Ezekiel 3:20

Stumblingblock. The purpose of the stumbling block is to arrest the sinner in his downward course and to arouse him to a sense of his danger. When sinners are thus interrupted, the voice of the watchman is needed. A warning at the appropriate moment may cause them to turn from their evil course. Failure to utter the warning may result in their rushing headlong to destruction; hence their blood will be required at the watchman’s hand. Again it is seen how largely God depends upon the cooperation of human beings in His work of salvation (see on v. 18).

And his righteousness. Literally, “and his righteousness,” that is, righteous acts.

There is no support here for the widespread belief that the man who is really and truly righteous cannot fall away so as to be eventually lost. Only those who endure unto the end shall be saved (Matt. 24:13).

Not be remembered. In the plan of God rewards are not calculated on the basis of righteous deeds minus sins, or vice versa. In the case of the righteous man who endures unto the end, the entire record of guilt is blotted out and his reward is determined on the basis of his good deeds; the sinner, on the other hand, finds that none of his righteous deeds are taken into account, when his punishment is assigned (see ch. 18). This explains why, when sins are forgiven, there is not an immediate blotting out. A record is retained until the time of judgment, for if the righteous man should fall and be lost, all his iniquities, whether or not at any time forgiven, are taken into account in calculating his final reward (see COL 251).