Generational Sin and Generational Guilt
Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor
“Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, fand the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
Ezekiel 18:19-20
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
There is a mistaken belief that there are generational curses, generational sin, and generational guilt that are passed on from parents to children until those “curses” are broken and those “sins” are confessed. We could find multiple verses that talk about the sins of the father being passed down to the third and fourth generation. What does this mean and what does it not mean? It does not mean that God holds a person guilty for the sins of others whether parents or culture. We find that a person is guilty of his sin and will be judged based on what he has done in his body. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) This means that the guilt of sin is not passed down and judged.
What does it mean then? Clearly there are consequences of sin and sinful patterns that affect others. A child who is raised in an alcoholic family will deal with very certain and predictable dysfunction that will affect that child as he grows up. There are regular patterns of sinful response to sins that are done to us. These are not automatic, and they are not 100% but they are generally the case. Most of the Old Testament passage are in the context of parents converting to paganism and worshiping idols. A child raised in that environment is likely to grow up and adopt the same beliefs and practices as his parents thereby also incurring God’s judgment. The point of the passage is to show God’s grace in breaking through this “generational” sin with his grace and mercy.
Some people believe that our ancestors’ sins, including our parents not only bring God’s judgment but also there is a curse transferred to us! “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.” (Proverbs 26:2) Here is where we make a fundamental error, who curses us? Does the individual who proclaims a curse have the power in himself to do anything? No. Is it Satan that curses us? No. It is God who brings both blessings and curses on a person! A person can say whatever he wants but he cannot force God to do what he doesn’t want to do! Just because someone curses you, does God bring a curse down upon you? No. We do not have the power to create, only to declare what God is or is not doing. So, if you brought God’s judgment on yourself no one can stop it. And if you are a blessed child of God, absolutely no one can bring down God’s curse on you no matter how hard he tries!
Let me throw this in there because it is a cultural hot topic. You cannot be guilty of the sins of your parents or ancestors. Guilt is an individual reality. You are guilty of the sins you commit. You can feel grief over the sins of your ancestors, but you are not responsible for their sinful choices. We can be sad or angry over sins of the past, but we cannot be held accountable for them. You cannot be inherently guilty of something based on an immutable characteristic such as your eye color or the color of your hair. If you could be guilty there would be no repentance and no absolution possible. The best you could do is perpetual penance in this life. You can try to see that we do not repeat the sins of the past and that we move towards a more just society, but we do not have to atone for what previous generations have done.
