Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Ezekiel 33:3–11 (KJV)- “11 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?”

WHY THIS STUDY TODAY

Recently, a man stood publicly holding a large sign warning people about sin and its eternal consequences. His message specifically addressed gay pride, with the word “pride” displayed in rainbow colors, making his reference unmistakable. His message was that celebrating and continuing in conduct that the Bible identifies as sinful places a person in spiritual danger and that sin ultimately leads to judgment if a person refuses to turn to God.

The response from many people was immediate. He was accused of spreading hate. His message was described as “hate speech.” Others accused him of judging people and condemning them to hell. Some responded with the familiar slogan, “Love is love,” and argued that warning people about homosexuality or its eternal consequences is incompatible with loving them. Particularly concerning is that these arguments do not come only from people who reject Christianity. Some people who identify themselves as Christians make the same arguments.

That raises several questions Christians cannot answer merely according to personal feelings, political opinions, cultural attitudes, or popular slogans. So the biggest question void of all of those is, “What does the Bible say?”

There is an important distinction between passing our own judgment upon another person and warning another person about a judgment God has already revealed in His Word. The man holding the sign does not possess the authority to send anyone to hell. Neither does a preacher standing behind a pulpit, a Christian sharing the Gospel, or the person writing this Bible study. Eternal judgment belongs to God.

But does that mean Christians must remain silent about God’s judgment? If a Christian accurately tells another person what Scripture says about sin and judgment, the Christian has not thereby become the Judge. The Christian is pointing to the warning of the Judge. That distinction matters. Calling the messenger judgmental can shift attention away from the message itself. Once the discussion becomes primarily about whether the messenger is hateful, judgmental, intolerant, or offensive, the much more important question can disappear: Is the warning true? That is the question we must answer.

If the warning is genuinely what God has revealed in Scripture, then faithfully sharing it can require both love and courage. It is relatively easy to tell people what they want to hear. It can be considerably harder to tell someone something that may anger them, offend them, or cause them to reject us. Biblical love cannot mean simply affirming whatever another person desires. If God has warned that a particular course leads toward destruction, love cannot require Christians to hide that warning.

This study is, therefore, not about attacking homosexual people. Christians have no biblical permission to mistreat, ridicule, threaten, or hate them. Nor is homosexuality the only sin condemned by Scripture. Every human being is a sinner in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Homosexuality is specifically before us today because it was the subject of the public warning that prompted this study and because our society increasingly celebrates what Scripture identifies as sinful. But the principle we are examining applies to all sin.

A heterosexual adulterer cannot escape God’s Word by accusing the Christian who quotes it of judging him. A drunkard cannot change God’s standard by calling the messenger hateful. A thief cannot make theft righteous by being offended that someone called it sin. And a person practicing homosexuality cannot settle the biblical question merely by accusing the person delivering the warning of hatred. In every case, the messenger must be tested against Scripture. If the messenger has misrepresented God’s Word, then the messenger should be corrected. But if the message faithfully communicates what God has actually said, rejecting the messenger does not change the message. That is why we are doing this study.

We are going to open the Bible and examine what God says about truth, love, judgment, sin, repentance, courage, and salvation. We are going to ask whether speaking biblical truth constitutes hatred, whether warning someone of God’s judgment constitutes judging them ourselves, and whether genuine Christian love sometimes requires enough courage to say something the world does not want to hear.

The Christian is not the Judge. The Christian is not the one who condemns a soul to hell. But if God has given humanity a warning, loving our neighbor cannot mean pretending that warning does not exist.

Verse Context

Our cornerstone verse comes from God’s instructions to the prophet Ezekiel. To understand the tremendous statement God makes in Ezekiel 33:11, we need to understand what immediately precedes it. God begins with an illustration that the people would easily understand: a watchman standing guard over a city.

Ezekiel 33:3–6 (KJV)- “If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and took no warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.”

The watchman’s responsibility was not to create the danger. He did not send the approaching sword. He did not decide whether the danger was real. His responsibility was to recognize the danger and sound the warning. If he sounded the trumpet and the people refused to listen, the watchman had fulfilled his responsibility. But if he saw danger approaching and remained silent, God held him responsible for failing to warn them. Then God explains the spiritual meaning of the illustration.

