Ezekiel 33

[Forever Light]

It says in The Bible, that God expects us to take personal responsibility for all of our own actions.
God also says that we need to warn others about impending danger.

Ezekiel
33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away in his inequity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the "House of Israel"; therefore thou shalt hear the Word at My mouth, and warn them from Me.
33:8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked [man], thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked [man] shall die in his inequity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
33:9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his inequity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
33:10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the "House of Israel"; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins [be] upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?
33:11 Say unto them, [As] I live, saith the Lord "I AM", I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O "House of Israel"?
33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his [righteousness] in the day that he sinneth.
33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, [that] he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit inequity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his inequity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
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;
33:15 [If] the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the Statutes of Life, without committing inequity; he shall surely live, he shall not die.
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.
33:17 Yet the children of thy people say, The Way of the "I AM" is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.
33:18 When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth inequity, he shall even die thereby.
33:19 But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is Lawful and right, he shall live thereby.
33:20 Yet ye say, The Way of the Lord is not equal. O ye "House of Israel", I will judge you every one after his ways.

WARNING!
The "so-called" Christian churches, by teaching the exact opposite of what Christ actually said, have thereby proven themselves to be not truly Christian but to be anti-Christ. Beware of phony con-men behind pulpits who are in reality interested only in money (filthy lucre) and positions of power.

Paul said, "It is NOT I That Lives"

 

[rainerann]

I'm not sure I entirely understand what you are saying especially connecting the verse where Paul says it is not I that live with Ezekiel 33.

Ezekiel 33 is one of my favorite chapters. There is really so much to gain from this chapter. However, for starters, Ezekiel is really given a lot more responsibility for others than just his self. He is basically told that if he doesn't warn the people, if those people don't ever repent, he will be held responsible. So where you are getting the impression that this chapter is teaching about taking personal responsibility, I am not entirely seeing. It is actually referring to having a whole lot more responsibility than this.

Then, Ezekiel is encouraged that if he has warned the people and they don't repent, then he won't be held responsible. So God doesn't obligate Ezekiel to save them. He only obligates him to warn them.

So how this is associated to Paul saying that it is not I that live, but Christ I can't understand. Paul basically giving a description of being born again to the church of Galatia.

Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). So how Paul is disobeying Christ in trying to elucidate what it means to be born again in order to be obedient to the teachings of Christ, I can't really understand.

 

[Forever Light]

I'm not sure I entirely understand what you are saying especially connecting the verse where Paul says it is not I that live with Ezekiel 33.

Ezekiel 33 is one of my favorite chapters. There is really so much to gain from this chapter. However, for starters, Ezekiel is really given a lot more responsibility for others than just his self. He is basically told that if he doesn't warn the people, if those people don't ever repent, he will be held responsible. So where you are getting the impression that this chapter is teaching about taking personal responsibility, I am not entirely seeing. It is actually referring to having a whole lot more responsibility than this.

Then, Ezekiel is encouraged that if he has warned the people and they don't repent, then he won't be held responsible. So God doesn't obligate Ezekiel to save them. He only obligates him to warn them.

So how this is associated to Paul saying that it is not I that live, but Christ I can't understand. Paul basically giving a description of being born again to the church of Galatia.

Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3). So how Paul is disobeying Christ in trying to elucidate what it means to be born again in order to be obedient to the teachings of Christ, I can't really understand.

Thank you for your reply. If we study Ezekiel 33 and look at verses 33:11-16, then we can see that the personal responsibility that people have for their choices are being laid out by God.

God was therefore not just talking to Ezekiel about his responsibility, but also explained what He wanted Ezekiel to tell the people about theirs, so that they (and therefore us) would all be able to understand how things work.

Also, what is explained to Ezekiel about having a responsibility to warn others, we can see that it applies to us as well and it was not just for Ezekiel. We all share a responsibility towards one another, to help and warn (i.e. Love) one other to beware (be aware) of known dangers. That way, we might be able to help one another to avoid them.

The final choice is always up to each person though, because we have been given free will to choose to heed or not heed warnings. Therefore, we are held accountable for our actions.

If you sum it up, God explains to Ezekiel (and therefore, to us) how things work, and says (by explanation) to love one another. Once that becomes seen, then the link to what Paul said can start to become visible, because Christ said:

John
13:34 A new COMMANDment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
13:35 By this shall all [men] KNOW that ye are my disciples, IF ye have love one to another.

As far as Paul's message itself goes, there is a lot that needs to be read and digested, in that regard.

 

[Forever Light]

Another way it links, might be seen in Galatians 1:10. God explained to Ezekiel that we are all responsible for our own individual choices and actions, like in Ezekiel 18:20-30:

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the inequity of the father, neither shall the father bear the inequity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My Statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord "I AM": [and] not that he should return from his ways, and live?
18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth inequity, [and] doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked [man] doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
18:25 Yet ye say, The Way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O "House of Israel"; Is not My Way equal? are not your ways unequal?
18:26 When a righteous [man] turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth inequity, and dieth in them; for his inequity that he hath done shall he die.
18:27 Again, when the wicked [man] turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
18:28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
18:29 Yet saith the "House of Israel", The Way of the Lord is not equal. O "House of Israel", are not My Ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O "House of Israel", every one according to his ways, saith the Lord "I AM". Repent, and turn [yourselves] from all your transgressions; so inequity shall not be your ruin.

Telling people the truth when they NEED to hear it but don't want to hear it, will NOT be pleasing to them, even though it is the truth that they need to hear and that has the power to save them (Ezekiel 18:27-30). But, not only do people not like to hear it, they hate it and will also hate you for it:

Christ said in Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be HATED of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

And as Paul (who said, it is not I that lives, but Christ lives in me) said:
Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or [does] God [through me]? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet PLEASED men, I should NOT be the servant of Christ.

 

[Hubert]

Did you know that certain passages of the bible can also be used to prove that their are no true Scotsmen?

 

[Forever Light]

As I was saying..

 

[Hubert]

As I was saying..

What were you saying? If I don't believe like you I'm going to hell? I've heard that before, from multiple religions/denominations . Why should I believe you?

 

[elsbet]

What were you saying? If I don't believe like you I'm going to hell? I've heard that before, from multiple religions/denominations . Why should I believe you?

You shouldn't-- or maybe more accurately, you won't-- unless you feel led to believe.

 

[Forever Light]

What were you saying? If I don't believe like you I'm going to hell? I've heard that before, from multiple religions/denominations . Why should I believe you?

You shouldn't-- or maybe more accurately, you won't-- unless you feel led to believe.

Agreed with your comment, elsbet.

Hubert: No, it was not saying that. It is an attempt to present information that is already available, in a hopefully logical manner, so that it may be considered and may also encourage others to do their own due diligence and further investigation.

The Scriptures say that we have an important decision to make, and that there are very serious consequences if we choose wrong. It lays out all the terms for us, and also encourages us to help us make the right choice, and says that we will be further helped in doing so too (if we will choose the good and ask for help), so that we then won't have to suffer the dire consequences, that eventually comes as a result of persisting in making the wrong/bad choice. Time is running out, so please do your own reading and due diligence, to then be able to make an informed decision.
Peace be upon you and within you.