For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
God will judge every person according to His own ways, holding each accountable for his choices, yet He has no pleasure in the death of the sinner but as a tender and compassionate Father commands the wicked to turn from all transgressions and live, so that iniquity will not be his ruin. His ways are equal while man's ways are unequal, and to complain that His way is not equal reflects upon His character when the sinner wants pardon without repentance and turning. Turning means casting away all transgressions, forsaking sin, and receiving a new heart and a new spirit by accepting the righteousness of Christ by faith, which even the just and honorable need since obedience alone cannot secure entrance to the kingdom, and God Himself accomplishes it by cleansing from filthiness, taking away the stony heart and giving a heart of flesh, and putting His Spirit within to cause walking in His statutes. This call rests on Christ, whom the Father gave to die that the sinner might live, bearing guilt and wrath and suffering sin's penalty to ransom him and open the way to pardon when justice might have swept a condemned world clean. Every longing to return is God's Spirit drawing the wanderer, and the Father compassionately receives and rejoices over those who arise and come to Him, yet salvation is conditional and requires the human will to cooperate with the divine in a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, leaving life or death as the choice for those who linger and resist His pleading. Affliction, sickness, and death were no part of God's original design for man made for His glory, and He takes no pleasure in the suffering and death of His people and of little children but desires life, calling men to follow a right course and keep the laws that preserve health rather than disregard them to untimely death.
God's Character and Judgment
God will judge everyone, including the house of Israel, according to His own ways, each person according to his ways. Each person is accountable for his own way and for his choices to the One to whom he owes life and all things. His warnings are given to prevent sin and its consequences, and His call to turn from sin and live, to turn from transgressions, to cast away all transgressions and receive a new heart and a new spirit rather than die, is His gracious appeal following that judgment.
God's ways are equal while Israel's and man's ways are unequal. Complaints and unbelief saying the way of the Lord is not equal, questioning His justice and severity and whether He will save, reflect upon the character of God. Such complaint falls back upon the sinner, whose own ways are unequal in wanting pardon without repentance and turning.
God has no pleasure and finds no delight in the death of him that dies, the sinner, the wicked, or anyone. He is a tender, compassionate, loving heavenly Father who loves the sinner and hates to see him perish. He is willing to save and not eager to destroy or condemn, but urges the sinner to turn back and receive life.
In its setting, the apostasy of Israel was a more dreadful evil than all the multiplied horrors of famine. God brought great affliction upon the people not to destroy them but to free them from delusion. That affliction was to lead them to understand their accountability to the One to whom they owed life and all things and to help them recover their lost faith.
Turning to New Life
Wherefore the command is to turn and live, addressed to the wicked and the sinner who must repent and turn from his way, his wrong course, and all his transgressions so that iniquity will not be his ruin. Turning is not dying but living, for God judges each one according to his own ways and finds no delight in death. His will is plainly revealed that the sinner repent, turn from all transgressions, and live.
Turning means casting away all transgressions, forsaking sin, washing the robe of character, making a new heart and a new spirit, and accepting the righteousness of Christ by faith. It is a call to repentance that urges the sinner not to remain in transgression and unrighteousness but to be cleansed and transformed in life and character. Even a just and honorable person needs this renewal through Jesus Christ to be saved and to enter God's kingdom, since strict obedience to the law by itself cannot secure entrance. The appeal is to cast away transgression and receive a new heart and spirit rather than die.
This turning and living is accomplished by God Himself, who sprinkles clean water and cleanses from all filthiness and idols, takes away the stony heart and gives a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within to cause walking in His statutes and keeping and doing His judgments. The call rests on Christ, whom the Father gave to die that the sinner might live. Though the whole world was under condemnation and in justice God might have swept the earth clean of guilty transgressors, He did not choose to destroy the disobedient. Instead Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the sinner, bore the wrath of God for the transgressor, suffered the penalty of sin to ransom him, and thus opened the way to pardon and life. God is compassionate and willing to save, not eager to destroy, and Christ's sacrifice provides the sinner the way to pardon and life.
This is a blessed assurance to be held against the tempter who tries to steal every glimmer of hope and ray of light. The discouraged soul is not to listen to him but to arise and go to the Father even after abusing His love and squandering His blessings, confident of a compassionate reception. Every longing to return is the tender pleading of God's Spirit drawing the wanderer to the Father's loving heart. The welcome is like the father who saw the wanderer while yet far off and ran and embraced him, and there is joy in heaven when a sinner repents and comes to Jesus.
Salvation is conditional and requires man's cooperation with God, the human will with the divine, in seeking perfection of character. God will receive the sinner when he repents and forsakes his sins so that God can work with his efforts, and if man complies with the conditions the promises are yea and amen. The whole purpose in giving the Son is that man might be saved not in transgression but in forsaking sin. The call is urgent, for lingering and resisting God's pleadings leaves life or death as the choice, yet turning to Christ makes renewed experience of grace and communion with Him possible. True turning is not mere assent to doctrines but true faith, the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, producing humility, meekness, and obedience learned in the school of Christ and bringing knowledge of the sentiments, principles, and language of heaven.
