John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 18:23

"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?" — Ezekiel 18:23 (ASV)

He confirms the same sentiment in other words: that God desires nothing more earnestly than that those who were perishing and rushing to destruction should return to the way of safety. And for this reason, not only is the Gospel spread in the world, but God wished to bear witness through all ages how inclined he is to pity.

For although the Gentiles were destitute of the law and the prophets, yet they were always endowed with some taste of this doctrine. Truly, they were suffocated by many errors, but we shall always find that they were induced by a secret impulse to seek pardon, because this sense was in some way born with them: that God is to be appeased by all who seek him.

Besides, God bore witness to it more clearly in the law and the prophets. In the Gospel, we hear how familiarly he addresses us when he promises us pardon (Luke 1:78). And this is the knowledge of salvation: to embrace his mercy which he offers us in Christ. It follows, then, that what the Prophet now says is very true: that God does not wish the death of a sinner, because he meets him of his own accord, and is not only prepared to receive all who flee to his pity, but he also calls them to him with a loud voice when he sees how alienated they are from all hope of safety.

But we must note the manner in which God wishes all to be saved: namely, when they turn themselves from their ways. God, therefore, does not wish all people to be saved in such a way as to renounce the difference between good and evil; rather, repentance, as we have said, must precede pardon.

How, then, does God wish all people to be saved? By the Spirit’s condemning the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment today through the Gospel, as he did formerly through the law and the prophets (John 16:8). God reveals to humankind their great misery so that they may turn to him; he wounds that he may cure, and slays that he may give life.

We hold, then, that God does not wish the death of a sinner, since he calls all equally to repentance and promises to be ready to receive them if they only seriously repent. If anyone should object—"Then there is no election of God, by which he has predestined a fixed number to salvation"—the answer is near: The Prophet does not here speak of God’s secret counsel, but only recalls miserable people from despair, so that they may grasp the hope of pardon, repent, and embrace the offered salvation.

If anyone again objects, "This is making God act with duplicity," the answer is ready: God always wishes the same thing, though by different ways and in a manner inscrutable to us. Therefore, although God’s will is simple, great variety is involved in it from our perspective. Besides, it is not surprising that our eyes should be blinded by intense light, so that we cannot certainly judge how God wishes all to be saved and yet has devoted all the reprobate to eternal destruction and wishes them to perish. While we now look through a glass darkly, we should be content with the measure of our own intelligence (1 Corinthians 13:12). When we shall be like God and see him face to face, then what is now obscure will become plain. But since argumentative people twist this and similar passages, it will be necessary to refute them briefly, as this can be done easily.

God is said not to wish the death of a sinner. How can this be, since he wishes all to be converted? Now we must see how God wishes all to be converted, for repentance is surely his unique gift: as it is his role to create people, so it is his province to renew them and restore his image within them.

For this reason we are said to be his workmanship—that is, his fashioning (Ephesians 2:10). Since, therefore, repentance is a kind of second creation, it follows that it is not in human power; and if it is equally in God’s power to convert people as well as to create them, it follows that the reprobate are not converted because God does not wish their conversion. For if he wished it, he could do it, and thus it appears that he does not wish it.

But again, they argue foolishly that because God does not wish all to be converted, he himself is deceptive, and nothing can be stated with certainty concerning his fatherly benevolence. But this knot is easily untied, for he does not leave us in suspense when he says that he wishes all to be saved.

Why is this so? For if no one repents without finding God propitious, then this statement is fulfilled. But we must observe that God here presents himself in a twofold manner, for in this context, he wishes to be taken at his word. As I have already said, the Prophet does not here dispute subtly about God’s incomprehensible plans but desires to keep our attention focused on God’s word.

What, then, are the contents of this word? The law, the prophets, and the gospel. Through these, all are called to repentance, and the hope of salvation is promised to them when they repent. This is true, since God rejects no returning sinner; he pardons all without exception.

Meanwhile, this will of God, which he proclaims in his word, does not prevent him from decreeing before the world was created what he would do with each individual. And as I have just said, the Prophet’s purpose here is only to show that when we have been converted, we need not doubt that God immediately meets us and shows himself propitious.

The remainder tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, since we are all lost in ourselves, that we may desire to obtain life where it is laid up for us and where you manifest it, namely, in your Son. Grant also that we may so embrace the grace that has been shown to us in the sacrifice of his death, that we may be regenerated by his Spirit. Thus, being born again, may we devote ourselves wholly to you and so glorify your name in this world, that we may at last be partakers of that glory which your only-begotten Son has acquired for us. — Amen.