Ezekiel 3:18-19 -- have you lived it?

[JMJ_Theresa]

Eczekial 3:1819 If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will required at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you will have saved your life.

So…if you see someone committing a mortal sin, and do not rebuke him, then you have committed a mortal sin. This is so hard to do. I see this as a command that we have responsibility to our brothers and sisters to help keep them on track.

So, have you done this, and what was the result?

The times I’ve done this (fewer than I should have), I generally had my head bitten off and nothing changed. But, I felt a sense of relief that I had spoken. I hope people have had better results than I.

 

[tjmiller]

How do we know that the Lord intended the passage you cite to apply to everyone in general, and not simply to the Prophet to whom He was speaking? :ehh:

 

[Della]

tjmiller:

How do we know that the Lord intended the passage you cite to apply to everyone in general, and not simply to the Prophet to whom He was speaking? :ehh:

Well, one of the spiritual acts of mercy is to warn the sinner of his sin. However, how we go about it is another issue, as well as our motivation. No one should relish exposing another’s sins, not even to that person, of course. It ought to give us great sorrow to have to say anything and it ought to be done purely out of love for the sinner’s soul.

 

[JMJ_Theresa]

tjmiller:

How do we know that the Lord intended the passage you cite to apply to everyone in general, and not simply to the Prophet to whom He was speaking? :ehh:

Good question. I wondered if someone would bring that up. Perhaps I should have posted it in scripture. God actually repeats the command twice. He is most emphatic. I would apply to every Baptized person. But, you could interpret it more particularly, I suppose.

However, if we flip it to rebuke the sinner–Assume that we are acting in Charity and doing it in the kindest way possible, have you ever felt convicted to do this?

 

[St.Eric]

JMJ Theresa:

Eczekial 3:1819 If I say to the wicked, you shall surely die, and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will required at your hand. But if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you will have saved your life.

So…if you see someone committing a mortal sin, and do not rebuke him, then you have committed a mortal sin. This is so hard to do. I see this as a command that we have responsibility to our brothers and sisters to help keep them on track.

So, have you done this, and what was the result?

The times I’ve done this (fewer than I should have), I generally had my head bitten off and nothing changed. But, I felt a sense of relief that I had spoken. I hope people have had better results than I.

While I agree with a general sense of duty to point out a brother/sister’s wrongful ways, I have to take issue with the mortal sin comment. We won’t always know if a person is engaging in a mortal sin: we may know the gravity of the specific sin may be grave in nature but we cannot always know if the person gave full consent of their will or if they were aware of the grave nature. So, aside from the mortal sin comment, I would say we have a general responsibility to hold each other up in fellowship and earnestly contend for the faith…

 

[Della]

St.Eric:

While I agree with a general sense of duty to point out a brother/sister’s wrongful ways, I have to take issue with the mortal sin comment. We won’t always know if a person is engaging in a mortal sin: we may know the gravity of the specific sin may be grave in nature but we cannot always know if the person gave full consent of their will or if they were aware of the grave nature. So, aside from the mortal sin comment, I would say we have a general responsibility to hold each other up in fellowship and earnestly contend for the faith…

You’ve hit the nail on the head! Charity demands that we not judge anyone’s culpability, but rather help one another by using gentle words and our own example.