21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27 Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. 28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”
In this moving passage Ezekiel sums up the Lord's message to His people. The contrasts between the righteous and the wicked are stated with great starkness and plainness of speech, leaving his readers in no doubt as to the issues involved. One possible misunderstanding, however, of his words might be to suppose that he is preaching a doctrine of salvation by works: if you do well you shall live, if do evilly, you die. But this is a superficial reading of the passage, and there is no such thought in Ezekiel's mind as the appeal in 31 should surely make plain: it is the grace of repentance unto life that is here in view, and that in the context of 'a new heart and a new spirit'. It is from this alone that right actions can spring, and all along this has been the prophet's - and the Lord's - concern with His people. We would do well to read the message along with another in the New Testament, Romans 2:6-16, where a similar emphasis is made, and a similar misunderstanding is possible. What Paul has in view in his words is not the beginning, but the end, of Christian life. Entrance into the kingdom of God is by grace through faith alone; but judgment at the end is ever on the basis of works. This is what lies at the heart of Ezekiel's words also. It is the time of reckoning that is in view throughout, not the basis of acceptance with the Lord.