ESOCS Devotional 23 June 2025 – The Soul That Sinneth
MEMORY VERSE: “The person who sins will die.” Ezekiel 18:20
TEXT: EZEKIEL 18:20-32
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”
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Ecclesiastes 7:29 says, “We are born at one with God, not separated by sin, or Adam’s sin. We separate from God when we choose to sin.” Again, 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” In Ezekiel 18:30-32, God admonishes us. He will judge according to each one’s ways. We must have a repentant heart, and be willing to turn back to God in order to be saved from the sin that separates us from God.
Ezekiel. 18:20 says, “The soul that sins shall die.” What does it mean? Romans 3:23 and 5:12. Emphasize the negativity of sin, which eventually leads to eternal death outside the Lord. Aren’t we all sinners? The sinner is one who lives in sin, with no repentance. By Adam sin entered the world. But we all sin, and are deserving of death. It only takes one sin to separate us from God.
At some point, a child becomes accountable for the choice to sin. We must choose to strive to live a life that is not sinful. The soul that lives in sin dies the second death (Heb. 9:27; Rev. 2:11, 18). What does it mean that the soul that sinneth it shall die? Those who have been washed in the blood of Christ are not sinners whose soul shall die. Anyone who rejects God’s commands is “the soul that sinneth”, and it shall die.
Yet, God has provided a way to return to the Lord. Good alone won’t save us. Ezekiel 18:21-29 simply gives a sound advice: Repent and Live! The individual should consider and turn away from his transgressions. The individual that sins will be guilty of his own sins. The individual that repents will be forgiven (Rev. 2:10; 1 John 1:7). If we obey Jesus Christ, He is faithful to cleanse us of our sin. God has no desire for anyone to be lost. In Ezekiel 18:30 23, He calls on everyone to repent while they can. In Luke 13:3, our Lord Jesus says to us, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
While God is longsuffering, that longsuffering will come to an end. After we die, it is too late to change. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “Today is the day of salvation.” Knowing there is an appointed time to die, and to be judged, it behoves us to treat today as the day of salvation. If we don’t live faithful, then we will be lost. The good things we’ve done in the past will not save us. All the good we may do won’t be remembered if we are not obedient to God, if we do not repent from our sins. If we fail to be faithful to the word of God, we will be lost. Many believe that more-good will outweigh bad. But, verse 24 says the good deed will not be remembered if a man dies in his trespass (Matt. 7:21).
CHALLENGES
- Do all that you can to avoid those things that may separate you from God’s love.
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, help my weakness; may I not die unchanged for you, Amen.
FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 1:1-End; Acts 4:15-End
ESOCS Devotional 23 June 2025
