Category Archives: Bible & Theology

Righteous in passing over?

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Woodenly, it says, “to declare His righteousness on account of the passing-over of before-happened sins.” That still might mean “God had passed over sin, and therefore people thought Him unconcerned with sin; He finally has shown that He’s serious about sin by putting forth Jesus as an expiating sacrifice.”

Perhaps, but it might also be taken to mean something else: first, that the passing-over was itself righteous, that God demonstrated His righteousness in forbearing in the face of sin; and, second, that the fact that His forbearance was righteous all along is shown when Jesus is set forth as a hilsterion. Either way, we cannot know God’s righteousness without the cross. But the two interpretations of the passage give us quite distinct interpretations of what God was up to in the Old Testament: Was His forbearance unrighteous or righteous? Was it an act of mercy that had to be “corrected” by the cross, or an act of justice whose justice is only evident after the cross?

via Peter J. Leithart » Blog Archive » Righteousness and sin.

What was Paul’s Gospel? That all nations are in!

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From Galatians 3:

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

From Ephesians 3:

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.

Note that the Gospel can be defined more narrowly as “Jesus is Lord by his resurrection from the dead” and more broadly, “Jesus is thus king of all nations and all who entrust themselves to him belong to him and to one another as His kingdom.” Thus Romans 10 says:

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

For more see, “The true Gospel v. the Galatian heretics.”

Study of “the Gospel” (repost from Dec 17, 2000)

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The church of the first century was a phenomenon that began in the region of Palestine and then spread all over the ancient Mediterranean world. So what began as a phenomenon distinctive of first-century Judaism worked its way through the pagan culture of the Roman Empire. With this in mind, let’s consider some of the terms we find in the “New Testament”–the ancient texts from the first century regarded by the Christian church as authoritative.

What is meant by the term gospel?

Gospel is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon word godspell. It is used to translate the Greek word evangel which means “good news,” “glad tidings,” or “joyful message.” Since the New Testament was originally written in Greek, this has become an important word in Christian circles. Consider the following ancient texts:

Some uses of gospel in ancient Palestine:

And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

—Matthew 4.23 (c.f. 9.35)

And after John hade been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and trust the good news.

—Mark 1.14, 15

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him [Jesus]. And he opened the book and found the place [Isaiah 61.1, 2] where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the good newsto the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

—Luke 4.17-19

{Jesus said:] The Law and the Prophets were preached until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

—Luke 16.16

Some uses of gospel among Gentiles:

For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is the power of God for deliverance to everyone who trusts, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

—Paul’s letter to the Romans 1.16

But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different good news which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

—Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians 11.3, 4

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different good news; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the good newsof Christ.

—Paul’s letter to the Galatians 1.6, 7

In him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the good newsof your deliverance—having also trusted, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the liberation of God’s own possession for the praising of his glory.

—Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 1.13, 14

I thank my god in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your sharing in the proclamation of the good newsfrom the first day until now.

—Paul’s letter to the Philippians 1.3-5

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ye he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—if indeed you continue in the faith [or continue trusting], firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the good news that you have heard; which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

—Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1.21-23

It was revealed to them [the Hebrew prophets] that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

—Peter’s First letter 1.12

So what does the term gospel mean in the shared context of Palestinian Judaism and the pagan Roman Empire of the first century? The background in the Hebrew scriptures is revealed by the quote from Jesus given above from Luke 4.17-19. Here are a couple of other passages.

Isaiah 40.9

Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news.
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your god!”

Isaiah 52.7

How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces deliverance,
And says to Zion, “Your god reigns!”

Some context might be helpful in explaining both these Hebrew poems. They refer to a promised return from exile. Israel was conquered and deported by Babylon and then by their successor emperors. The temple (which was located in Jerusalem on Mount Zion), where Israel’s god resided, was destroyed. These political events had incredible religious implications for the Hebrews. After all, YHWH (the god of Israel whose name remains something of a mystery for translators) was the true king of Israel. The fact that he gave up his kingdom in Israel, and permitted his people, the Israelites, to be taken away from the land he had given them was a horrible thing. But eventually, it was prophesied, YHWH would again reveal his kingship. He would restore the Israelites to the land and would once again reside among his people in Jerusalem.

The above passages referred to a change in political fortunes–the return from exile. They were not only religious sayings, but political dynamite at the time of Jesus when Israel was suffering under pagan oppression in the form of the occupying Roman Empire and the puppet regime in Palestine that ruled on its behalf.

The popular pagan use of the term gospel had very similar connotations in the Roman world of the first century. Here’s an example of it from an inscription about the birthday of Augustus Caesar that was written about 9BC

The providence which has ordered the whole of our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to it Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a deliverer for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere . . .. ; the birthday of the god [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the good news that have come to men through him.

Here we have a very similar (though contrary) use of the term gospel. In this case, a political ruler is given religious honors—made into a god.

What is meant by “Christ”?

