Ezekiel 18:24

18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. ¹ 

Ezekiel 18:26

18:26 When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; ²  because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die.

Ezekiel 33:12-13

33:12 “And you, son of man, say to your people, ³  ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him if he rebels. ⁴  As for the wicked, his wickedness will not make him stumble if he turns from it. ⁵  The righteous will not be able to live by his righteousness ⁶  if he sins.’ ⁷  33:13 Suppose I tell the righteous that he will certainly live, but he becomes confident in his righteousness and commits iniquity. None of his righteous deeds will be remembered; because of the iniquity he has committed he will die.

Matthew 12:43-45

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ⁸  an unclean spirit ⁹  goes out of a person, ¹⁰  it passes through waterless places ¹¹  looking for rest but ¹²  does not find it. 12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ¹³  When it returns, ¹⁴  it finds the house ¹⁵  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ¹⁶  12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹⁷  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Luke 8:15

8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹⁸  the word, cling to it ¹⁹  with an honest and good ²⁰  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ²¹ 

Romans 2:7-8

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ²²  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²³  and do not obey the truth but follow ²⁴  unrighteousness.

Hebrews 10:38

10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I ²⁵  take no pleasure in him. ²⁶ 

Hebrews 10:2

10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have ²⁷  no further consciousness of sin?

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

[18:24]  ¹ tn Heb “because of them he will die.”

[18:26]  ² tn Heb “for them” or “because of them.”

[33:12]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

[33:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “in the day of his rebellion.” The statement envisions a godly person rejecting what is good and becoming sinful. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:247-48.

[33:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble in it in the day of his turning from his wickedness.”

[33:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “by it.”

[33:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the day of his sin.”

[12:43]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ⁹ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females. This same use occurs in v. 45.

[12:43]  ¹¹ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[12:43]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[12:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ¹⁵ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ¹⁶ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[12:45]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[8:15]  ¹⁸ tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

[8:15]  ¹⁹ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

[8:15]  ²⁰ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

[8:15]  ²¹ sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.

[2:8]  ²² tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[10:38]  ²⁵ tn Grk “my soul.”

[10:38]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[10:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the worshipers, having been purified once for all, would have.”