We continue to see the demands of God's law. In today's reading we see that without righteousness we will in no way inherit the kingdom of God. When standing before the judge of all we must stand in perfect righteousness or we will be condemned. Turning from righteousness into sin will condemn us. We look for some of those Gospel promises and see that we don't get much aside from the promise that we won't be punished for the sins of our parents or our children. But we won't be rewarded for their righteousness either. That leaves us high and dry, alone, with no defenses but ourselves, standing before God's throne of judgment.
A quick review of the longer passage from Ezekiel chapters 19-24 shows us a good deal of hope. God has chosen his people and will redeem them. He will adopt his people, though they be sinners, into a right relationship with him, causing them to live a life of righteousness. And it is not their own righteousness. He is declaring what is unrighteous to be righteous. He is declaring what is unclean to be clean. He is taking the outcast and making him a prince in the heavenly realms. There's the Gospel! We cannot be justified or condemned by another person's righteousness or iniquity. Each sinful heir of Adam gets to stand on his own. But Jesus, who is fully man and fully God, who has our human nature but without sin, is the one who can justify someone else by his own righteousness. And he has justified all those who believe on him. This is our great good news. The "littlest" sin separates us from God. But Jesus, through faith in his righteousness, removes the sin and proclaims us righteous.
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