End of the Line (2)
“And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, ‘The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’” Ezekiel 33:12 NASB
Will not deliver him – What is this? The righteous cannot count on past righteousness to keep him in God’s grace when he falls? No matter what good he has done, sin will sink him? Who then can be saved? The man who in his dying breath pleads for forgiveness? And all the rest perish? What kind of justice is that?
Reading Ezekiel is frightening. No wonder we spend so little time in the Prophets. They seem to bring uniform messages of hopelessness. God will judge—everyone—no matter what our prior commitments or good deeds. Is it true that only the last second counts? Can the wickedness of the wicked be wiped away with a single last good deed while the righteousness of the righteous be annulled with one faltering step? If Ezekiel’s message from God is true, I am surely lost. Maybe you are too!
Context, context, context. Ezekiel delivers a warning from God to His people. If the righteous man believes that as a result of his past righteousness his current transgression will be overlooked, he is wrong. As God declares, “He will die in his sin.” Not because he failed this time but because he acted with arrogance, believing that his past behavior excused his present disobedience. The Roman Catholic Church provided indulgences for such people. Just so, says the Lord, if the wicked man turns from his ways and repents, he is no longer attempting to justify his past. He seeks the Lord and he will be forgiven. In both cases, the issue is not what was done but rather what is being done. “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” To put it as straightforwardly as possible, what matters is my present relationship. What I did in the past, for good or evil, is nullified by my current condition. It may be true that I traded on God’s grace and acted with disregard toward His favor and goodness. What matters is what I do about it now. I can’t assume my past actions override my disobedience, nor can I wallow in guilt, allowing those past behaviors to prevent me from seeking His face. What’s done is done. Get on with it! Return!
Who, then, are the wicked? Not those who turn around seeking reconciliation, no matter what they have done. The wicked are those who refuse to acknowledge their debt, refuse to turn back. It doesn’t matter what they have done. Both good and bad are swallowed up in present recalcitrance, the contemporary declaration of self-will. The wicked are those whose sin makes no mark on their conscience, whose sin leaves them unperturbed and unchallenged. The wicked have an auto-immune disease of the soul.
“Do you think God will forgive us for the things we’ve done?” Yes, I think He will, Denzel—when we turn the other way.
Topical Index: righteous, sin, wicked, forgive, Ezekiel 33:12
This all sorta blows the whole once saved always saved theory out of the ball park now doesn’t it? Not that I ever believed it but here’s another proof that it’s today who I choose to serve.
I have always wondered about prominent pastors and evangelists who fall so publicly and spectacularly. Do they feel that they have done so much for the Lord that they merit some kind of self indulgent vacation? What was David thinking? Maybe they come under heavier attack from Satan? Maybe it just shows that we are all fatally flawed. It is especially egregious in that it harms the body of Christ and gives unbelievers ammunition to blaspheme God. How do you view suicide Skip? Does it damn you that your last act was choosing death?
It is written, ~ I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live ~ To repent is to turn. It is an “about face” of the mind and a change of the heart. It is not only a “one-time” decision, but an active (daily) moment-by-moment lifestyle or “worldview.” We should remain in a constant state of awareness, a consisten state of”alertness” and a conscious state of sensitivity (not only) to sin, but to the (very close!) and active Presence of God. Are you listening? – He is our Immanu El and is (now) “with us.”
Never mind how “big”God is. Yes, I (too) “see the stars” and “hear the rolling thunder”, but friend, the very hairs of your head (and mine) are numbered. He (too) sees the starts, but He is the God of the sparrows, the simple and the small as well. God is (every day) intricately and intimately involved in the “every day” details of every life, every creature on this green planet. ~ He opens His hand and satisfies the desire of (what?)- “every living thing.” And? ~ Let every thing that has breath (are you breathing in and out?-let’s hope so!) “Praise the LORD!!” So when is the last time you recognized or realized, “God did that!” and said (how simple this is)- “Thank You God.”
