Ezekiel 18:21

"But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die."

"Keep all my statutes ..." (Ezekiel 18:21). Note the word all. Again, we see the truth that God is not merely concerned with moral requirements of the holy Law, but with the strict human observance of all of it.

The strong inference here that the passage may indirectly refer to Manasseh occurs in the fact that despite his being such an evil monarch, at the end of his days, Manasseh turned from his sins and returned to the true God.

Regarding Ezekiel 18:21, here, Beasley-Murray stated that, "A man is not only free from the sins of his father, but he may also be free from his own sins, if he so wishes; he can repent and turn away from them."[13]

This passage regarding the possibility of a man becoming free from his own sins has been called, "the most precious word in the whole Book of Ezekiel."[14]

What is God's ultimate objective for human life? It certainly is not the destruction of the wicked. As an apostle said, "God is longsuffering to you-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "God's pleasure is that the wicked should turn from his evil way, and live."[15]

The Calvinistic nonsense that a person "once saved is always saved" encounters here a shocking refutation in the behavior of the righteous man, "who turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and all the abominations that the wicked man doeth (Ezekiel 18:24)." Could such a thing occur? Is the Word of God true?