“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, 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?” – Ezekiel 33:11
THE ALMIGHTY HAS NO PLEASURE in the death of the wicked. When the unbelieving soul perishes in his sins, and enters that dread eternity in which he shall be punished with everlasting destruction, Jehovah does not smile. He does not delight to declare the solemn sentence, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” It brings God no mirth to cast the unredeemed sinner into the lake of fire and brimstone. Contrariwise, he is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). He fervently desires that all men should be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). To all who will take it freely, he offers the water of life to quench the thirsty soul (Revelation 22:17). Saith Christ, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
True, many unbelieving men will depict the Everlasting Father as a merciless tyrant who delights to torment the wicked in the flaming fires of hell. They will scorn their Sovereign as an unfeeling brute who derives sadistic pleasure from punishing the unsaved with the vengeance of eternal fire. They will reprove their Redeemer for casting the unbelieving into the lake of fire, as though he exulted in the act of so doing. Only cruelty and contempt adorn the Creator’s brow as he hurls headlong the unsaved soul into the abyss, so they sneer. And only fools would bother believing that this same God loves them and yearns for them to come to him, so they snort.
But the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against the Savior of the world do not negate the truth of my text. Things are not so simply because men say they are, and believe them to be. Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), but he also so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Why would Immanuel deign to descend from heavenly splendor, if he enjoyed punishing men’s souls with hellfire? Why would God bother to be manifest in the flesh, and for thirty-three years be tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, if he took pleasure in tormenting the wicked? Why would the Prince of Peace submit to being despised and rejected of men, and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, if he loathed mankind?
The great love wherewith he loved us cannot coexist with sadistic pleasure in punishing the unsaved. To come to this world to die a criminal’s death so that all men through him might be saved cannot harmonize with the infidel’s depiction of God as a heartless brute. Howbeit, love and justice must coexist, lest God be unjust. And justice demands those who have sinned against the Almighty be punished for their iniquity, unless they are born again by faith in Christ.
To those who decry this reality as unjust and unfair, I ask, “Who art thou that repliest against God? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” (Romans 9:20-21). Mankind has sinned against God, and thereby rendered it impossible for peace to prevail until there is reconciliation. But men are in no position to dictate the terms of reconciliation, because it is they who have caused the enmity to exist in the first place. It is the offended party (in this case, God) who is to determine how the offender is to be reconciled to him, and although Jehovah is by no means bound to offer sinful man any means of reconciliation, out of his great love he has mercifully offered to pardon all their transgressions and endow them with eternal life if they will but acknowledge they are sinners and believe the gospel of his Son as their only hope for heaven. Verily, the Lord God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
Yet though this subject of what must men do to be saved is simple enough even for a child to comprehend, it has been oft distorted by men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. Those who have changed the truth of God into a lie have readily seized this phrase “turn ye from your evil ways” as “proof” that men must turn from their sins as a prerequisite to receiving the free gift of eternal life. Ponder momentarily the contradictions implicit in that statement. If eternal life is a free gift (Romans 5:15-18, 6:23), then why should sinners have to do anything to receive it? If men must give up their sins in order to be saved, how can salvation be considered a free gift? Let Romans 11:6 clarify the matter: “And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
An exchange is not a gift, yet that is exactly what those who preach the accursed false gospel of “Lordship Salvation”, or the damnable heresy of “repent of your sins to be saved”, demand. They demand – though the King James Bible requires nothing of the kind – that men give up their sins and submit to following Christ as their “Lord” in order to be saved. But how can men turn from their sins, when they are sinners by nature (Romans 5:12)? Hear, o vain man, so arrogant as to think thyself incapable of sin, the words of the apostle Paul: “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” (Romans 7:18). If one of the greatest Christians to ever live perpetually struggled with sin, what makes you – who are not even a true believer, if you subscribe to the myth that men must forsake their sins to be saved – incapable of iniquity? You are as vile a sinner as any men.
Let the words of Christ – whom you who pervert the gospel falsely claim to love and serve – condemn your wickedness:
“Ye hypocrites, well did Esias prophesy of you, saying, (8) This people draweth night unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” – Matthew 15:7-9
You do not love the Lord Jesus Christ, hypocrite. If you did, you would keep his commandments (John 14:15) rather than distort his gospel. If you did, you would not twist his words to hypocritically force sinners to change their lifestyle as part of salvation. If you did, you would not self-righteously sneer that men who don’t live up to your arbitrary standards are not saved. You love only lies, and the false prophets which propound them. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees!
CONCLUSION
God loves you, dear reader. He loves you so thoroughly that he sent his only begotten Son to die a criminal’s death, so that you, through faith in his blood, might have eternal life. He recoils at the thought of sentencing you to the torment of everlasting fire. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and would have no pleasure in your perishing without believing on his Son. Why will ye die, and voluntarily be cast into the lake of fire?
Pray do not allow yourself to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Come now to Christ, and receive as Savior the one who gave himself for you. Do not bother about making him your “Lord” and vowing to follow him all your days. Do not bother about turning from your sins and committing to living a new life henceforth. Do not bother about anything but acknowledging you are a sinner who deserves to go to hell, and believing that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and was bodily resurrected unto your justification. I pray that you do so.