What cheek, what gall, what selfish, insensitive, conscience-hardened, hard-hearted, foolish creatures we are if we refuse to praise the One who “daily” loads us with benefits! REPENT!! Repent is NOT an “old-fashioned” word. It is a necessary, daily, moment by moment “experience” (for lack of a better word) of the closeness of our Father! God, YOU are near!! Selah.
Yes. Selah. Let’s pull over and park on this for a moment. The question: What is the one thing (and the one thing only) that separates man from God? And the (oh, so simple) answer is? Sin, (only) separates!! God is holy. Man is sinful. How are the “two” to be reconciled? Oh, what good news we have! God has given unto us (menz) a Redeemer and a Reconciler. His Name is Wonderful! He, by the way, is the Only sinless man (or woman) EVER to have lived! He is the Second Adam, our LORD Jesus, (who is the) Christ. Hallelujah! Praise God for this Gift of redemption and deliverance! What do the scriptures say? (we all do err, not knowing the scriptures- nor the power/ the authority of God!) Who, (he inquired) has the authority (on earth and in Heaven) to forgive sins? It is our Savior, Himself! Ask, and YOU will receive. He is (yes) a personal Savior. He died for all, but far more than this, He died for “each!” And friends, please allow me to share this with you- He (praise His Name) died for me! But not only did He die, that much is history, but far more than this, -(have we so readily forgotten?) What is our malfunction? Other than we now know, (in 20/20 hindsight) sin short-circuits the mind and blinds the eyes. Christ NOW lives!! We serve (hello) a Living Savior! It is (are we listening?) Christ in you (and you and you) who is the hope (the glad certainty- the expectation) of glory! Yes, ~ what shall we say to these things? ~
The ancient angelic announcement was/is absolutely “amen!” Glad tidings (good news!- the gospel) of great joy! ~ For unto you (and you and you) is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior Who is Christ the LORD! Have you worshiped Jesus today? If not, why not? Who is worthy of our worship? It is the LORD. Who HAS BEEN GIVEN a Name which is above every Name? It is the LORD. Who receives the worship of men and angels? It is the LORD. Who reigns supreme this very day? It is the LORD. Any questions?
~ THIS, is the day which the LORD (our LORD) has made- I will rejoice and be glad in it ~ But first..- I must repent. Friend, I will bow the knee and I will confess, to the glory of God the Father, Jesus (who is the) Christ, is LORD of all. (How) Blessed IS the Name of the LORD. My LORD and my God. In Him will I trust. Why? Because, ~Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him ~ (Jeremiah 17.7) ~ Let the redeemed of the LORD say so! ~ You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace! The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you! All the trees of the field shall clap their hands! God is love. And Jesus is wonderful! Do you know Him?
~ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous ~ (1 John 2.1)
The longing of my heart is to grow to a place where the habitual responses of my mind and heart are more toward Abba. One of the problems with sin is that it clouds and muddles the thinking and the responses of our heart, or so it seems to me. It’s as if when I willingly carry unresolved residue of sin within me, I find it more difficult to maintain eye contact with the Father; I am guilty and uncomfortable. Until it is removed, it negatively affects the way I interact with the very source of life. I know better and so when I am in this diminished relational place; I recognize that it is inferior, I long to go back to the less emcumbered or cleaner place of relating. But here’s where it gets weird for me; knowing that place of intimacy and knowing that it is diminished often is not enough for me to quickly take the low posture, to assume the humility to ask for forgiveness. It’s a normal rhythm for me; but His kindness and His ways are so attractive to me. I have seen, I have tasted; and it has thoroughly ruined me for anything less. So, eventually, I bow low; I weep, I seek. And He always smiles back and beckons us closer. So we press on towards the upward calling via the low road of humility. May it become our nature.
Psalm 32 seems entirely appropriate for this topic:
A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.