Ezekiel 33:7–9 (KJV)- “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

God appointed Ezekiel as the watchman “unto the house of Israel.” We should respect that historical context. This was a specific commission given by God to Ezekiel concerning Israel. Christians today should not simply claim Ezekiel’s prophetic office for themselves. But there is something here that is essential to understanding verse 11. God tells Ezekiel: “thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” The warning originated with God. Ezekiel did not invent the standard. Ezekiel did not determine what was wicked. Ezekiel did not decide the punishment. And Ezekiel did not have the power to make the judgment happen. His responsibility was to communicate faithfully what God had already said. Then Israel responds to the seriousness of its sin.

Ezekiel 33:10 (KJV)- “Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?”

The people recognize the weight of their transgressions and ask a desperate question: How can we live? And now we arrive at our cornerstone verse. God’s answer reveals something enormously important about why He sends the warning in the first place.

Ezekiel 33:11 (KJV)- “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?”

God does not say that He delights in watching wicked people perish. He says exactly the opposite. He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” The warning therefore has a purpose: “that the wicked turn from his way and live.” God is calling them to repentance. The Hebrew idea behind “turn” is especially important. The word is shuv (שׁוּב, pronounced SHOOV), meaning to turn, return, or turn back. It is one of the important Old Testament words used to describe turning away from sin and returning toward God. And notice the urgency: “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.” God does not redefine their evil ways so that they can comfortably remain in them. He calls them to turn from them. Yet the purpose of that call is not difficult to see. God wants them to live. That is the heart of Ezekiel 33:11.

Now we can carefully compare the passage with the event that prompted this study. The man holding the sign was accused of hatred and of judging other people because he publicly warned about sin and its eternal consequences. Ezekiel 33 teaches us that we must distinguish between the person delivering a warning and the authority who established the warning. Ezekiel was not Israel’s ultimate Judge. He was the messenger. Likewise, a Christian today does not possess the authority to determine who goes to hell. We cannot create God’s moral standards, pronounce eternal sentences according to our personal preferences, or condemn people simply because we disapprove of them.

But that does not answer the question of whether Christians should communicate warnings that God has already given. That requires us to determine whether the warning actually comes from Scripture. And Ezekiel 33:11 gives us something else that directly challenges the claim that every warning about sin must be motivated by hatred. God’s warning and God’s desire for the sinner to live exist in the very same verse. That is enormously important. Warning someone about sin is not automatically evidence that we hate that person. In this passage, God warns precisely because He is calling sinful people away from destruction. But there is also a serious responsibility placed upon anyone claiming to deliver God’s warning: we must be certain that what we are calling sin is actually something God calls sin.

We cannot substitute prejudice for Scripture. We cannot substitute personal opinion for Scripture. We cannot substitute cultural tradition for Scripture. And neither can we substitute modern cultural acceptance for Scripture. So before we can determine whether the man holding the sign was faithfully sounding a biblical warning, we must move into the Broader Context and ask what the rest of Scripture actually says.

Does God’s Word identify homosexual conduct as sin? Does Scripture teach that sin has eternal consequences? Does Scripture distinguish between warning someone of God’s judgment and personally condemning them? Does the New Testament command Christians to speak God’s truth even when that truth is unpopular? And most importantly, does the Gospel offer the sinner a way to turn and live?

Only Scripture can answer those questions.

BROADER CONTEXT

Who Determines What Is True?

Before we can decide whether the man holding the sign was speaking truth or spreading hate, we have to answer a more fundamental question: Who determines what is true?

If truth is determined by culture, then truth can change whenever culture changes. If truth is determined by individual feelings, then one person’s truth can contradict another person’s truth. If truth is determined by the Christian holding the sign, then his opinion possesses no greater authority simply because he claims to speak for God.

Jesus gives us the standard in John 17:17 (KJV)- “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

A Quick KJV Word Note — “Thy”

The word “thy” simply means “your.” In the King James Bible, thy is a singular possessive form of thou—it refers to something belonging to the one person being addressed.

Here, Jesus is praying to the Father. Therefore, when Jesus says “thy truth” and “thy word,” He means the Father’s truth and the Father’s word. Read in today’s English, the meaning is straightforward: God’s truth; God’s Word.

