What does the Bible say about personal accountability and the influence or responsibility of parents? Is there such a thing as generational sin? Are some children doomed to live certain lifestyles or to suffer the spiritual consequences of their parents’ sins?
Conversely, is there anything parents can do to guarantee their children will be followers of Christ? Where does a parent’s responsibility come in and where does it end?
Today’s Readings:
Ezekiel 17 & 18
Psalm 124.1-8
Proverbs 28.21
Hebrews 9.1-28
Parenting, Generational Sin & Personal Accountability
Ezekiel 17 & 18:
The Person Who Sins Will Die
If you have been involved with other Christians long enough, you have probably heard the term generational sins. Some believe that children can suffer the spiritual consequences of their parents’ sins. But I believe that is a misunderstanding of Scripture. I’ve written more extensively about that subject in “Sins of the Fathers.”
But for now, let’s look at Ezekiel 18.20:
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
If you read the whole passage, it talks about a wicked man who has a godly son and a godly father who has a wicked son and continues through several generations. Each person had a choice. The same is true today. Ungodly parents cannot prevent a child from coming to know the Lord. Each individual must accept or reject the gospel, the only remedy for sin, on his or her own.
On the other hand, the children of Christians are not saved because their parents are believers or because they were raised in a Christian home. Again each person stands alone in their response to the things of God. And God is well able to get the truth to anyone with a heart to know and understand.
Our Responsibility as Parents
Of course, we are responsible before God to be faithful in our parenting. That means personally living out the gospel and the Christian life with God’s help. It means allowing our children to see us pray, read our Bibles, and rely on God and His grace.
It also means teaching them God’s principles, sharing the gospel in age-appropriate ways, taking them to church, and obeying Galatians 6.4 to raise them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
But we are only responsible to be faithful. We must trust God with the results understanding that there are three factors at work in our children’s lives: our parenting, their wills, and the Holy Spirit’s work. We are only responsible for one of those. And, even then, we must rely on God’s grace and forgiveness when we do it imperfectly.
For more on this subject, you might want to read, “Are You Looking for a Parental Guarantee?”
Our Own Past
Ungodly parents can’t, ultimately, keep their children from accepting the gospel, and neither can anything in our past prevent us. Verses 21-23:
21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Look at verse 23 again. Notice God takes no pleasure in seeing the wicked die and go to hell. In fact …
God So Loved the World
In fact, John 3.16-18 says:
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
God loved us enough to send His Son to suffer and die in our place. Nothing in our pasts is beyond His forgiveness and grace. But we must turn to Him in humility, confess our sins, and put our faith in what Christ did on the cross. If you’re not sure you fully understand what that means, you might check out one of these posts:
“Do You Live with a Sense of Guilt?”
“Could You Be a Christian in Name Only?”
And may those of us who have been saved because of His work on the cross be willing to share that truth with those who have not yet turned from their sins.
If you missed it, you might want to read yesterday’s post, “Will We Be Salt and Light or Swallowed Up by the Darkness?”
Today’s Other Readings:
Psalm 124.1-8:
He is the Way
Our help is in the name of the Lord (v. 8).
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4.12).
More reminders of the importance of believing and sharing the gospel. Because there is no other way (Jn. 14.6). We cannot be saved through our good works, church involvement, or, as I said above, because we were raised in a Christian home. Our salvation must be based on the truth of the gospel and our faith in it (Eph. 2.8-9).
Proverbs 28.21:
The Steep & Slippery Path of Sin
To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.
Sin is never satisfied. Unless repented of and forsaken, sin will take you on a downward spiral. The man who once transgressed for a bribe, after he has seared his conscience, will do it for a mere piece of bread.
Hebrews 9.1-28:
The Perfect Lamb of God
The writer of Hebrews continues his comparison of the old covenant and the new. He explains in this chapter, among other things, how the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were insufficient and only a shadow of things to come and, finally, how Jesus Christ was the perfect Lamb of God!
Coming Up:
In the next few days, we’ll discuss the danger of playing spiritual games, whether church attendance is necessary or optional, trusting God in suffering, and the key to the Christian Life.
I hope you’ll join us.
Getting ready for 2025:
The holidays are just around the corner and the new year will be on us before we know it. What will you do to make Bible reading an ongoing habit in the coming year? I’d like to encourage you to set a goal to read through the Bible again or for the first time. If you join me, I’ll take you through a plan that covers both the Old and New Testaments in about 15 minutes a day. You can read each day’s post or watch as I read through the passages on YouTube. Sign up here for my daily email. It has links to the written post and the YouTube video. And it can serve as a gentle reminder to stay on track and I believe you’ll benefit from the additional information I share and grow as you learn to apply God’s Word to your own life.
You can check out our YouTube channel here.
If this post spoke to you, I would love it if you would share it on your favorite social media platform.
Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥
Note about this post:
I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer.
A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”
I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)
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