Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"If a wicked man turns from all his sins"
Text: Ezekiel 18:21
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A WICKED MAN REPENTS
The Lord went on to address the possibility of a wicked man repenting from his sins and then becoming righteous. How would the Lord regard him?
“‘But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed,
keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right,
he shall surely live; he shall not die.
None of the transgressions which he has committed
shall be remembered against him;
because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
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?'”
Ezekiel 18:21-23
1. The repentance of the wicked man.
a) He commits sins.
b) He does wicked things.
c) But he regrets and repents.
2. He now pursues and practises righteousness.
a) He keeps all the statutes of God.
b) He does good and lawful things.
c) How would God judge him?
3. The judgment of God.
a) He will not die.
b) He will live.
c) This reflects the mercy of God.
4. The past transgressions.
a) They would not be held against him.
b) God will not remember his many transgressions.
c) He will live because of the righteousness he practises.
5. What is God’s pleasure?
a) Certainly not in imposing the death sentence.
b) God does not delight in the death sentence.
c) He would rather grant life to the repentant sinner who chooses to turn away from wickedness and who pursues a life of righteousness.