“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.” Ezekiel 18:20
November 28, 2022
We suffer for a variety of reasons. Suffering can enter our lives because of our union with Christ. False religion will set its sites on believers because of the offense of the cross and being faithful to God. The apostles were targeted by certain Jewish leaders who wanted to silence gospel proclamation (Acts 3, 5, 7). If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, don’t be surprised when the fury of the world system is vented on you (1 Pet. 4:12). The prophet Ezekiel had to correct Israel’s bad theology. It was believed that righteousness and wickedness were hereditary, therefore, there was no reason to change one’s ways. It was a kind of fatalism that one gets what their family tree has determined. The truth is that God does not hold us responsible for the sins committed by others. We can suffer the consequences of the sins of our parents, but God never judges an individual for the sins of someone else. The life and death issues mentioned by Ezekiel were physical in nature. Our children make their own decisions and are fully responsible to God for the choices they make. The reality is that righteous parents may produce unrighteous children and unrighteous parents may produce righteous children. Heredity does not enter into personal sins committed, though it is true that we all are born sinners. King David lamented this sad reality (Psa. 51:5). If sinful decisions have messed up your life, there is a way to correct your present course. It is stated in Ezekiel 18:21, “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins, practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live.” Repent and find God to be the forgiving and merciful God that He is. H
“Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not.” Thomas Watson