This is one reason readers should not be intimidated by words such as thee, thou, and thy in the King James Bible. They are not mysterious theological words. They are older English pronouns that can actually communicate distinctions that modern English often does not. And once we understand “thy,” the authority behind this verse becomes unmistakable. Jesus does not tell us that popular opinion is truth, that personal feelings are truth, or even that the Christian’s opinion is truth. The standard is not the man. The standard is not the crowd opposing him. The standard is not church denomination, political movement, social-media campaign, or popular slogan. God’s Word is truth.

Therefore, Christians have no authority to manufacture sins that God has not called sin. But neither do Christians have authority to declare acceptable something God has called sin. Our responsibility is to submit ourselves to what God has revealed. That means the accusation of hate cannot settle the question before us. Neither can the man’s assertion that he is speaking for God. His message must be tested against Scripture.

So let us test it.

Does the Bible Actually Identify Homosexual Conduct as Sin?

Because homosexuality prompted this particular study, we should address it directly rather than hide behind general statements about sin.

Paul writes: Romans 1:24–27 (KJV)- “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.”

Whatever modern culture may believe about homosexuality, we cannot honestly read this passage and conclude that Paul presents same-sex sexual conduct as morally acceptable. He does not. Paul addresses the subject again when writing to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (KJV)- “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Notice what Scripture does—and what it does not do.

Homosexual conduct is included among behaviors associated with unrighteousness. Therefore, a Christian cannot faithfully teach that Scripture approves of homosexual sexual relationships. But notice something equally important: homosexuality is not standing alone in Paul’s list. Fornication is there. Idolatry is there. Adultery is there. Theft is there. Covetousness is there. Drunkenness is there. Reviling is there. Extortion is there. This study was prompted by the public celebration of homosexuality, so we are addressing homosexuality directly. But biblical integrity requires us to apply God’s standard consistently. We cannot condemn the sins celebrated by somebody else while excusing the sins we have decided to tolerate in ourselves. And verse 11 prevents this passage from becoming merely a weapon of condemnation.

Paul is writing to Christians and tells them that some of them had previously lived in the very sins he had just identified. Their former sin was not the end of their story. They had been washed. They had been sanctified. They had been justified in the name of Jesus Christ. That is already showing us something about the purpose of biblical confrontation with sin. Christianity does not merely announce what a person is doing wrong. The Gospel announces what Jesus Christ can do for the sinner.

The Larger Problem Is Unrepentant Sin

Now we must widen the lens. The eternal warning of Scripture is not reserved for homosexuals. The fundamental human problem is sin.

Romans 3:23 (KJV)- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

The word “all” leaves none of us standing outside the problem. The man holding the sign needs a Savior. The homosexual needs a Savior. The adulterer needs a Savior. The drunkard needs a Savior. The person shouting accusations at the man holding the sign needs a Savior. The person writing this study needs a Savior. We all do. And Scripture tells us why sin is so serious.

Romans 6:23 (KJV)- “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Notice that Paul does not leave us with death. The verse contains both the warning and the rescue. Sin pays wages: death. God offers a gift: eternal life through Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Christian message concerning sin should never stop with condemnation. If we warn people about sin but never tell them about the Savior, we have left out the glorious heart of the Gospel. But neither can we proclaim the Savior while refusing to tell people why they need saving.

Struggling With Sin Is Not the Same as Making Peace With Sin

This distinction is important. Christianity does not teach that a person becomes instantly incapable of temptation or failure after coming to Christ. Christians still battle the flesh. Paul describes that conflict:

Galatians 5:16–17 (KJV)- “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

There is a difference between fighting sin and declaring that our sin is no longer sin. A believer may stumble. A believer may experience powerful temptation. A believer may have to fight the same temptation repeatedly. The existence of that struggle does not mean that God has changed His definition of righteousness. The dangerous step occurs when instead of bringing our desires under the authority of God’s Word, we attempt to bring God’s Word under the authority of our desires. This principle applies equally to every sin. The adulterer cannot redefine adultery because he sincerely loves the person with whom he is committing adultery. The covetous person cannot redefine greed because possessions make him happy. The drunkard cannot declare drunkenness righteous because alcohol brings him pleasure. Likewise, sincere affection does not possess the authority to redefine what God has revealed concerning sexual morality. This is where the popular expression “love is love” fails as a biblical moral standard. Human affection may be genuine, powerful, and deeply felt, but human affection does not determine righteousness. God does.

Who Is Actually Doing the Judging?

Now we can return directly to another accusation made against the man holding the sign: “Who are you to judge?”