Suffering, Health and Application
God takes no pleasure in human affliction, suffering, or death, for these are the results of sin and were never part of His original design. Man was made for God's glory and pleasure, so the present weak, sickly, degenerate condition of mankind is not in harmony with that design. When that original design is fully carried out there will be no sickness or death.
He takes no pleasure in the suffering and death of His people and desires that they live, calling them to follow a right course, to care for their bodies, and to keep the laws that preserve health. He will not work a miracle to heal disorders while those laws continue to be disregarded, and people may bring about their own premature death by neglecting the instruction they have received. He takes no pleasure in the suffering or death of little children, and their suffering and death are not acts of divine delight but can result from parents' disregard of the laws of health and of their children's physical needs. Parents are entrusted with the physical, mental, and moral education of their children and are to train them for useful life on earth and for heaven. He does not desire a person's death but desires life, so an untimely death such as a mother's death is not His act of removal but is contrary to heaven's wish that she live, when unhealthy habits have contributed to illness and poisonous drugs have caused death.
The verse warns in order to prevent sin and its consequences, holding people accountable for their choices, and its warnings and reproofs are meant to help and bring blessing when received with patience and a teachable spirit. It judges every one according to his ways and calls for repentance and turning from wrong course and all transgressions so that iniquity will not be ruin, meaning casting away all transgression and receiving a new heart and a new spirit rather than dying, because God finds no delight in death and commands turning in order to live. It calls worldly-minded sinners to turn and live by heeding the voice of the Spirit of God that still pleads after years of appeal, and calls those who have turned away to stop refusing, to yield, to return to the heavenly Father, to give Him the heart, and to take a place in His service. That turning is true faith, not mere assent to doctrines, but the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, producing humility, meekness, and obedience learned in the school of Christ and bringing knowledge of the sentiments, principles, and language of heaven. The call applies to families, schools, sanitariums, and publishing houses that claim to be Christian, showing that fathers and mothers need converting power, cleansed lives, and transformed character for the Holy Spirit to work on hearts, and that evangelical work is needed in the family and in these institutions.
God will judge every person according to His own ways, holding each accountable for his choices, yet He has no pleasure in the death of the sinner but as a tender and compassionate Father commands the wicked to turn from all transgressions and live, so that iniquity will not be his ruin. His ways are equal while man's ways are unequal, and to complain that His way is not equal reflects upon His character when the sinner wants pardon without repentance and turning. Turning means casting away all transgressions, forsaking sin, and receiving a new heart and a new spirit by accepting the righteousness of Christ by faith, which even the just and honorable need since obedience alone cannot secure entrance to the kingdom, and God Himself accomplishes it by cleansing from filthiness, taking away the stony heart and giving a heart of flesh, and putting His Spirit within to cause walking in His statutes. This call rests on Christ, whom the Father gave to die that the sinner might live, bearing guilt and wrath and suffering sin's penalty to ransom him and open the way to pardon when justice might have swept a condemned world clean. Every longing to return is God's Spirit drawing the wanderer, and the Father compassionately receives and rejoices over those who arise and come to Him, yet salvation is conditional and requires the human will to cooperate with the divine in a faith that works by love and purifies the soul, leaving life or death as the choice for those who linger and resist His pleading. Affliction, sickness, and death were no part of God's original design for man made for His glory, and He takes no pleasure in the suffering and death of His people and of little children but desires life, calling men to follow a right course and keep the laws that preserve health rather than disregard them to untimely death.
God's Character and Judgment
God will judge everyone, including the house of Israel, according to His own ways, each person according to his ways. Each person is accountable for his own way and for his choices to the One to whom he owes life and all things. His warnings are given to prevent sin and its consequences, and His call to turn from sin and live, to turn from transgressions, to cast away all transgressions and receive a new heart and a new spirit rather than die, is His gracious appeal following that judgment.
God's ways are equal while Israel's and man's ways are unequal. Complaints and unbelief saying the way of the Lord is not equal, questioning His justice and severity and whether He will save, reflect upon the character of God. Such complaint falls back upon the sinner, whose own ways are unequal in wanting pardon without repentance and turning.
God has no pleasure and finds no delight in the death of him that dies, the sinner, the wicked, or anyone. He is a tender, compassionate, loving heavenly Father who loves the sinner and hates to see him perish. He is willing to save and not eager to destroy or condemn, but urges the sinner to turn back and receive life.
