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What Does Ezekiel 36:25 Mean?
Ezekiel 36:25-27
This prophecy refers to the Millennium and beyond, when Satan will be bound and thus rendered ineffective in spreading his evil attitudes. At that time, God will repair the damage—first done in the Garden of Eden and in every human heart since—by replacing man's human nature with His Spirit. He will work to change man's heart from a hard, unyielding one to a soft, humble one that will be eager to hear and obey God.
Notice that Ezekiel prophesies that God's Spirit will cause people to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments. God's Spirit provides both motivation and strength to do what is good and right. We do God's work—believing, obeying, overcoming, growing, producing fruit—not by our power and abilities but by His Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). It is readily, freely, abundantly available to those who have believed, been baptized, and received the earnest of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.
But that is not the end of the matter. We must continue to request God's presence in us, our daily Bread of Life, by His Spirit. We must ask, seek, and knock, constantly pursuing God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33). If we do this, He promises to add "all these things," our daily needs.
Jesus tells His disciples just before His arrest, "I am the vine, you are the branches: He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). If we request His presence in us each day and obey Him in faith, we will, by His power, produce astonishing spiritual growth.
Staff
Ask and It Will Be Given
Ezekiel 36:25
Jeremiah's prophecies preceded Ezekiel's, so we see an unfolding of how this will be accomplished. In Jeremiah 5, we find people setting their wills and choosing to forsake God. They cannot sustain the relationship with Him. In Jeremiah 31, God says He will propose a New Covenant, and the flaw will be taken away. Ezekiel 36 takes it one step further by beginning to tell us how this will be done.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Eleven)
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Ezekiel 36:25:
Jeremiah 30:18-20
Ezekiel 22:26
Matthew 5:8
John 3:5
John 6:44
Philippians 2:12-13
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