eternal punishment! But, I need to save that thought for later... So God's Good News to Ezekiel's generation, and to ours, is expressed in the final verse of Ezekiel 18, "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." The world is watching!