Waist Deep 2018 - July 21

Ezekiel 3: 18, 19 “When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” (NIV)

The definition of evil in the world is when good men and women see injustice and do nothing.*

These words of God were spoken specifically to Ezekiel, but we can find a similar message for us in the New Testament. With his last recorded words on earth, Jesus made it our responsibility to preach the Good News to the world. While Jesus didn’t include a warning of the consequences for failure to comply, there are other passages that contain clues to what our expectations should be.

In Luke 17: 1 and 2, Jesus warns us about causing others to sin. “Woe to that person,” he says. It would be better for him to be tossed into the sea wearing a cement overcoat. (Well, those weren’t his exact words . . . read it and see!) And James warns that we who presume to be teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3: 1). He even goes on to say that if we know the good we should do and don’t do it, we are sinners (4: 17).

God told Ezekiel, “Warn the wicked man to change his ways or his blood will be on your head.” If we don’t warn people about the consequences of sin, will we not be held accountable?

If you actually believe people are going to Hell without Christ, then how much would you have to hate a person not to warn him?*