Ezekiel 21 "But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
24 "But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. 29 Yet the Israelites say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?30 "Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!Different covenant but the ways of God don't change. If a man can be considered righteous at his last possible moment, then he can be considered unrighteous at his last possible moment. According to God, this works both ways.
It's a bit trickier than that, but that's the gist. There's a lot of talk in the NT about being saved forever, and the whole thing is a contradictory mess that anyone can prooftext to their heart's content. The only way any of it becomes consistent is by moving the moment of salvation to the moment of death. Once you do that, all of the contradictions melt away.
Of course, the writings of Paul can be confusing about this as well. He speaks of salvation as a present and future state of being. But he's speaking metaphorically. Christians have died and been reborn (baptism). We are sustained by the body of Christ (the bread of the Eucharist), we readily accept the suffering of this earthly existence (the wine of the Eucharist), and we bear our Cross. To Paul, a good Christian has already left the earthly life behind in every way but one. We are literally the walking dead, just waiting for these bodies to perish so we can gain our new ones. That's all symbolic and metaphoric speech, however. We aren't dead until we are actually dead, and until we die we have free will and can reject God, goodness, and righteousness. We can turn away, sin, hate God and blaspheme to our heart's content, and God owes us nothing.
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