Dealing with Ancestral Sin

Dealing with Ancestral Sin - Adopted from an article by Asher Intrater

We are all born into a fallen world. From birth, we are affected by our family environment. Bad behavior (sin) will be transferred from one generation to another, even down the third and fourth generations.

“I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.” (Exod. 20:5)

I do not believe that this means that God will punish a child for the parents' sin. Instead, children will pick up the sinful behavior and ways of thinking from their parents and the environment around them, providing a way for the devil to build strongholds of sin in our lives. 

[Eph 4:26-27 NLT] 26 And "don't sin by letting anger control you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger (sin) gives a foothold (place or opportunity) to the devil.

God goes on to tell us that He has provided a way to deal with this problem.

“but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exod. 20:6)

God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, has provided a way to deal with these "ancestral curses" ( generational influences ). There are three primary parts to coping with ancestral curses; confession and repentance, forgiveness, and exercising a believer's authority and power to cut off the devil's opportunities.

1.    First, the issue of sin picked up from an ancestral source must be identified, faced, and confessed.

a.    [Jas 5:16 NASB] 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

b.    [1Jo 1:9 NASB] 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Unconfessed or hidden sin provides the devil with multiple opportunities to build evil strongholds in a person's life. Humans are morally responsible for their behavior and must choose to deal with the sin in their lives.

2.    Next, comes a decision to repent of the sin or sins.

a.    [Act 3:19 NASB] 19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

b.    [Act 17:30 NASB] 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all [people] everywhere should repent,

c.    [Luk 5:32 NASB] 32 "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

d.    [Luk 24:47 NASB] 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

e.    [2Co 7:9 NASB] 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to [the point of] repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to [the will of] God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.

To repent is to change one's mind for better, to wholeheartedly amend with abhorrence and sorrow of one's past sins. “It is changing the mind to hate errors and misdeeds.  It is determining to enter upon a better course of life. A life that embraces both a recognition of sin and sorrow for it and hearty amendment, the tokens and effects of which are good deeds.” (Strongs NT 3341)

3.    Unforgiveness is the next issue.  Unforgiveness is a "barn door" for the devil's activities. Unforgiveness is like a "cancer" that eats away at a person. Anger, rage, despair, great sorrow, and depression are but a few of the issues that can come about because of unforgiveness.  God gave us the gift of forgiveness by His grace through Jesus’ atonement on the cross. He expects us to do the same to those who sin against us.

a.    [Mat 6:12, 14-15 NASB] 12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ... 14 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

b.    [Mat 18:21, 35 NASB] 21 Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" ...

c.    [Mat 18:22 NASB] 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

d.     [Luk 17:4 NASB] 4 "And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Forgiving involves giving up all bitterness and resentment. We forgive others whether or not they change their behavior or atone for their actions. It does not necessarily mean trusting them or continuing to let them hurt or manipulate us.  Forgiving does mean giving up replaying their behavior over and over in our minds. The memory remains, but the emotion involved changes to empathy and concern rather than bitterness, resentment, anger, or other negative emotions.

Forgiving can be very difficult sometimes, especially when the cause is extremely severe. It is at this point when we confess that that kind of forgiveness is just not in us naturally. This kind of forgiveness requires a love for those that hurt us that goes beyond human love. It requires God's limitless and eternal love. When we need this kind of love,  we call out to God to give us His love for the offender; His forgiveness so that we can pass it on to those we need to forgive.

4.    Finally, we need to deal with the spiritual warfare dynamic involved with ancestral sins. These "curses" were dealt with on the cross, just like all other sins. We need to invoke the authority and power Jesus gives us as believers to "cut off" any right the devil thinks he has to torment us because of ancestral issues. Believers have the authority in Jesus' name, and the power of the Holy Spirit to negate any rights the devil thinks he has to torment us due to ancestral sins and to destroy sinful strongholds built on these ancestral issues.

a.    [Mat 16:19 NASB] 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

b.    [Mat 18:18 NASB] 18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

c.    [Luk 24:49 NASB] 49 "And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

d.    [Act 1:8 NASB] 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Words have power in the spiritual realm. By proclaiming the truths of who we are as God's sons and daughters we exercise the power and authority Jesus gives us.  By declaring these truths, we "cut off or loose" the right the devil has to torment us due to ancestral sins.  We can forgive, break all curses, and cancel all bad influences that came from our ancestors.

e.    [Psa 118:10-14 NASB] 10 All nations surrounded me; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 12 They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the LORD I will surely cut them off. 13 You pushed me violently so that I was falling, But the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.

The spiritual lesson from Psalm 118 is that we have the authority and power to bind up and loose us from the attacks of the enemy. To loose (Greek – lyo) is to “loose one bound, i.e., to unbind, release from bonds, set free to do away with, to deprive of authority, whether by precept or act or to declare unlawful.”

We exercise this right by declaring these truths to the powers and authorities that have built strongholds based on ancestral sins and issues. We “cut them off” in the name of our Lord Jesus! We are making known to the devil and his minion that we know who we are and the authority and power we walk in as sons and daughters of God.

f.     [Eph 3:10 NASB] 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly [places.]

Part of dealing with ancestral sins (curses) is redeeming the relationships, specifically between parents and children. Remember the verse that follows Exodus 20:5.

[Exo 20:6 NASB] 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This “lovingkindness” is manifested in the relationships between parents and children when the children honor and esteem their parents.

[Exo 20:12 NASB] 12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Honoring parents brings long life, health, success, and fulfillment of personal destiny. It does not mean continuing to let them abuse or hurt us, agreeing with everything they say or even ask us to do. It does mean respecting them and showing honor. It does mean thanking them for the good things they have done, forgiving them for the bad and wrongs, and speaking good and not evil about them or to them.

In the final analysis, we need to remember that when we are dealing with problems and hurts from others, we are not primarily dealing with the individuals. We are dealing with the evil that has entrapped them and caused their bad behaviors.

[Eph 6:12 NASB] 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.]

Our unforgiveness, anger, rage, and resentment against those that hurt us need to focused on the devil and his minions.  For those that hurt us, unforgiveness needs to change to empathy where God's love can flow through us to heal their wounds.