Ezekiel 18:21-22

“But if the wicked turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do what is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die. None of his transgressions which he has committed will be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done he will live.”

But the course of no man is set in stone. In God's goodness there is always place for repentance. If a man turns from his sin to the way of righteousness he will receive life. Then all his sins will be forgiven him. They will be remembered no more for ever. Because he has been restored to God's way he will live.

This assumes, of course, his returning to God's covenant and coming to God through the means of propitiation and mercy He has provided. That was part of His statutes and laws. Righteousness included righteousness towards God and towards man. It is the attitude of a truly repentant man who receives forgiveness from God through the blood of sacrifice shed for him, and in trust and obedience as a forgiven sinner lives a new life within the covenant. This had to be so for the sake of the righteous as well, for they were most conscious of the fact that they were sinners.