The Friday of Ember Week in Lent
Posted on February 27, 2026 by under
Scripture: Ezekiel 18:20-28 (NKJV)
18:20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”
Devotion
The Prophet Ezekiel proves that works do not save. It is only faith in the works of the Lord Jesus that bestows salvation. He writes about wickedness and righteousness. These are to be understood as unbelief and belief, for faith and unbelief are what truly make a person righteous or wicked. He drives this point home when he proclaims that when a person turns from righteousness to wickedness all the righteousness that he did is forgotten. If salvation was dependent upon our works, then righteous acts we did would not necessarily be blotted out by our wicked acts. We could still have a ledger of good deeds from which to draw.
That these go away when we lose our faith is proof that we should place no trust in our works. A person cannot rely on his good deeds to save himself. This is why we teach, as the holy Scriptures teach, that salvation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus alone. It is His works and merits to which we cling in faith. His works are perfect. His works are accepted by the heavenly Father. Therefore, we cling to Him and His works, and He bestows them upon us through faith. This faith is gifted to us through the preaching of the Gospel and the blessed Sacraments. Therefore, if we desire to be righteous, we will be where those means are given to us, so that by the working of the Holy Ghost we may be granted saving faith.
Collect: O Lord, be gracious to Thy people, and as Thou makest them devoted to Thee, in Thy mercy comfort them with Thy kind assistance; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Invocavit Sunday
O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
