“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” -2 Timothy 2:15.
There are 2 verses in Ezekiel which are often misused or misunderstood, and tend to bring great distress to those exposed to them. It is important that believers correctly apply these verses to find God's intended meaning, and in achieving this they will find peace. These 2 nearly identical verses are found in 3:18 and 33:18, and 3:18 reads as follows;
“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.”
When these verses are used in preaching, typically it is meant to induce fear and guilt in prompting Christians to witness to the unsaved. These verses are heavy to be applied this way, and we need to be sure of the way they were intended for us.
The first problem in applying these verses in such a way is that we aren't living in the Old Testament today, but in the New Testament. For Christians today that means the Great Commission from Jesus is our instruction to witness, NOT these verses from Ezekiel. There are no threats made against New Testament Christians if they fail to witness.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” -Mark 16:15&16.
Another problem is the nature of salvation as Jesus reveals it, and throughout the New Testament. We are told that ONLY God can save (Mark 10:27), the Holy Spirit does the work unpredictably (John 3:7,8), God the Father must call the person (John 6:37,44), and it isn't up to any man's work to save someone, it's up to God to show mercy (Romans 9:16).
This last point mentioned is especially weighty, for Christians know that they are saved by God's grace through faith, and it is a GIFT from God, not earned by a person's works.
“But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” -Galatians 3:22.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” -Ephesians 2:8,9.
A third problem would be, how will God require their blood from us? Jesus'sacrifice covered our sins for all time (Hebrews 10:10-14), and we see that the saving work is up to God anyway, so how are we responsible? There is also the observation that suddenly grace turned into works, for now only our work of evangelism could save us, and our non-work could nullify salvation! This is ridiculous! Don't get me wrong, I believe it is every Christian's duty to share their faith; but if we have moments of weakness and come up short, this is the very reason Jesus died for us-the shortfalls of our flesh.
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” -Romans 7:18-25.
A fourth difficulty is the supposition that somehow you or I have stopped God from saving a person! God is never limited by His own creation. Just think of it, on judgment day; God says, “Tommy, I'm sorry that you died in your sins-I sent John to warn you, but he didn't, so now both you and he will be in Hell.” The implication is clear; God was supposedly not able to save Tommy without John! The weak, flawed, sinful earthen vessel of John, who desperately needed the salvation ONLY Jesus could bring, was given the sole responsibility of Tommy's salvation, and the Lord could not reach to him otherwise. This is obviously not the case according to the Bible.
God also reaches out to people ON HIS OWN, and is simply not in absolute need of a believer to bridge that gap. We find examples in the book of Acts with Paul, the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the centurion Cornelius in chapter 10. God sent His angel to Cornelius first, and not Peter! Please read these accounts in chapters 8, 9, & 10.
Yet there is another account I often refer to from the Mel Tari book, Like a Mighty Wind. Mel was involved in the great Indonesian revival in the late 1960s, and his team was eventually sent to a very remote village that no one had visited. When they got there, they found a group of young, practicing Christians-that no missionary had visited! God had revealed Himself to the witch doctor of the village, teaching them numerous key Bible accounts like creation, the flood, and the passion of Jesus. Don't you see that our God is not quickly going to turn anyone into Hell? He will reach out, reach out, reach out, until He knows when to stop. Only God can bring salvation through Jesus His Son, not through us, and He is patient as we learn and grow through the Holy Spirit.
So how should we take these verses from Ezekiel, and what was their purpose? Ezekiel was a prophet to God's people, not to the unsaved gentiles. It would be correction like we find in the book of I Corinthians, chapter 5, within the Christian church; except the Jews were still under the law of works, not grace. Jesus had not yet died for our sins, and the Holy Spirit hadn't yet been given to the born-again believers. Ezekiel 3:18 & 33:18 really can't be compared to the Great Commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ.
When the Lord first reached to me by His Holy Spirit, I was alone; I was not near a church, or any Christian believer-no human evangelism was taking place! So please don't let anyone tie a rope of guilt around your neck if you miss an opportunity; Jesus is our justification (Romans 8:33,34), and Him only. Pray for God to help you in sharing your faith, and He will, even if you have to grow into it spiritually. Always rely on the entire Word of God to direct you in service for the King.
"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." -I Corinthians 7:23.
Here is the link to a YouTube video I did on this subject https://youtu.be/OEW8p6QpRk8
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