Christ is not the last name of Jesus. Nor is it some sort of mysterious religious title. Christ simply means “anointed one.” Israelite Kings were installed into office by being anointed. Since YHWH was understood to be the one who chose kings to rule as his representatives, kings were believed to be anointed by the god of Israel (see for example Psalm 2). For Jesus to called Christ simply in first century Palestine, simply means that he is YHWH’s promised king for Israel. In a time when Israel was dominated by a foreign empire, this was a dangerous claim. Yet it was one made by several young men both before and after Jesus. Lots of Israelites would follow a leader who claimed to be God’s chosen liberator to defeat the pagans.

Thus, Jesus Christ simply means “King Jesus.” It means he has been “crowned” (anointed) by God. It is important to realize that this meaning was not lost when the church moved out into the gentile world. Consider Paul’s declaration to a mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles in the city of Antioch, far away from Israel:

And then they [the Israelites] asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And after he removed him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he also testified and said, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do my will.” From the offspring of this man [David], according to promise, God has brought to Israel a deliverer, Jesus.

—The Acts of the Apostles 13.22, 23

David was, according to the Hebrew scriptures, God’s chosen king. YHWH had promised that his descendants would rule forever. To point out Jesus as the descendant of David is to explicitly call him the promised king.

There are some who try to evade all this and say that, among the Gentiles, the term Christ did not mean “anointed one,” but was simply a mysterious title for a divine figure. But that is impossible. Consider Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians:

Now, he who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed [chrisas] us is God.

Why honor a defeated deliverer?

As mentioned earlier, there were plenty of Jews who offered themselves as YHWH’s promised king. Like Jesus, they were eventually killed by the Romans. In every case, the result was that their followers scattered and renounced these “christs” as pretenders to the throne. After all, to falsely claim to be YHWH’s promised king was an evil thing to do. And if anyone were truly YHWH’s king, then he would not be defeated, but would conquer the pagans and vindicate Israel.

All the sources we have state that Jesus’ followers expected him to go to Jerusalem and establish his kingdom, not get crucified. So why didn’t they scatter and renounce him afterwards?

The only answer is the one we are given by his followers. God raised him from the dead. He didn’t bother to merely defeat the Romans; Jesus defeated death itself.

Notice how all these themes (gospel, Christ, descendant of David, resurrection) come together:

Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy (2.8):

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.Paul’s letter to the Romans (1.1-4):
Paul a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God; [the gospel] which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures; [the gospel] concerning his son A. 1. who was born 2. through a descendant of David 3. according to the flesh, B. 1. who was ordained the son of God with power 2. through the resurrection from the dead 3.according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice the parallelism. Jesus goes through death to a new life.

John’s letter to the seven churches in Asia (commonly called “Revelation”) (1.4,5a, 17b, 18):
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne; and from the Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. . . . And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Some things to think about & discuss:

1. There is no other reason than the resurrection why Jesus would have a continued following after he died.

2. If Jesus was raised from the dead, we have good reason to think that the god of Jesus was the true god—the maker of heaven and earth.

3. If Jesus was raised from the dead, then we have good reason to think that death is a curse, which needed to be conquered.

4. If Jesus has conquered death, does this not substantiate his claim to be the “ruler of the kings of the earth? (c.f. Rev 1.5a just above)

The emperor as the Messiah and king of kings

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Peter J. Leithart » Blog Archive » Justice and righteousness.

I think Peter is absolutely right about (among other things) the position of Gentile world-emperors and his perspective is confirmed by other lines of evidence.

Consider the term “king of kings” in the Bible. When did that term first get used in Scripture? Daniel used the title for Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2.37) and so did Ezekiel (Ezekiel 26.7). Ezra records it as the title used by Artaxerxes (Ezra 7.12).

David and Solomon were glorious but they fell short as types of Christ in this regard.

But there is more. Daniel describes Nebuchadnezzar as not only ruler over men but over animals:

You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all

While the birds seem to be Daniel’s own insight he may have learned about the beasts from the prophet Jeremiah:

Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him (Jeremiah 27.6).

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field (Jeremiah 28.14)

Even though Daniel will later compare the empires to beasts (Daniel 7), the emperors are also types of the one like the son of man/Adam. They are new Adams given dominion like Adam was given. They are a new royal humanity.

Be careful of what you think will be a ladder to success

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Thus reads Proverbs 22.29-23.9:

Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.
When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.

This looks to me like an identifiable “unit”–a series of Proverbs on a single theme or topic.

29.29 begins with a promise that sounds like a blessing. It is indeed a blessing but one with temptations and challenges. 23.1-8 in my view is a simple chiasm that shows the danger of depending on kings as a path to riches:

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.

Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;
do not desire his delicacies,
for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.

The ruler and the stingy man are the same person. And the middle portion shows the hopes and ambitions of the one sitting at his table. Hoping to get rich by getting rich friends is a vain hope. While it may happen to some people, it is not a reliable strategy for making one’s fortune. So be careful. Don’t expect to much.

