Finishing Well

Ezekiel 33:12 states, "The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness. . . "

This verse and the next few verses after it deal with the fairness of God's judgment, to which the children of Israel took issue. Verse 17 states, "Yet the children of your people say, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' But it is their way which is not fair!" I read this passage over and over again, and though it may not be the main point of the passage, there was one point that kept hitting me--It's not how you start that matters, but how you finish! In this marathon race of the Christian life, we have to be prepared for the long haul lest we peter out midway, or worse, right before the very end. No wonder the bible says to "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) For the righteous, there is no resting on any laurels just because they think they are saved. Verse 13 of Ezekiel 33 states, "When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die." For the true believer who is clothed with the righteousness of Christ, there is still the long road of sanctification, but with that comes the confidence that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6) As for the wicked, there is always hope for salvation even until the very end of a life spent in wickedness. That is the amazing grace of an unfair God!