Personal Responsibility

Daily Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 18-21

Daily Focus Passage: Ezekiel 18

The prophet Ezekiel received the message to declare to the people that each person was responsible for their sin before the Lord. He shared that a child's sins were not the father's responsibility and vice versa. We live in a culture that often attempts to base our faith on the obedience of our parents instead of taking personal ownership of our need for salvation. In Ezekiel 18, we must understand the need to take ownership of our sins and see how God provides the plan to receive forgiveness.

THE PROBLEM OF SIN

Sin is not merely an action. Sin is a state of being outside a relationship with the Lord. Sin plagues us because it corrupts our minds, hearts, and souls. It separates us from the Lord and places us in opposition to Him. Sin happens when we act out in rebellion and when our thoughts and intentions become wayward. The problem of sin is a universal problem that everyone must deal with.

Sin demands punishment because it is disobedience before the Lord. The Lord made it clear that the punishment is eternal death. Eternal death is not ceasing to exist, but instead, eternal death is the eternal separation from the Lord in the place called Hell, experiencing the eternal wrath of God. This punishment is a reality for anyone who does not deal with the problem of sin.

THE PERSONAL ISSUE OF SIN

The prophet Ezekiel spent time discussing how each individual is responsible for their sin and must deal with their sin. The personal nature of sin is complex today as we live in a culture of group identity, justification, and rationalization. People today attempt to lessen the reality of sin and find support for living in sin by aligning themselves with others who accept sinful activities and lifestyles. Thus, they disconnect from their sin and find acceptance in a group.

Likewise, the culture around us today lessens the impact of personal sin by justifying and rationalizing their sin. This practice occurs when statements about the change of culture over the generations are used. People compare their sinfulness to others and lessen the significance in their minds to lessen the guilt of sin.

The truth is that sin is sin, and we are personally responsible for our sins. We are not responsible for the depth of sin others commit, but we stand before the Lord accountable for our actions, thoughts, and intentions. Thus, we must fight the urge to use cultural ideology to neglect the need to deal with sin.

THE PLAN OF GOD TO DEAL WITH SIN

Ezekiel closed out his discourse on personal sin by declaring that the Lord takes no pleasure in anyone's death. The prophet clearly states that the Lord desires all to find forgiveness and reconcile with Him. The plan of God to deal with sin is to repent and live. The ability to repent means that one moves from living away from the Lord and turns to living for the Lord. The prophet provides critical components of this.

First, we must recognize the presence of personal sin. We must take ownership of our rebellion before the Lord. Ezekiel called the people to repent and turn from all their rebellious ways. Ownership of the rebellious ways sets the course to repentance.

Second, we must repent of our rebellious ways. Repentance comes when we come before the Lord, confessing the sin we own and seeking Him alone for forgiveness. Repentance is the crying out for God's mercy and grace. Ezekiel pleads with the people to repent so that the Lord will throw off the transgressions that have occurred.

Third, we must turn to God. The act of turn includes abandoning the former sinful life and the new path toward the Lord. This is the path of seeking to live in faithfulness before the Lord and to mature spiritually. Repentance and forgiveness require the turn because the turn to the Lord sets the new path for the new life.

Sin is a universal plague that separated people in the past from the Lord and continues to separate people from the Lord today. Yet, the Lord desires that no one faces eternal death from sin. Thus, he created a way for people to repent and live. Have you sought the Lord in repentance and gained the true life of eternal life?