Ezekiel 33:13

13 If I tell good people, 'You will surely live,' they might think they have done enough good and then do evil. Then none of the good things they did will be remembered. They will die because of the evil they have done.

Ezekiel 33:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:13

When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live,
&c.] A happy life, here and hereafter; an eternal life, and not die the second death: this must be understood, should he appear a truly righteous person; one that does not trust to his own righteousness, but to the righteousness of Christ, and lives by faith on that; looking for the hope of righteousness through it, and behaving agreeably to his character: but if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity;
as he will by trusting to it; if he trusts to it for acceptance with God, and justification in his sight, and thinks himself proof against all temptation to sin on account of it; and that he has righteousness enough to make amends for sins committed, or for other sins he may commit; and which he may venture upon through this false notion, and so be led on to an open course of sinning, and series of committing iniquity: all his righteousness shall not be remembered;
God will take no notice of it; it shall be of no avail to justify him from sin, and secure him from wrath; it will be as if it never had been: but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it;
an eternal death, which is the just wages of sin; from which a man's own righteousness can never deliver him, though the righteousness of Christ does deliver from it; see ( Proverbs 10:2 ) ( 11:4 ) .

Ezekiel 33:13 In-Context

11 Say to them: 'The Lord God says: As surely as I live, I do not want any who are wicked to die. I want them to stop doing evil and live. Stop! Stop your wicked ways! You don't want to die, do you, people of Israel?'

12 "Human, say to your people: 'The goodness of those who do right will not save them when they sin. The evil of wicked people will not cause them to be punished if they stop doing it. If good people sin, they will not be able to live by the good they did earlier.'

13 If I tell good people, 'You will surely live,' they might think they have done enough good and then do evil. Then none of the good things they did will be remembered. They will die because of the evil they have done.

14 Or, if I say to the wicked people, 'You will surely die,' they may stop sinning and do what is right and honest.

15 For example, they may return what somebody gave them as a promise to repay a loan, or pay back what they stole. If they live by the rules that give life and do not sin, then they will surely live, and they will not die.