32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
Do not be like the horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;
But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
“Do you think God will forgive us for the things we’ve done?” Yes, I think He will, Denzel—when we turn the other way.
This is why to me Yom Kippur is so very important to teach and observe. Teshuva is a ritual of Yom Kippur,
Teshuvah – “return”, or “repentance” and is considered a generous gift from Yahweh, which allows us to erase our sins through a four-step process which I will reveal shortly.
Torah tells us that no matter how far we stray or how many times we sin, YHWH will wait for us to return to Him. Through the ages, though, Rabbis have developed a formal ritual or ceremony of returning to God and this is teshuvah. Teshuvah has been turned into a rabbinically developed act because no scriptures define teshuvah or explain it. But teshuvah is said to have existed since before the creation of the universe.
Psalms 90: 2 Before mountains were born, before You had formed the earth and the world, from eternity past to eternity future, You are God. 3 You bring frail mortals to the point of being crushed, then say, “people, repent.”
In Numbers 5 we find guilt and confession:
Numbers 5: 6 Tell the people of Isra’el, When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with Adonai, he incurs guilt. 7 He must confess the sin which he has committed; and he must make full restitution for his guilt, add twenty percent and give it to the victim of his sin.
There are many scriptures that address transgressions and sin and the consequence of straying from YHWH and His mitzvot (commands). I won’t read them or try to cover them all but just to mention a few there is Deuteronomy 11:26-28; Isaiah 1:4; Jeremiah 2:13, 16:11; and Ezekiel 18:30.
According to Maimonides, a Jewish rabbi in Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages, teshuvah has its origin in the Temple and its sacrifices, specifically those sacrifices brought for transgressions – such things as the sin offering, guilt offering, etc. Part of the rite for such offerings was a verbal confession by the wrongdoer. The conditions for the sincerity of such confessions were: An acknowledgement that one did wrong; remorse or shame; and a determination to not repeat the offense in future. And indeed, these are the fundamental elements of teshuvah.
The only point I am trying to make here is that to understand teshuvah, you must have an understanding of YHWH’s gift to us that He will accept our transgressions and our sincere regret and remorse and allow us to continue to live as we attempt to live by Torah.
I am not making the ritual of teshuvah more important than the intent. So as I give you these steps of the teshuvah, please do not place importance on the structure; but instead, understand what you are doing, what it is for: It is to confess your sins to YHWH and to be remorseful and ask forgiveness.
Teshuva is valid AFTER an >>unintentional sin. << But can we say : "I can do this sin, then do teshuvah and He will forgive me…? 8 / Scripture in many places simply states it doesn't work that way. The Bible tells us that the sin offerings of Leviticus were for unintentional sin. There never was atonement for intentional sin, and there still is no atonement for deliberate sin according to the letter to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 10: 26 "For if we deliberately continue to sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins."
teshuvah:
ONE. Leave the Sin.
Leaving the sin consists of stopping the commission of the sinful act. You cannot do teshuvah if you continue to do the sin – period!
TWO. Regret.
Regret is sincerely regretting one’s wrong action. You must be genuinely ashamed and embarrassed over your sins.
THREE. Confession Before YHWH.
Confession before YHWH means confession spoken out loud, in which you formulate in words the commitments and attitudes you have reached in your heart.
Should the confession be directly to YHWH or to an intercessor as Catholics are told ?
FOUR. Acceptance for the Future.
Acceptance for the future consists of resolving in your heart never to commit the sin ever again. Ahhh … resolve …. pray for me i pray for you.
Could someone tell me what or how one violates the no creative fashioning on the sabath prohibition.Its not teaching is it?
Excellent post. All very powerful points from readers/responders as well as from Skip. Thanks to all.
David wrote, “The longing of my heart is to grow to a place where the habitual responses of my mind and heart are more toward Abba.” Amen to this… It’s me, too… and then the ugly, vial stuff comes out.
“Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24
I find myself wondering the same — maybe this is a good reason to get away from a prepared “sermon” on Shabbat and return to simply reading the parashah and haftarah and then conversing in a group setting with no set teaching.
I’m still trying to figure out how to crack a can of cinnamon rolls and bake them without lighting a fire. 🙂
Do it the day before. 🙂 They are just as good, in a different way.
@ Brian . Answering in regards to teaching on the Shabbat is a good thing as long as it is Kadosh / Holy and from Scripture and that we are expanding the kingdom of Elohim and not our own . We see this in Mark 1: 21- 22 , Mark 6:2 , Luke 4:16 -20, 4:31 ,6:6 , 13:10 , Acts 13:13 -15 , 16: 13 -15 , 17:2 , 18:4
Acts 17:2, “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them —> out of the scriptures,”
The point of concern regarding teaching is : ” What is being taught ? and is it substantiated with Scripture?
Acts 17:11 The Beroean Yehudim were more honorable than those in Thessalonica. This was evident in the great eagerness with which they accepted the Word and examined the Scriptures [ Tanakh ] each day to see whether Paul and Silas’ teaching was true..
Scripture readings were a part of worship for Yeshua, the apostles, and converts. Scripture readings were a part of worship since the time of Moshe (Deuteronomy 31:11; Joshua 8:30-35; Nehemiah 8:1-8; 9:1-3). “For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (Acts 15;21).
Therefore, we can be assured that if we teach others from the holy scriptures, or if the holy scriptures teach us, then that is a holy act we can do on the sabbath day.
I would suggest if we seek him diligently and study His Word Tanakh / Brit Chadasha …he will reveal within it what is Kadosh / Holy and what is profane on the Sabbath./
Ezekiel 44:23, “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
My past experience in some 1st churches and rarely within some 7th day assemblies is that a major emphasis is put on ” Humanistic Education ” while the Torah sits unattended on the pulpit and balked at as ” religion ” and is that which keeps us from YHWH’s grace. : (
Please Michael that wrote above about three times with no other ID visible, are you the Michael that has written in the years gone by. Like I mean eight years back or to the very beginning of Skip’s teaching, and had worked with Skip? See, he always wrote in a different manner with bringing in dvd, movies, classical plays, and then walking his dog. I am trying to figure out if you are him, and totally changed, or if you are someone else. Please add another name or something, just in case the old one comes back. Do something similar to the one above who has a picture and adds “C” to his Michael. I am an Octogenarian, and like very much to figure out who is writing what, and where they are coming from, and then I see a better picture of their writings. Thank you so much. LaVaye Billings
Context, context, context. Ezekiel delivers a warning from God to His people. If the righteous man believes that as a result of his past righteousness his current transgression will be overlooked, he is wrong. As God declares, “He will die in his sin.” Not because he failed this time but because he acted with arrogance, believing that his past behavior excused his present disobedience.
Wise words Skip. Yeshua stated in the gospels that one makes the case for mercy before going to the judge. This is the same principle expressed here by the prophets. The issue of indulgences doesn’t quite fit, however, unless you are just considering its abuse. The Catholic belief holds in the doctrine of purgatory which implies a reparation must be made after seeking mercy, but before judgement. I studied at the Franciscan University of Steubenville OH. I am no expert, but I consider myself to have a working knowledge of Catholic Apologetics. It follows John the Evangelist who said to the Pharisees, “Prove your repentance by the fruit of your deeds. And do not presume to say to one another, ‘we are children of Abraham …” various translation offer slight variation of style and wording but the meaning is close enough for this point. The gospel of John is cited as the definitive scriptural proof for purgatory.
Hebrew embraced the practice of prayer for the dead. In Maccabees there is contextual evidence citing sacrifices for the sins of the fallen.
I have deliberately omitted the topic of presumption because there is no significant differences of note. I have merely focused exclusively on the topics of teshuva (repentance) and tikkun (perfection/purgatory) to flush out a few theological considerations.