Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
The soul that sins dies, and guilt is strictly personal, so no child carries a parent's wrong and no parent carries a child's, but each stands under their own righteousness or wickedness. The soul is not naturally undying, for sin brings death as God's declared sentence against it, not endless life. That death is not continued living in pain or in joy, since life remains life and death is without feeling, and it is not eternal torment in conscious misery. For the unrepentant it is everlasting with no hope of rising again, because after the fall the way to the tree of life was barred so that sin would not be made immortal. Yet the wicked who turns from sin and obeys can live, for God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and in the judgment each is examined alone so no one's goodness can cover another's lack.
Death, Not Immortal Misery
The soul is not naturally immortal, because the soul that sins dies. This is God's sentence against sin, declaring that sin results in death. It directly contradicts the claim that sinners live on eternally.
Death is not continued life in misery, whether in pain or in happiness. Life remains life, while death is without pain, joy, or hatred. For the unrepentant sinner that death is everlasting, lasts forever, and leaves no hope of resurrection.
The serpent's declaration in Eden that disobedience would not bring death was a promise of life in disobedience coming solely from the great deceiver. It was the first sermon on the immortality of the soul, still echoed whenever the verse is reversed to mean that the sinning soul lives eternally instead of dying. After the Fall, fallen humanity was shut away from the tree of life, with cherubim and a flaming sword keeping the way so that sin would not be immortalized by man living forever. No sinner has become immortal, and not one of Adam's family has passed that barrier to partake of the life-giving fruit.
Adam forfeited immortality through disobedience and could not pass on what he no longer possessed. Immortality is available only as God's gift through Jesus Christ on the stated conditions, in contrast to the reversed claim that sinners live forever. The verse therefore rejects the teaching that death for sin means eternal conscious life in torment.
Guilt Is Strictly Personal
Every soul belongs to God, and each person who has reached the age of accountability is responsible for his own actions and character. The child does not bear the guilt of the parent, nor does the parent bear the guilt of the child, but each receives the consequence of his own righteousness or his own wickedness. The just lives by doing what is lawful and right according to God's law, while the sinner is accountable for his own sin and conduct. Those who act unjustly and oppress others are answerable to God, who sees their deeds and will judge them, and feeling unfairly treated must never lead a person to sin.
Guilt is strictly personal, so the righteous do not bear the guilt of the sinner and each person is accountable for his own sin. Those who sin against God may have their names blotted from the heavenly record and face destruction, and another person cannot suffer in their place. In the judgment God examines every individual separately and with close scrutiny, for each person is accountable for his own character and choices. One person's righteousness cannot make up for another's lack of it, so each person must personally repent and prepare.
God has made no human the sin-bearer for His people, so no one can carry the guilt of the church or correct its errors for it. Each can only correct his own wrongs, confess his own sins, and make all the restitution in his power. Each person bears the guilt of his own sin: those who reject salvation through Jesus bear their own sins, while the sins of the redeemed who overcome are finally laid back on Satan as the originator of sin, who must bear them.
Mercy and Obedience Applied
The verse belongs to God's message of reproof and warning to be faithfully given to His people, to mothers, to fathers, to the children of Israel, so that they do not move blindly. It is to be declared at all times and in all places, whether people will hear or refuse to hear, calling for faithful work to declare it, and those to whom it comes who hear and take heed with patience and a generous, teachable spirit will receive the Lord's blessing. The wicked who turns from sin and obeys God can live, for God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but calls that person to turn and live.
Children are not condemned for their parents' sins, as shown after the doom of Jerusalem was pronounced, when God in wonderful long-suffering delayed His judgments on the city and nation for nearly forty years toward the rejecters of the gospel and the murderers of His Son. Many among the Jews were still ignorant of the character and work of Christ, and the children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light which their parents had spurned, so divine mercy spared them a little longer and through the preaching of the apostles caused light to shine upon them, permitting them to see how prophecy had been fulfilled in Christ's birth and life and in His death and resurrection. While they had only their parents' light the children did not bear their parents' guilt, but when with a knowledge of all the light given to their parents they rejected the additional light granted to themselves, they became partakers of their parents' sins and filled up the measure of their iniquity.
Children are not morally guilty for their parents' sins and are not responsible for their parents' wrongdoing, even though they may suffer inherited disease and physical consequences from their parents' habits. They should identify the harmful habits that violate the laws of health, change their own conduct, avoid those habits, and live correctly, since each person's own choices also bring their own consequences.
Parents may guide and discipline their children but cannot save them, and each child must personally respond to the advantages of faithful upbringing and choose whether to develop a Christian character. When parental commands require disobedience to God, children must obey God while still respecting their parents and not hating them. Feeling unfairly treated must not lead a person to sin, and those who act unjustly and oppress others are answerable to God, who sees their deeds and will judge them.
In the judgment no one can use the wrongs of others in the church to excuse personal sin, for even if one, two, or three have done wrong and a Christlike spirit has not been manifested, that does not blot out personal guilt, since two wrongs do not make one right. Whatever course others take, each must set his own heart in order, because every soul is precious in God's sight and God has claims upon each person that no circumstances excuse him from meeting. The wrongdoing of others in the church, even if all of God's people should err and then see, confess, and be pardoned as God has promised, does not excuse enmity toward them or bitter criticism of them.