There is an important question hidden inside that accusation. If the man were inventing his own standard and declaring people condemned according to his personal preferences, then the criticism would have considerable force. Human beings do not possess the authority to determine another person’s eternal destiny. Jesus Christ is the Judge.

John 5:22 (KJV)- “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:”

Therefore, the Christian holding the sign does not send anyone to hell. The preacher does not send anyone to hell. The Christian witnessing to a neighbor does not send anyone to hell.  But Scripture makes another distinction that our culture frequently overlooks: Warning someone about God’s judgment is not the same thing as becoming the Judge. God demonstrated this principle dramatically through Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 33:7–9 (KJV)- “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

Quick KJV Word Help:

Thou means you (as the subject), thee means you (as the object), and thy/thine mean your/yours; these forms normally address one person. Hast simply means have, as in “thou hast” = “you have.”

We must respect the historical context. God specifically appointed Ezekiel as a watchman to Israel. This passage is not declaring that every Christian possesses Ezekiel’s prophetic office. But look at the principle God reveals. God gives the warning. The watchman delivers the warning. The watchman does not create the judgment. That distinction speaks directly to the issue before us. If the message on a Christian’s sign contradicts Scripture, we should reject the message. If the Christian twists Scripture to condemn something God has not condemned, we should correct him. But if Scripture actually gives the warning, pointing someone toward that warning does not make the Christian the author of the judgment. The messenger is not the Judge. And the very next verses reveal God’s heart behind the warning.

Ezekiel 33:10–11 (KJV)- “Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 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?”

Quick KJV Word Help: Thus ye means this is what you say/do, pine means waste away or suffer under distress, saith means says, turn ye means you turn/turn yourselves, and ye die means you die.

This changes the way we should think about biblical warnings. God does not present the warning here because He delights in destruction. God says: “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways.” Why? Because He desires that the wicked “turn from his way and live.” The warning is therefore not evidence that God hates the sinner. The warning itself demonstrates that God is calling the sinner to turn.

Sometimes Love Must Warn

Now we can return to our cornerstone verse with considerably more biblical context behind it.

Ephesians 4:15 (KJV)- “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

Love and truth are not competing Christian virtues. If someone were walking unknowingly toward physical danger, warning him would not normally be considered hateful. The warning might frighten him. It might interrupt what he wanted to do. He might even resent being told to stop. But if the danger were real, remaining silent merely to avoid upsetting him would not necessarily be loving. Scripture gives us an even stronger picture.

Proverbs 27:5–6 (KJV)- “Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

Biblical love sometimes says something difficult. That does not justify cruelty. It does not justify insults. It does not justify humiliating people, threatening them, or taking pleasure in their condemnation. But neither does biblical love require silence when God has spoken. Sometimes the person willing to tell us what we desperately do not want to hear is demonstrating greater love than the person willing to tell us whatever makes us comfortable.

Telling the Truth Can Require Courage

There is another part of the present-day example that deserves consideration. It takes very little courage to repeat something everyone around us already applauds. Speaking God’s truth becomes considerably more difficult when that truth is unpopular. The apostles encountered authorities who wanted them to stop publicly proclaiming Christ.

Acts 4:18–20 (KJV)- “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Again, the immediate subject is the apostles’ proclamation of Jesus Christ, not homosexuality. We should not pretend otherwise. But the principle concerning Christian courage is clear: the reaction of the surrounding culture does not determine whether God’s truth should be spoken. That brings us back to the man standing publicly with his sign. People may ridicule him. People may call him judgmental. People may accuse him of hatred. None of those reactions proves that his message is true. But neither do those reactions prove that his message is false. The question remains the same: Does what he is saying agree with what God has said? Where it does, courage may require speaking even when speaking carries a social cost.

The Warning Must Lead to the Gospel

Finally, we must never allow the warning to become the destination. The destination is Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come merely to announce condemnation to an already fallen world.

John 3:16–17 (KJV)- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

And Scripture immediately explains why salvation is necessary.

John 3:18–19 (KJV)- “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

There is both love and warning in the same Gospel. God loved. God gave His Son. Christ saves. Sin remains serious. Judgment remains real. Human beings are called out of darkness and toward the Light. That means the most loving Christian message cannot simply be, “God condemns your sin.” But neither can it honestly be, “Continue as you are; God does not care.” The biblical message is far greater: God has told us the truth about our sin because He loves us. God has warned us of judgment because judgment is real. And God has provided Jesus Christ because He desires to save sinners.

