Way To Salvation
Text: Ezekiel 18:19–32
Key verse: “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezekiel 18:32).
God does not command what cannot be done, but admonishes us to do what is in our power. Speaking from eternity, He knew what the end shall be of those who live righteously, and those who do not, here on earth. His concern has been to prevent man from going to hell.
Mindful of the erroneous notions many people hold about man’s acceptable relationship with God, He did not mince word in warning those who say within themselves that “we have Abraham to our father,” of the grave implications of their mistaken notions and beliefs. Without any shadow of doubt our text obliterates the confidence of the proponents and adherents of the doctrine of eternal security, warning that those who hold such thoughts risk eternal damnation.
The question is not whether the truly righteous ever become apostates. God knew that many who were thought to be righteous sometimes do so only for a while, and warned that such ephemeral disposition would not take anyone to heaven, but rather a sustained life of righteousness that endures to the point of death. He gave stern warnings that those who had lived righteously for a period and then die in evil will be reckoned eternally as evil, and none of the earlier righteousness would be mentioned to their credit.
The contrary, however, offers an enduring and a lively hope for the fallen man. Verses 27 and 28 encapsulate the whole message God is passing across, speaking of the fullness of the pardoning mercy, the beginning and progress of repentance, and the hope of life that follows sustained righteousness. True believers watch and pray, and continue to the end, and they are saved. It is to this pleasant end that every sinner should aspire; and so a sinner must repent without delay and the righteous must avoid backsliding. These are the sure, God-approved way to life eternal. May God help you as you take the right step today.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Iniquity ruins eternally. Repent, be righteous.