In its setting, the apostasy of Israel was a more dreadful evil than all the multiplied horrors of famine. God brought great affliction upon the people not to destroy them but to free them from delusion. That affliction was to lead them to understand their accountability to the One to whom they owed life and all things and to help them recover their lost faith.
Turning to New Life
Wherefore the command is to turn and live, addressed to the wicked and the sinner who must repent and turn from his way, his wrong course, and all his transgressions so that iniquity will not be his ruin. Turning is not dying but living, for God judges each one according to his own ways and finds no delight in death. His will is plainly revealed that the sinner repent, turn from all transgressions, and live.
Turning means casting away all transgressions, forsaking sin, washing the robe of character, making a new heart and a new spirit, and accepting the righteousness of Christ by faith. It is a call to repentance that urges the sinner not to remain in transgression and unrighteousness but to be cleansed and transformed in life and character. Even a just and honorable person needs this renewal through Jesus Christ to be saved and to enter God's kingdom, since strict obedience to the law by itself cannot secure entrance. The appeal is to cast away transgression and receive a new heart and spirit rather than die.
This turning and living is accomplished by God Himself, who sprinkles clean water and cleanses from all filthiness and idols, takes away the stony heart and gives a heart of flesh, and puts His Spirit within to cause walking in His statutes and keeping and doing His judgments. The call rests on Christ, whom the Father gave to die that the sinner might live. Though the whole world was under condemnation and in justice God might have swept the earth clean of guilty transgressors, He did not choose to destroy the disobedient. Instead Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the sinner, bore the wrath of God for the transgressor, suffered the penalty of sin to ransom him, and thus opened the way to pardon and life. God is compassionate and willing to save, not eager to destroy, and Christ's sacrifice provides the sinner the way to pardon and life.
This is a blessed assurance to be held against the tempter who tries to steal every glimmer of hope and ray of light. The discouraged soul is not to listen to him but to arise and go to the Father even after abusing His love and squandering His blessings, confident of a compassionate reception. Every longing to return is the tender pleading of God's Spirit drawing the wanderer to the Father's loving heart. The welcome is like the father who saw the wanderer while yet far off and ran and embraced him, and there is joy in heaven when a sinner repents and comes to Jesus.
Salvation is conditional and requires man's cooperation with God, the human will with the divine, in seeking perfection of character. God will receive the sinner when he repents and forsakes his sins so that God can work with his efforts, and if man complies with the conditions the promises are yea and amen. The whole purpose in giving the Son is that man might be saved not in transgression but in forsaking sin. The call is urgent, for lingering and resisting God's pleadings leaves life or death as the choice, yet turning to Christ makes renewed experience of grace and communion with Him possible. True turning is not mere assent to doctrines but true faith, the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, producing humility, meekness, and obedience learned in the school of Christ and bringing knowledge of the sentiments, principles, and language of heaven.
Suffering, Health and Application
God takes no pleasure in human affliction, suffering, or death, for these are the results of sin and were never part of His original design. Man was made for God's glory and pleasure, so the present weak, sickly, degenerate condition of mankind is not in harmony with that design. When that original design is fully carried out there will be no sickness or death.
He takes no pleasure in the suffering and death of His people and desires that they live, calling them to follow a right course, to care for their bodies, and to keep the laws that preserve health. He will not work a miracle to heal disorders while those laws continue to be disregarded, and people may bring about their own premature death by neglecting the instruction they have received. He takes no pleasure in the suffering or death of little children, and their suffering and death are not acts of divine delight but can result from parents' disregard of the laws of health and of their children's physical needs. Parents are entrusted with the physical, mental, and moral education of their children and are to train them for useful life on earth and for heaven. He does not desire a person's death but desires life, so an untimely death such as a mother's death is not His act of removal but is contrary to heaven's wish that she live, when unhealthy habits have contributed to illness and poisonous drugs have caused death.
The verse warns in order to prevent sin and its consequences, holding people accountable for their choices, and its warnings and reproofs are meant to help and bring blessing when received with patience and a teachable spirit. It judges every one according to his ways and calls for repentance and turning from wrong course and all transgressions so that iniquity will not be ruin, meaning casting away all transgression and receiving a new heart and a new spirit rather than dying, because God finds no delight in death and commands turning in order to live. It calls worldly-minded sinners to turn and live by heeding the voice of the Spirit of God that still pleads after years of appeal, and calls those who have turned away to stop refusing, to yield, to return to the heavenly Father, to give Him the heart, and to take a place in His service. That turning is true faith, not mere assent to doctrines, but the faith that works by love and purifies the soul, producing humility, meekness, and obedience learned in the school of Christ and bringing knowledge of the sentiments, principles, and language of heaven. The call applies to families, schools, sanitariums, and publishing houses that claim to be Christian, showing that fathers and mothers need converting power, cleansed lives, and transformed character for the Holy Spirit to work on hearts, and that evangelical work is needed in the family and in these institutions.