The chiasm ends with a warning that flattery will not gain favor. The next verse (23.9) ends this section with a warning that your wisdom will not be appreciated either.

Jesus reproduced this wisdom in another situation:

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (from Luke 14)

 

Messed up your underwear lately?

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OK, you know how everyone is claiming that real character comes from “the inside” and must be truly “from inside you” and “listen to your heart” and “be true to yourself” and all that?

Once that was messy diapers but now you would find it difficult to go in your pants even if someone offered you two hundred dollars to do so.

It was the most natural thing in the world to every single human being now reading this blog post to, at one time, let “poop happen.” No control. No concern. This was spontaneous human behavior unconstrained by outward, external imposition.

And now it is inside you, in your heart and in your mind. You have not only the ability to control your bowels, you have such a powerful impulse to do so that the idea of overriding that impulse seems almost beyond your reach.

You get trained and you change…. from the outside in and then from the inside out.

And this applies to much else.

A baby will play with his hands and feet and put them in his mouth because he perceives them as externalities. He doesn’t know how to control them at first. He’s not sure they are part of him.

By the time he is two, that stage is over. He has “brought” his limbs “into” his consciousness. Or he has “extended” his self into his hands and feet. They are part of him now. They are tools. He has dominion and from there he can do new things.

Or consider teaching a teenager to drive. Once you know how to drive you no longer think, “I need to slow down so I had better push the pedal on the left.” If you are thinking that way, then you don’t know how to drive yet. But when you do learn, the car is part of your body. You never need to think about the controls.

It is true of language. You can no more think of the individual letters in order and the sounds they make as you read this post, than you can drive by first thinking about what the controls for the car do. Language, both written and spoken, is experienced without noticing the different parts that, when you were young, you had to figure out.

This is called wisdom. The same principle applies to learning to listen before you speak or learning to restrain anger.

When a teen first gets in a car, the car’s power scares him. It bucks and jerks. Why is the engine so rough?

But it is not rough. You just don’t have control. The car couldn’t function without an engine and brakes. You need those things. But you need to know how to use them right. The same with your emotions. You have to learn to drive them or else they will drive you off the road.

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding (Proverbs 17.27).

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly (Proverbs 14.29).

Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19.11).

The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult (Proverbs 12.16).

A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back (Proverbs 29.11).

These are habits of behavior. They are how you drive yourself in a way that glorifies God and keeps you out of unnecessary traffic jams. They are the habits that give you the time you need to reflect when reflection is called for.

It is all about how you train your body.

 

Desirable to make one wise

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The first time wisdom is mentioned in the Bible, it is used to describe what tempted Eve about the tree–that it was desirable to make her wise.

This seems to be the equivalent of gaining the knowledge of good and evil, having one’s eyes opened… and being like God.

At the end of Genesis 3 God seems to agree with these equivalences:

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil…”

Adam and Eve are naked in the beginning of Genesis. Genesis ends with a man who, after repeatedly losing his robe of authority through injustice, gains authority over the whole world… precisely because he is wise.

This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck.

Without holiness.. (repost from April 30, 2002)

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Without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12 contains an important prooftext for classic Reformation theology in the area of sanctification. The Westminster Confession defines sanctification as the putting on of that holiness without which no one will see the Lord and references verse 14 of that chapter.

But notice that the author of Hebrews is not writing a treatise on sanctification; he is begging people not to abandon the Chrisian Faith and Church. If they do remain in the Church they will suffer, but that’s all right because their suffering marks them as God’s sons and daughters. If they stay in the Church than they can be confident that God is working with them to give them that holiness so that they will indeed see the Lord.

There is no basis in this chapter, in other words, for telling people to search within themselves for signs of holiness so that they can be sure that they are elect. In fact, even the text we (reformed types) would read in predestinarian terms is rather startling when we think about it.

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

The corporate body is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that there is no “Esau” in their midst. Hebrews 12 will not fit into a scheme by which individuals in the Church anxiously search their hearts for signs of holiness (or desires thereto at least!) to ensure that they are truly regenerate. It is a call to the Church to encourage Her members not to flee when God brings his promised trials into our lives to provide us with holiness.

Remain with Him and He will remain with you.

The meaning of Ezekiel 18: have faith like Abraham and you will be justified; otherwise you will be condemned

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Ezekiel 18:

The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

“If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

“If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things (though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

“Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

“Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

“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. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 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? 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.

“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? 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. 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. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 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?

“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. 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? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

What is God saying through Ezekiel?

One way of explaining his message is to read this through Romans 4. Consider verses 11 and 12:

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

God is telling Israel, through Ezekiel, that if they would be justified, it is not enough to merely be circumcised, or to merely be a descendant of Abraham. One must “also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had.”

In Abraham’s case, the specific promise that he trusted was that he would have a nation as offspring:

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the one of the law but also to the one of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

The author of Hebrews describes this same faith further:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Ezekiel 18 is about this same faith, as it should be exhibited by Abraham’s descendants under Law before Christ.