The Christian does not have the authority to remove the warning. The Christian does not have the authority to change God’s definition of sin. And the Christian certainly does not have the authority to decide who is beyond God’s grace. Our responsibility is to tell the truth, tell it in love, and point sinners—not merely homosexual sinners, but all sinners—to Jesus Christ. That is not a message of hatred. It is the message of a God who warns sinners of where sin leads while still calling them to turn, come to Christ, and live.

APPLICATION

Appreciating God’s Greatness

One of the most remarkable truths revealed in Ezekiel 33:11 is that God’s holiness and His mercy are not in conflict. God does not lower His standard of righteousness in order to demonstrate love, nor does His judgment of sin mean that He lacks compassion for the sinner. He remains perfectly holy while calling sinful people to turn from the very conduct that separates them from Him.

Ezekiel 33:11 (KJV)- “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?”

Look carefully at what God does in this verse. He calls their ways evil, warns them that those ways lead to death, commands them to turn, and expresses His desire that they live. Biblical love, therefore, does not require God to pretend that evil is good. His love is demonstrated in part by the fact that He tells sinners the truth and calls them away from destruction.

The same character of God is revealed in the New Testament. God does not delight in the destruction of sinners; He has acted at tremendous cost to provide salvation for them.

Romans 5:8 (KJV)- “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Notice that God’s love did not require Him to stop calling us sinners. Instead, His love provided the remedy for our sin. The greatness of God is seen not in overlooking sin, redefining sin, or pretending that judgment does not exist, but in providing Jesus Christ for people who could never save themselves. The God who says, “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways,” is the same God who sent His Son to die for sinners.

For the Believer

The believer must resist two opposite errors. The first is speaking about sin without love, compassion, humility, or any apparent desire to see the sinner saved. The second is becoming so afraid of being called hateful or judgmental that we refuse to tell people what God’s Word actually says. Neither approach represents the whole counsel of Scripture. Paul gives us the proper balance.

Ephesians 4:15 (KJV)- “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

Truth and love are not enemies. Biblical love does not require silence about sin, and biblical truth does not give us permission to be cruel. If Scripture identifies homosexual conduct as sin, the believer should not deny that truth simply because the culture considers the teaching offensive. At the same time, the person engaged in homosexual conduct is not someone Christians have permission to ridicule, mistreat, threaten, or hate. That person is a human being for whom Christ died and to whom the Gospel should be offered.

The believer must also remember that homosexuality is not the only sin Scripture condemns. We have no biblical basis for pointing angrily at one group of sinners while excusing adultery, fornication, drunkenness, greed, dishonesty, hatred, or our own sins. Paul deliberately places many different sins together when warning the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (KJV)- “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Those final words are essential. “And such were some of you.” The Christian message is not that certain sinners are uniquely disgusting or beyond redemption. The message is that sinners can be washed, sanctified, and justified through Jesus Christ. That is why our warning must always leave room for the Gospel.

A Call to Action for the Believer

Before speaking about another person’s sin, ask yourself two questions: Is what I am about to say actually supported by God’s Word, and am I saying it because I genuinely desire that person’s spiritual good? We should never call something sinful merely because we dislike it, and we should never use Scripture as a weapon for humiliating someone. However, once God has clearly spoken, fear of criticism must not persuade us to change His message.

Paul reminded Timothy that faithfulness to Scripture would sometimes require correction and rebuke, but he also told him how that work was to be done.

2 Timothy 4:2–4 (KJV)- “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Notice the combination: reprove, rebuke, exhort, but do it “with all longsuffering and doctrine.” The believer is not commanded merely to win arguments. We are to remain faithful to God’s Word while patiently seeking the spiritual good of the person hearing it.

That means we should examine our own conduct as carefully as we examine our message. If we speak about homosexuality, adultery, drunkenness, fornication, greed, or any other sin, our purpose should never be to demonstrate our superiority. We are sinners who have needed God’s mercy ourselves. Our objective is to point another sinner toward the same Savior who rescued us.

When the culture says that biblical truth is hateful, do not respond with hatred. When someone calls you judgmental, do not become arrogant or defensive. Open the Bible, examine what God has actually said, and speak that truth faithfully, humbly, courageously, and lovingly. The goal is not merely to tell someone that his way is wrong. The goal reflected in Ezekiel 33:11 is that the sinner might turn and live.

