Practical Application for Canceling Generational Sins

How to Cancel Generational Sins

How do we practically apply the spiritual laws of confession and repentance in our lives? God heard the prayers of the Prophets and accepted them. They operated in the biblical time when the Spirit of God would fall on certain people to fulfill God’s purpose for that time and that historical situation. Today, the Spirit has been poured on all flesh (Joel 2:28; Isaiah 32:15; Ezekiel 39:29; Zechariah 12:10; John 7:39). The power and the authority over spiritual and natural matters have been given to all believers through the victory of Christ on the cross. Because of the cross, we are now judicially positioned to evoke changes in the spiritual and natural realms. 

Spiritual Power and the Spiritual Authority

Upon salvation, power is apportioned to each believer through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Authority is the legal right to exercise this power within our spiritual jurisdictions. The overarching spiritual jurisdiction on earth is Christ. The Church of God is under Christ and is in charge of caring for God’s people. The Church, with its priestly office, forms the horizontal structures. It constitutes a powerful overarching jurisdiction for the protection of God's faithful believers. In their own terms, the believers also represent separate jurisdictions as apportioned within their own families. As the priests and pastors exercise their authority over their congregations and parishes, so can the families exercise their power and authority within their own familial jurisdictions. These sub-levels of jurisdiction within the Church form the vertical structures of power and authority. Christ is the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). Ministers, pastors, priests, and elders are subjected to Christ, functioning as His ambassadors. Families that are part of a church or parish form their jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of Christ our Lord, God, and Savior has an all-encompassing power over all structures and authorities. The believers remain protected and safe as long as they stay under these spiritual jurisdictions.

God assigned extraordinary spiritual jurisdictions within the family. Ephesians 5:21-33 stipulates the relational dynamics within the marriage. The husband himself is under the authority of Christ. These are an imminent part of the vertical structures within the Church of Christ that ensure protection and safety.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:22-24) 

These are God’s appointed authority structures within the family and His Church. As long as family members operate within these structures, they are protected. If they venture outside these structures or altogether reject them, they no longer have God’s full protection because they have placed themselves in the enemy’s territory. Widows and single mothers are directly positioned under the office of the church/parish and ultimately under Christ’s protection and authority. The responsibility to care for the widows and the orphans falls on the Church (Deuteronomy 24:17; Psalm 68:4-6; Proverbs 15:25; 1 Timothy 5:3-16; James 1:27). 

Despite the levels of jurisdictional authority, every believer still has direct access to God (Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:6; 7:26-28; 9:11-12). Believers are endowed with power and authority within their familial boundaries; they constitute a divinely ordained spiritual jurisdiction. Every believer also has unique jurisdiction over their own body and the right to affect changes in their spiritual life. This is “my home—my castle; my body—my life; my soul —my spirit” doctrine upon which every individual may exercise the right of free will and self-determination. Joshua exercised this authority, declaring:

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15b)

Job also made a similar commitment,  

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. (Job 31:1)

Jesus exemplified this marvelous authority, and every believer must model after Him. Commanding spiritual entities within one’s personal jurisdiction is a power in believers’ hands to counteract the schemes of the enemy. Just like Jesus, we must sternly employ the command:

Get behind me, Satan! (Matthew 16:23)

Every child of God, have the power and authority to command evil forces from the spiritual realm that affect their physical and spiritual life. You must put your foot down and say to the spiritual entities that are harassing your life, “Get behind me, Satan!” The spiritual law governing persons’ free will postulates that the spiritual entities must obey. They must vacate the “house” and move away to “arid places” (Matthew 12:43). They must stop harassing and oppressing the believer. This is your God-given, Christ-apportioned spiritual jurisdiction. You have full authority over your life. You are either with Christ or against Him; you either gather with Him or scatter (Matthew 12:30). The choice is yours.

Individuals who have experienced trauma due to physical or sexual abuse within their families are very vulnerable to evil influence. The stronghold of sin over the family must be destroyed, and the curse associated with the sin must be atoned. This stronghold can only be demolished through the spiritual act of confession and repentance for the sins of the fathers/mothers, as Leviticus 26 instructs. 

The practice of sin within the family removes the cover of the God-given spiritual jurisdictional protections and places the individual/family under the jurisdiction of the enemy. For example, if the husband engages in sin, he no longer provides protection over his wife and children. They become vulnerable to the influence of the evil forces. Familial sins serve as a “foothold” for the enemy to do destruction; they give the enemy legal permission to enter and propagate evil (Ephesians 4:27). The only way to reverse this course of destruction and close the “access” door, is to confess personal sins along with parents’ sins, down to the known generations.