Commentary - Ezekiel 18:21-23

Bird's-eye view

Ezekiel 18 is a crucial chapter for dismantling a certain kind of fatalistic theology that had crept into Israel. The people were quoting a proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," essentially blaming their predicament on the sins of previous generations. God, through Ezekiel, smashes this excuse. He establishes the principle of individual accountability: the soul who sins shall die. But this is not a chapter about man's innate ability to pull himself up by his moral bootstraps. Rather, it is a covenantal lawsuit that demonstrates the righteousness of God's judgments and, in so doing, reveals the desperate need for a righteousness that comes from outside of us. These verses (21-23) are the hinge. After establishing the stark reality of judgment, God reveals the glorious door of repentance. This is not a contradiction but a necessary foundation. The offer of life is only good news to those who know they are under a sentence of death.

The passage lays out the divine logic of repentance and forgiveness. It is a conditional promise, but we must be careful to understand the nature of the condition. The turning, the keeping of statutes, the doing of justice, this is not the unaided work of a sinner trying to make amends. This is the fruit of a new heart, a work of the Spirit, which Ezekiel prophesies elsewhere (Ezekiel 36:26). The climax of the passage is a stunning revelation of God's own heart. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. This is not because He is a sentimental deity who simply cannot bear to see suffering, but because His ultimate glory is displayed not in raw justice alone, but in the fusion of His justice and mercy at the cross. This passage, then, is a bright Old Testament window into the very heart of the gospel.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

The book of Ezekiel is a covenant lawsuit. God is bringing charges against His people, Israel, who are in exile in Babylon. The central problem is their persistent idolatry and rebellion, which led to the departure of God's glory from the Temple in Jerusalem. Ezekiel's ministry is to justify God's severe judgment and to promise a future, glorious restoration. This restoration will not be a simple return from exile but a radical heart-transplant, a work of sovereign grace where God gives His people a new heart and a new spirit.

Chapter 18 fits squarely within this legal and covenantal framework. It is God's answer to the people's complaint that they are being punished unfairly for their fathers' sins. God is demonstrating that His ways are just. Each individual stands or falls before Him. This chapter is not, therefore, a standalone treatise on free will. It is part of a larger argument designed to strip the exiles of every excuse, shut every mouth, and prepare them for the only solution to their predicament: God's sovereign grace in giving them a new heart that can, and will, turn to Him.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Ezekiel 18:21

“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”

But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done... The word here is crucial. "But." This is the great gospel pivot. After the pronouncements of judgment, here is the offer of grace. The turning described here is repentance, or shuv in the Hebrew. It is not a minor course correction. It is a complete 180-degree turn. It is a turning from something, all his sins, and a turning to something. Notice the totality of it: "from all his sins." This is not about turning over a new leaf or making a few New Year's resolutions. This is a radical break with the old life. True repentance is not selective. You cannot repent of the sins you find distasteful while coddling your favorites. This is a complete repudiation of the man you once were.

and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness... Here is the positive side of the turn. Repentance is not just stopping the bad stuff; it is starting the good stuff. And what is the good stuff? It is defined by God, not us. "Keeps all My statutes." Again, note the totality. This is a life of obedience. "Does justice and righteousness." This is not abstract piety. It is practical, ethical living. It is covenant faithfulness worked out in the public square, in business dealings, in family life. This is the fruit that proves the repentance is genuine. A man who says he has turned from sin but continues to live like the devil is a liar. The keeping and doing are the evidence of the turning.

he shall surely live; he shall not die. This is the promise. And it is a firm promise: "surely live." The consequence of sin is death. The consequence of true, Spirit-wrought repentance is life. This is covenantal language. Life means fellowship with God, blessing, flourishing. Death means separation from God, curse, judgment. Now, we must read this with New Testament eyes. Can any fallen man perfectly turn from all his sins and keep all God's statutes? No, Romans 3 makes that abundantly clear. This verse, then, functions in two ways. It shows the standard of righteousness God requires, and in so doing, it drives us to the only one who ever met that standard: Jesus Christ. His perfect turning and perfect obedience are imputed to us by faith. We live because He lived, and His life becomes our life.

