WWUTT 140 Q&A Do We Inherit the Sins of Our Fathers?

The Bible says that the sins of the father will be passed on to his son. Is that really how we're supposed to understand that? Are we going to have to pay for the sins of our fathers? Well, the Bible directly answers the question when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text, as an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty, visit our website at www .utt .com.

Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Philippians 4:13 and the Upcoming Video on Misused Verses

Thank you, Becky. Working on a what video on Philippians 4 .13. That should be the next video and may even post today, the day that this particular episode of the broadcast is being posted. I don't know.

We'll see how far I get on that. This is a script that I've actually had for a long time. I wrote this at the same time that I wrote the book, 40 of the most popular Bible verses and what they really mean.

Because Philippians 4 .13 is one of the verses that appears in that book. But I just never did anything with the video. So I finally come around back to this video and it should be the video that we'll post next from when we understand the text.

Today is Friday and we're taking a question from a viewer and this one actually doesn't have to do with a video that we've done, but a video that we haven't done yet. It's one that is on the list and I think Lauren makes a good suggestion on pushing that up to the top of the list and get it done.

He says, Pastor Hughes, I greatly appreciate your what ministry. It has been an incredible resource and blessing. Have you ever considered doing a video on Exodus 20, five through six regarding the generational curse doctrine that many will isogeet into that passage?

If you're looking for ideas, this would be a good one. God bless you as you continue your ministry. Well, thank you for the suggestion, Lauren. I think that would be a good one. And just in case anybody doesn't know, I said Jesus means to impose a meaning on the text that you already have in mind.

Exegesis is trying to understand what the text truly means to communicate without any idea being imposed upon it. Okay, so that's what Lauren means there by using the word is a Jesus. Let's go to Exodus 20.

We'll actually read the verse that he's talking about here. Exodus chapter 20 verses four, five and six. This is God laying down the Ten Commandments for Israel, and the second commandment is this. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.

But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Now, we see this similar thing said in other places in scripture. In fact, it comes up again in the book of Exodus in chapter 34 when God is passing before Moses and declaring himself.

God says, the Lord, the Lord, a God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding and 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. This is both a brilliant and an absolutely terrifying passage, because this is the way that God speaks of himself.

If anybody ever asks you, you know, who is God, define who God is. Point them to this passage, Exodus 34, 6 and 7. This is what God says of himself. And we see that statement being said there again, forgiving iniquity and transgression for thousands, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children.

So what are we supposed to make of this? We'll look carefully at the passage and see what it is that God says. Let's go back again to Exodus chapter 20, verse five. You shall not bow down to them, these false idols, or serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

And understand thousands doesn't mean thousands of people. It's thousands of generations. So the mercy and the grace and love of God is that much more powerful than the sin of.

Man.

The Effects of Sin Across Generations

Now, in some sense, we do understand that the sins of the fathers will be passed on to the sons. I am a man who has not experienced divorce in my life. My parents have been married for almost 40 years.

My wife and I set out very early before we got married that the D word would never come up between us. We wouldn't even joke about it. Like it's not even a thing where my wife does something and I go, Oh, I guess I'm going to have to divorce you, honey.

It is a very serious thing. We don't even joke about that. We have a marriage that is built on Christ and the grace that he has shown us is the grace that we will show to one another in our marriage. Now, even though I personally have not experienced divorce, I have seen the ramifications of.

It.

My parents are still married, but my mom's parents were divorced before I was even born, and we have felt the ramifications of that. It has affected me and my siblings. It has affected my children. So we do see the effects of those sins passed on through the generations.

You can observe a father living a certain way and a son learning behaviors from that father and then repeating those same sins. We see that generationally, culturally. We have experienced those kinds of things.

So in some sense, yes, the sins of the fathers are passed on to their children. We've been talking about this even all week long as we've been discussing the doctrine of original sin, Adam sinned, and then all who are descendant from Adam are born into sin and unrighteousness.

Sin is so serious, a thing that it affects everybody. No one sins as an island. You can't sin and expect that it's not going to affect anyone else as much as we like to say things in our culture like, well, I can do whatever I want to do and it's not going to hurt anybody else.

Oh, yes, it does. There is nothing that you can do that does not affect another person. So sin is a very serious thing and we need to understand it seriously. But our God is a merciful God and he is a loving God.

And while we do see the effects of sin affecting other people, we do not inherit somebody else's.

Curse.

So if God has cursed one man and condemned him to hell because he spent his whole life in sin and never repented and came to Christ, the son is not going to have to pay for the same wrath that was incurred upon that father.

Ezekiel 18 and Personal Responsibility Before God

And the Bible directly answers this issue. We see it in Ezekiel chapter 18. It's the whole chapter of Ezekiel that responds to this question. I'm going to go ahead and read the whole thing. You can join with me there if you'd like to.

Ezekiel chapter 18. The word of the Lord came to me, Ezekiel says. What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel? The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.

Now what does that proverb mean? Well, it's addressing the whole of Israel. I mean, it's basically saying our sons are sinning because our fathers sinned. So the sons are going to be cursed just as the fathers were cursed.

And God goes on to say, as I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine. The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine.

The soul who sins shall die. If a man is righteous and does what is right and just, and if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, he does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of impurity.

He does not oppress anyone but restores to the debtor his pledge. He commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment. He does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes and keeps my rules by acting faithfully.

He is righteous. He shall surely live, declares the Lord God. Now if he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood who does any of these things, though he himself did none of these things, who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, lends at interest and takes profit.

Shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be upon himself. Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done.

He sees and does not do likewise. He does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules and walks in my statutes.

He shall not die for his father's iniquity. He shall surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what is not good among the people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

Are you seeing the pattern here? We go on to verse 19. Yet you say, why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father? When the son has done what is right and just and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live.

The soul whose 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 and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live. He shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him.

For the righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live?

None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed. For them he shall die. Yet you say the way of the Lord is not just.

Here now, O house of Israel, is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. For the injustice that he has done, he shall die.

Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all of his transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live.

He shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says the way of the Lord is not just. O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one concerning his own ways, declares the Lord God.

Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God. So turn and live. What a gracious God. What a beautiful chapter, beautiful passage, Ezekiel chapter 18, where we see the prophet go through the generations there, a father who does right, then a son who does wicked, then a son who does righteous.

And in these instances, God is judging each one according to his deeds, not his father's deeds and even the person who does wicked. If he turns from that way and repents of his sin and follows in the righteousness of God, God won't even remember any of his iniquity, but he shall surely live.

What a wonderful, gracious God. None of us should ever say of God that he is unjust. His ways are right and true and perfect. And so repent of your sin and follow in the Lord Jesus Christ who desires that none should perish, but all would come to repentance.

Lauren, I so appreciate your question. And somehow I'm going to take these 15 minutes that we've talked here and turn that into a 90 second video. If you have a suggestion for a video or a question about any of our videos or something that perhaps you have heard on this broadcast, send your questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

I so appreciate you joining me for the 10 to 15 minutes that we come together and talk about the word of God each day. God bless you. And we continue our study of Romans next week, beginning with chapter six.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text. Pastor Gabe is the author of the book, 40 of the Most Popular Bible Verses and What They Really Mean, available in paperback or for your Kindle.

He has also authored a Bible study through the book of 1 Corinthians. Both books can be found at our website at www .tt .com. Join us again next week as we grow together in God's Word when we understand the text.