Ezekiel 33, righteousness, and the NPP
11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'12 "Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' 13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. 14 And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right- 15 if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. 16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.
17 "Yet your countrymen say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just. 18 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, he will die for it. 19 And if a wicked man turns away from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by doing so. 20 Yet, O house of Israel, you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But I will judge each of you according to his own ways." (NIV)
The immediate context is about who will survive the destruction of Jerusalem, i think. but its about individuals and not community. some will be sheep and some will be goats, and goats don't fare well in Jesus' parables. here we see the goats can become sheep and the sheep can become goats if they get proud and rest on their laurels. the difference is repentance. we are goats until we repent. when we take credit for our righteousness, succumb to pride, we prove our unrighteousness. Jesus pointed it out to the Pharisees over and over again. "look," he'd say, "you keep complaining that all these drunks and whores and taxmen are coming into relationship with God and you can't be happy for them? isn't this what God wants? and you guys only want accolades because you can pray for a long time and divide up your spices so that God gets a 10th. knock it off. stop doing evil yourselves." or something like that.
these guys in Ezekiel were in community, presumably circumcised, but their hearts weren't circumcised. what does it take to live? v.15 says he must follow the decrees of life. what is the decree of life? how does one get life? we are dead in our sins. only the lifegiver can resuscitate us. only He can give us life. and He gave His life so that we could live. how is this not about salvation of the individual? He leaves the 99 to find one.
my son, who is 9, asked his playmates, our neighbors, if they have Jesus in their hearts. they said they go to church so that proves it. he told them No. they said how does Jesus get in our hearts then. he said ask him to come in and forgive your sins. they did. the good news is that simple. NPP doesn't pass the simplicity test. can a child understand it?
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