John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 18:21-22

"But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." — Ezekiel 18:21-22 (ASV)

In this sentence, God proposes the hope of pardon, and invites and exhorts all transgressors of His law to repentance. But this doctrine is especially worthy of notice, that God extends His arms and is prepared to meet and receive all who turn to good fruits: for despair hurls us into madness and then hardens our hearts through utter obstinacy.

Therefore, it is necessary for God to extend His hand toward us and inspire us to repentance. This is the meaning of this passage from the Prophets: As soon as the impious is turned away from his impiety, God will be at peace with him. Now we see that no excuse remains for us if this compassionate invitation from God does not stir us, when He testifies that He is propitious to us whenever we heartily desire to be reconciled to Him.

But He here requires serious repentance when He says, If the impious has turned away from his impiety, and has kept My statutes, and done justice and judgment, he shall live, He says. For a sort of half-conversion is discerned in many who think that in this way they are safe before God, but they are greatly deceived. For many mingle virtues with vices and imagine their guilt blotted out if they can only present something worthy of praise.

But this is just as if someone were to offer muddy wine to his master, because he had mixed it not only with dregs but even with filth: so too are all the works of those who do not put away all depraved desires and strive to free themselves from all the corruptions of the flesh.

Thus, what is taught here is noteworthy: namely, that the beginning of conversion is when someone renounces himself and his own lusts. But it is necessary to add another part of duty: when someone bids farewell to his vices, he must devote himself obediently to God.

The Prophet, therefore, joins the two together, since one cannot be separated from the other. Therefore, the Spirit here briefly defines what true and legitimate conversion is. He says that when someone is converted in this way, his life is prepared for God, since God will forget all his sins.

This is a confirmation of the doctrine. For God cannot be successfully appealed to as long as He imputes our sins to us; therefore, so that we may find Him propitious to us, He promises, as soon as we repent, that all our sins shall be buried and no longer come into remembrance.

But this is the incomparable goodness of God, since He deigns to forget all our sins as soon as He sees us earnestly desiring to return to Him.

On the whole, Ezekiel declares that all the penitent pass at once from death to life, since God blots out all their transgressions by a voluntary forgetfulness.