..
"The Soul That Sinneth"
Ezekiel 18
If there is one thing that a preacher must do, it is to help people understand
that they are responsible for their own actions. It is easy to blame a spouse or
a job and claim that their presence is a hinderance or stumbling block. Many
times people seek to justify themselves by claiming that sinning is just a part
of their nature. While in all actuality it should be just the opposite. If
everything we do or say has to be credited to nature, we should argue that it is
our nature to do right, considering that we were created in the image of God.
The truth remains, that man is a free moral agent and has been created with the
power of choice. And people will never correct their mistakes as long as they
continue to blame others for their own sinful actions.
Ezekiel 18 pivots around a proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge". In effect, the children of Israel were
chanting , "we are being blamed for our father's sins". Does this sound
familiar? It should, considering that John Calvin, founder of the Presbyterian
church, resurrected this philosophy in the early 1500's and became famous for
his doctrine of Inherited Depravity. Nevertheless, God's answer still remains
the same and it is found in this text.
In Ezekiel 18:4 God said, "Behold all souls are mine; as the soul of the father,
so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die". The
soul that dies is the soul that sins. Therefore, in order for a soul to die, sin
would have to occur by that soul. The apostle John stated it much clearer in
1John 3:4. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law". Sin is something that you do, not something that you
inherit. According to John, you have to transgress the law (God's law), to be a
sinner. Little babies can not be sinners because they have never transgressed
law. Therefore, upon that premise alone the Inherited sin theory falls.
Nevertheless, there is another perspective and that is the physical aspect of
inheritance. Every trait that you and I have is inherited. The color of your
eyes, skin pigment, hair, height, weight, and many other things. It is my
understanding that every inherited characteristic is found on a chromosome in an
allelic pair. I wonder, on
what part of the chromosomes does the sin gene reside? That is, if sin really is
inherited.
God reveals an explanation to the dilemma immediately by using examples of three
individuals. God has an estimate of every man that ever lived. In verses 5 & 9
God explains, "But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,..."
......"Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgements, to deal truly;
he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God". This man was a good man.
He obeyed the Lord and was blessed by God. However, he had a son that was not so
good. "If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth
the like to any one of these things..."......."he shall not live: he hath done
all these abominations; he shall surely die, his blood shall be upon him" (v. 10
& 13). Here is a son who has done evil things in his life and will die because
of it. It was not the fault of his father nor was this sin alluded to his father
in any way. He opted to sin by using the power of choice. Every man has been
created with the same ability, to choose right from wrong. Again, the Lord
offers another example, the grandson. "Now if he beget a son, that seeth all his
father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such
like,..."...."he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely
live" (v. 14 & 17). Each man stood as individuals before God and God has an
estimate of each one including you and me! The apostle Paul put it rather aptly,
"For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ: that everyone may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it
be good or bad" (2Corinthians 5:10).
In verse 25 the Lord says, "Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal." What
these folks were actually claiming was that God is not fair. "Lord, we just
don't think you are fair". In fact, every time a person preaches or teaches that
people are born in sin or have inherited sin from their parents, is saying
nothing less than "Lord you are not fair".
Every man is responsible for his own actions. We ca not blame our parents for
our sins nor can we blame inheritance or God. "The soul that sins, it shall
die".
By Tony Ripley
From Expository Files 5.5; May 1998
