Daily Bible Nugget #686, Ezekiel 33:16

The Nugget:

Eze 33:16  None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

My Comment:

To properly understand any verse or passage of Scripture we must take into account the near context and the wider context of the whole of Scripture.

The near context of Ezekiel 33:16 includes the preceding verses:

Eze 33:14  Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;
Eze 33:15  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Notice the words in Ezekiel 33:15, “without committing iniquity.” These words would bring to mind for those who have carefully read the Bible these two passages:

Lev 18:5  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

Jas 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The book of James has a remarkable literary structure. That structure is called a chiasm. The word chiasm comes from the Greek, and if I recall correctly, alludes to the form of the letter X.

What this means is that the topics discussed by James in his book follow the pattern ABCDEFGH HGFEDCBA.

In the book of James the first topic is Patience, James 1:1-4. The last topic is Patience, James 5:7-12. The rest of the structure is presented on page 1847 of the Companion Bible. My point here is that James 2:10 is the middle or central member of the structure, which means this is the emphatic point James intends his book to stress: H: James 2:9, 10. Moses’ Law. One offence breaks it. H. James 2:11. Moses’ Law. One offence breaks it.

All of this is to stress that the Bible presents two ways of salvation:  Leviticus 18:5, keep the Law of Moses perfectly, or Genesis 15:6, fully place our faith and trust in the promises and provision God has  made for our salvation. This is done by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ:

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

No one but our Lord Jesus Christ has ever kept the whole law. But all of us are invited to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, for that is something we all can do (Acts 16:31).

I have placed the following note at Ezekiel 33:16 in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury which you may study to dig far deeper into the plan of salvation:

None of his sins. Since the unsaved will go to hell to suffer eternal punishment (+*Eze 18:4 note, Eze 18:20 note; +Mat 25:46),

while the saved upon death go immediately to be with Christ (+2Co 5:8, +Php 1:23);

since the unsaved will experience eternal torment (Luk 16:24),

while the saved experience eternal life (Joh 11:25, 26, +*Rev 14:13),

there is no middle ground (**Joh 3:36).

The sins of the saved person “shall not be mentioned unto him” (+*Eze 18:22),

for Christ died for our sins (**2Co 5:15; **2Co 5:17; **2Co 5:21),

forever purged our sins by his shed blood (Eph 1:7, Rev 1:5)

by the forever complete and perfect sacrifice of himself just once (Heb 10:10, 11, 12)

on the cross (1Pe 2:24).

In Christ we are a new creature (*2Co 5:17),

justified by faith (Rom 5:1),

no longer under condemnation (Joh 3:18; Joh 5:24, Rom 8:1),

possessing the righteousness of Christ (Php 3:9),

ready to be presented faultless before God (Jud 1:24),

on the basis of our placing faith in his finished work for us (Eph 2:8, 9, 10).