Canceling Generational Sins

Canceling Generational Sins

Just as the act of confession and repentance places an individual in right standing with God, so is the act of confession and repentance for the sins of the ancestors. Confession and repentance are spiritual tools that negate the destructive forces perpetuated from one generation to another in a vicious cycle of sin and death. When a spiritual law is broken, it allows the enemy to take a “foothold” in the person's heart (Ephesians 4:27). It logs itself in the human mind and psyche and becomes an intrinsic part of the person’s character, bringing destruction. Under these circumstances, the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith (Ephesians 6) are no longer impenetrable; the believer is exposed to the flaming arrows of the enemy. 

Sinful behavior feels “natural” to the person. For example, a spirit of pornography, homosexuality, transgenderism, addictions to drugs and alcohol, bouts of anger and rage would feel like an inborn tendency or character traits that are hard to change. From a spiritual perspective, these conditions indicate the presence of an evil spirit. The only way to evict the unwanted spiritual occupier is penitence for committing the sinful offense. One must confess and repent of their own sin and confess and repent on behalf of the ancestors’ sin, all the way down, genealogically, to the last known generation associated with the sin. In the book of Leviticus, God declares that He will forgive his people if “they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers” (Leviticus 26:40). 

Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’ sins they will waste away. But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers—their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. (Leviticus 26:39-42) 

However, if the sins are not confessed and forgiven, they are passed on to the next generation, along with the spirits attached to them. This is a spiritual transaction based on the unmovable principles of the Law. In the spiritual realm, the parents have the highest level of spiritual authority and responsibility over their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). Within the familial unit, parents become conduits of God’s blessings or curses. Rebellious spiritual choices of the parents open doors for evil spiritual entities to establish themselves in their lives and, consequently, in the lives of their offspring. Since the spiritual entities have been allowed to take residence in parents’ lives, that would automatically give them legal permission and access to the children. Thus, from generation to generation, the curse, associated with the sins of the forefathers, is passed onto the third and the fourth generation (Exodus 20:2-6) unless the sin is confessed and repented. 

Consecutive generations suffer because of the sins of their forefathers. To be clear, it is not the sins of the fathers that are passed on to the children; the children are not considered guilty. It is, rather, the consequences of the sins of the fathers that afflict the children. This accounts for what today is known as a hereditary predisposition towards certain practices and behaviors. For example, alcoholism, drugs addictions, promiscuity, sexual deviance, etc., are considered hereditary. The parents’ practice of certain behaviors increases the likelihood of the consequtive generations exhibiting the same behavior. Such behavioral genetics are even considered defense evidence in the court of law that might impact determinations of criminal responsibility and sentencing. The understanding tends to remove the offenders' guilt since they are not responsible for the inborn genetics they had inherited, thus resulting in a lesser penalty. 

From a biblical perspective, the observed behaviors are physical manifestations of spiritual reality. They constitute the spiritual heredity passed on along the bloodline. Within the family, an innocent child is exposed to spiritual entities that influence the parents’ lives. The church sacrament of child baptism (Catholic Church) and child blessing and dedication (Protestant Church) evoke a shield of protection over the child. Nevertheless, daily exposure to a sinful family environment makes the defenseless child a vulnerable target against the spiritual forces of darkness and is more likely to succumb to their assault. This spiritual condition is visually manifested when the child starts exhibiting the parents’ symptomatic behavior.  At this point, the sins of the parent have passed on to the child, who is now fully engaged in the same sinful practice, and as a consequence, just as the parent, the child is placed under the curse of the Law. If the child, as a believer, confesses the sin and turns away from the sinful practice, the child is legally cleared from the penalty of the offense. If the parents, however, never confessed and repented from their sins, their offense creates an outstanding spiritual debt that is transferred to the child, even though the child has been redeemed. The child is not considered sinful, but the child’s life is affected by the ancestors' sins, as described above. This hypothetical spiritual situation may be a possible explanation for the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The only scriptural way to cancel the curses associated with the Law is confession and repentance on behalf of the ancestors (Leviticus 26:39-42), especially the ancestors who are deceased and no longer can do so. 

Daniel (Daniel 9:16), Ezra (Ezra 9:6–7), and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:5; 9:2) practiced the virtue of confession and repentance for the sins of the forefathers. According to the instructions in Leviticus 26:39-42, one must: 1) repent for their own sins and then 2) repent for the sins of their ancestors. The Bible directs us to repent from the guilt of our ancestors because we have inherited the obligation to atone for their mistakes. The physical death of past generations does not cancel the spiritual trespass of the sin committed long ago. They, instead, extend to the next generation as outstanding spiritual debt.