For the Unbeliever

If you are reading this as someone who does not follow Jesus Christ, please understand what this study is not saying. Christianity does not teach that homosexual people are the only sinners standing under God’s judgment while Christians stand safely on the other side because they are better people. Scripture says something far more sweeping.

Romans 3:23 (KJV)- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

That includes homosexuals and heterosexuals, religious people and irreligious people, the person holding the sign and the people criticizing him. Every one of us has violated God’s standard and needs His mercy.

The question, therefore, is not whether your sins are worse than someone else’s. The question is what you will do with the truth God has revealed and with the Savior He has provided. God does not ask you to make yourself righteous enough to earn salvation. Salvation is His gift through Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:23 (KJV)- “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

If God’s Word identifies something in your life as sin, the loving response is not to tell you that God has changed His mind so that you can remain comfortable. Neither is the loving response to mock you, despise you, or treat you as though you are beyond God’s mercy. The biblical response is to tell you the truth about sin while also telling you the wonderful truth about Jesus Christ.

John 3:16–17 (KJV)- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

Jesus Christ came to save sinners. The warning about sin is not the end of the Christian message; it explains why the Gospel is such extraordinarily good news. God calls you to turn from sin, place your faith in Jesus Christ, and receive the life that only He can give.

The words God spoke through Ezekiel still reveal something beautiful about God’s heart: He does not delight in the destruction of the wicked. His call is to turn and live.

FINAL THOUGHT

Telling someone the truth is not automatically an act of hatred simply because the truth is difficult to hear. At the same time, claiming to possess the truth does not give Christians permission to be cruel, arrogant, or hateful. We must have both truth and love. We must be courageous enough to say what God has said and compassionate enough to remember why He has said it.

The man holding the sign did not become the judge of everyone who read it simply because he warned them about sin and judgment. The real question is whether his warning agreed with the Word of God. When Scripture speaks clearly, Christians should never be ashamed to speak clearly as well. We should do so humbly, remembering that we too are sinners who desperately needed the grace of God.

Perhaps the most important words in this entire study are not about judgment at all. They are God’s words in Ezekiel 33:11: He desires that the wicked “turn from his way and live.” That is the purpose of the warning. God is not standing eagerly waiting for another sinner to perish. He is calling sinners to turn from their evil ways and offering them life.

So, Christian, do not allow the fear of being called hateful to silence you when God has spoken. But never allow your commitment to truth to become an excuse for actually becoming hateful. Speak the truth with courage, humility, compassion, and love, always pointing people toward Jesus Christ.

And if you are the person hearing the warning, do not become so focused on the messenger that you never examine the message. The person holding the sign cannot condemn you to hell, and neither can the person who shared this Bible study. But God has spoken in His Word, and each of us must decide how we will respond to what He has said. His invitation is still before us: turn and live.

A PRAYER FOR YOU

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us enough to tell us the truth. Thank You that You are holy and righteous, yet rich in mercy toward sinners. Your Word tells us that You have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but desire that the wicked turn from his way and live. Help us never to mistake Your warnings for hatred when those warnings are calling us away from destruction and toward life.

Lord, I pray for the believer reading this study. Give us courage to stand upon Your Word when the world pressures us to remain silent or change what You have said. At the same time, guard our hearts against pride, cruelty, anger, and self-righteousness. Remind us that we are not the Judge and that we have no authority to invent Your standards or condemn people according to our own opinions. Teach us to speak Your truth faithfully and lovingly, with a genuine desire that sinners come to know Jesus Christ.

Father, I also pray for the person reading this who has not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior. Whatever the sin may be, help that person understand that Your warning is not a declaration that he or she is beyond hope. Let Your Holy Spirit bring conviction, open that person’s heart to the truth of Your Word, and lead that person to repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ. Help every one of us to examine our own lives rather than merely identifying the sins of others.

Thank You for sending Your Son to die for sinners. Thank You that forgiveness, cleansing, and eternal life are available through Jesus Christ. May we never hide the seriousness of sin, but may we also never speak of sin without proclaiming the wonderful hope of the Gospel. Help us to speak the truth in love, to stand courageously upon Your Word, and to point people toward the Savior who calls sinners to turn and live.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

CLOSING

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Shalom Shalom.