Ezekiel 18:22

“All his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has done, he will live.”

All his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him... This is the doctrine of justification in the Old Testament. What happens to the sin? It is not overlooked. It is not swept under the rug. It is "not remembered." In biblical terms, for God to "remember" is to act upon something. For Him to "not remember" our sins means He will not act against us on the basis of them. He will not bring them up in the courtroom of heaven to be used as evidence for our condemnation. This is total, complete, and final forgiveness. It is a divine amnesia. Where do the sins go? Psalm 103 tells us. As far as the east is from the west. This is a glorious promise for any sinner who has felt the weight of his past.

because of his righteousness which he has done, he will live. This phrase can be a stumbling block if we read it with a self-righteous mindset. It sounds like the man is saved by his own good works. But we must hold this in tension with the rest of Scripture. The "righteousness which he has done" is the evidence of his new life, not the ultimate cause of it. It refers to the whole complex of turning, keeping, and doing from the previous verse. This is the righteousness of a changed life, a life that flows from a new heart given by God. It is a real righteousness, but it is a gifted righteousness. It is the fruit of God's grace, and God is pleased to honor the fruit that His own grace has produced. Ultimately, our standing before God is based entirely on the righteousness of Christ. But the evidence that we have received that gift is that we begin to walk in righteousness ourselves. God saves us by grace alone, but the grace that saves is never alone.

Ezekiel 18:23

“Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares Lord Yahweh, “is it not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares Lord Yahweh... God here reveals His heart through a rhetorical question, and the implied answer is a thunderous "No!" This is a direct refutation of any caricature of God as a vindictive tyrant who delights in judgment for its own sake. He is not a cosmic sadist. His ultimate will, His will of decree, certainly includes the judgment of the wicked for His own glory. But His will of disposition, what is pleasing to His character, is not the death itself. The death of the wicked is what the theologians call His "alien work." It is necessary because of sin, but it is not what He delights in, in and of itself.

is it not that he should turn from his ways and live? Here is His "proper work." Here is what is truly consistent with His heart of grace. His pleasure is found in repentance and life. He delights in redemption. He delights in salvation. Why? Because salvation puts His ultimate attribute, His steadfast love and mercy, on glorious display. The cross of Christ is the ultimate expression of this verse. At the cross, God's hatred of sin and His love for sinners met. He did not wave away the death penalty; He absorbed it in His Son. He found a way to be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. His pleasure is not in death, but in life, a life made possible through the death of Another. This is the heart of the gospel, proclaimed here in the plains of Babylon centuries before Christ came. God's glory is the ultimate issue, and His glory shines brightest not in condemnation, but in the gracious salvation of those who deserved nothing but condemnation.

Application

The first thing we must take from this passage is the absolute necessity of genuine repentance. We live in an age of cheap grace and easy-believism. But the Bible knows nothing of a faith that does not produce a turning from sin. If your life is not characterized by a continual turning from your wickedness and a striving to walk in God's statutes, you have every reason to question whether you have truly been born again. Repentance is not a one-time act; it is the constant posture of the Christian life.

Second, we must revel in the promise of total forgiveness. Your past sins, if they are confessed and forsaken, are gone. God does not remember them against you. The accuser may bring them up, your own conscience may bring them up, but God does not. They have been nailed to the cross of Christ. Live in the freedom of that forgiveness. Do not let the ghost of past sins haunt your present obedience.

Finally, we must worship the God who is revealed here. He is a God of perfect justice who will not clear the guilty. But He is also a God of profound grace who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is the God who makes a way for sinners to live. He does not lower His standard; He fulfills it for us in His Son. Our response should be one of awe, gratitude, and love. We should be moved to worship Him for who He is, and we should be motivated to share this good news with a world full of wicked people whom God would be pleased to see turn and live.