Can a Christian Be Under Generational Curses? // Veracity Fount

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Tabaaza Podcast: Truth for a Dark World, where we bring you Christian content that we hope is very helpful to you in your daily Christian life.

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Today in the studio, I have with me a very good friend of mine — a missionary, probably one of the best Bible expositors in Uganda, and a wonderful and dear friend — Mr. Grace Noowe. You’re welcome.

Grace: Thank you very much, Mark.

Mark: It’s good to have you on this podcast. Maybe tell us about yourself and a bit about what you do.

Grace: Yeah, thank you for having me. My name is Grace Noowe. I serve with a ministry called Global Link Afrika. Global Link Afrika is an indigenous mission agency — indigenous in the sense that we are Ugandans, and we are raising Ugandans to be missionaries and take the gospel to the ends of the earth. So it’s a local mission that is thinking global in terms of the Great Commission.

Our call is to do three, four things: to identify people who should be missionaries, to equip them through training and apprenticeship, to link them with opportunities in Uganda, across Africa, and across the world, and to partner with the church to send them as missionaries — send them and support them as missionaries.

So that’s what I do with Global Link Afrika. I serve there as the Director for Mobilization and Church Relations. So, privileged to be here today and to be hosted by you, and looking forward to the conversation.

Mark: Yeah, indeed, I’m looking forward to the conversation as well.

Today, we have a very interesting conversation. This is one of those conversations that is very, very common in our churches — in pretty much almost every church that you go to — and this is generational curses. What are they? And also, closely related to that: generational sin.

I’m sure, wherever you’ve been, you’ve heard about generational curses, generational sins — your family, some of the things you’re suffering are because of your ancestors and, you know, what they did. So today, we are really here to discuss that and find out: What really are these generational curses and sin? Are they real? Do they exist? How do they affect us, if they do?

And, you know, we’re looking at them from the biblical perspective. As we always do with everything that we discuss here, we go to Scripture to find out exactly what the Bible says.

So, we’ll start, I think, with generational sin, because I don’t think you can come to the curses before you get to the generational sin.

What is generational sin? I always hear these terms, people mentioning these things — generational sin, generational curses. What is a generational sin?

Grace: I think it’s a good place to start with: What is sin?

Mark: Uh-huh.

Grace: What is sin? And then, how does sin become generational?

And again, we come back to Scripture. What is the origin of sin?

Precisely put, sin is missing the mark — and the mark that is set by God. It is leading a life that is on a tangent away from what God initially purposed it to be.

In the beginning, we read in the Bible that God created the heavens and the earth. Then, on the sixth day, God said, “Let us make man in our likeness.” (Gen 1:26)

That was a purpose statement. How does God look like? We read in Ephesians 1 that He is holy and blameless. And so, He intended that man should look like Him — in a sense, man should be holy and blameless.

He placed man in a garden — a beautiful garden — and gave him some precise instructions on how to live in this garden.

Mark: Mhm.

Grace: And Adam and Eve veered away from these instructions, and in that way, sinned against the purpose of God for creating them. And it is from there that all the descendants of Abraham — oh, of Adam — Adam, remember, was commissioned to multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and…

Mark: have dominion over it.

Grace:…have dominion over it.

And now, as a sinful Adam, he did precisely that — he multiplied sinful people like himself and filled the earth. So, sin has basically come down as, naturally, what would happen: every species produces after its own kind. And a sinful Adam now begets a sinful generation.

And precisely speaking from Scripture, we pick sin from the offense of Adam and Eve against God — and, by extension, the curse.

Mark: Ah, okay. So now then, that brings us to… so in that sense, that’s how sin, in a sense, becomes generational — because of what Adam did, and it has passed on from him to all his posterity?

Grace: All his posterity, indeed. We receive the DNA of sin from Adam.

Mark: From Adam.

Grace: And so, we are sinful. We have offended the glory of God. We have veered from the original purpose of God, and we are pursuing other things.

Mark: Other things. And so then, you said that’s where the curse comes from. So then what is — so we hear this term also — generational curses. Is it the same thing as the curse that comes as a result of sin, that we see God pass down in Genesis 3? Or is this a different type of curse?

Maybe you can start by defining to us what a generational curse is, in that aspect — or maybe in the aspect with regard to our sin?

Grace: Well, chronologically, as Adam and Eve eat the fruit — Genesis chapter 3, verse 13 — just ahead of us reading the word curse for the first time in the Bible, we see where that comes from. It comes from deception.

And God asks Adam, “What have you done?” Adam says, “This woman you gave me…” And then God asks the woman, “What have you done?” The woman says, “The serpent… the serpent deceived me, and I ate of the fruit.”

So, prior to the curse is always deception. Man was deceived and veered off God’s purpose. And the following verses say, God said to the serpent, “You’re cursed above all creation.” (Gen 3:14) And subsequently, the woman is cursed, the man is cursed, the ground is cursed because of man.

And at verse 23, man and woman are banished from the land of paradise and are sent to the hustle. And an angel is set at the east of the garden to stop them from accessing the tree of life.

So, literally, the curse is a separation from God — from a relationship with God

Mark: As He intended it.

Grace: as He intended it originally: to be in fellowship with man.

So that curse then comes because of sin. It’s a consequence of sin. And wherever sin is, curse will be.

Cursed is everyone that sins. And the Bible says that everyone who sins will die. And the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23)

Grace: So, if you think of the generational curse, you should start with generational sin. You should actually start from sin. But, of course, let me make this comment — the trouble we have, the biggest trouble we have, is the way we read the Bible. Because the Bible, is the one that is being used to teach generational curses and how we should deal with them.

Mark: Mhm. So, before we go there — so, we’ve had that definition of what generational curses and sin is — how are people defining it now, when they use those terms? Because I’m not sure whether they define them the same.

Grace: So, today, when somebody is talking about a generational curse, they are talking about the misfortunes that befall them and are traceable in their line.

So — my grandfather was a polygamist, my father ended up as one, and I’m ending up in adultery. And so, I’m following after my line. Or — my great-grandfather was a drunkard, and my uncle is a drunkard, and I can see I am abusing alcohol, and so is my son.

So, these bad things that seem to be traceable in the line of family are called generational curses.

Curses — why? Because they are painful, because they are difficult, because they are undesirable.

A curse is a solemn pronunciation by a divine being, spelling bad fortune. And so, when we say generational curses, we’re talking about these unfortunate things — undesirable things — that are evident in our families and can be traced to several generations. That’s the definition that we have tagged to these generational curses.

Mark: And often what I tend to hear — as in, from what you have said — the generational sin is a result of Adam. And that curse comes as a result of sin. And it is God who does that curse. He curses the serpent, He curses the woman, the man, and ultimately the ground — pretty much all of creation.

Grace: Mhm, yeah.

Mark: Today’s generational curses are quite different, in that it seems to be: God has done something… and Satan is the one who’s doing something.

Grace: Yeah. Satan is cursing — is the cause of the curse we are suffering. So we are under a spell and we need to break that spell.

And the idea is: how do we break the spell? We pray, we fast, we go for deliverance,

Mark: We bind and loose.

Grace: There are many things we are told we can do to break the cycle of the spell of a curse that is resting upon us.

Mark: So basically, the way people define it — a generational curse is anything that causes either pain, or loss, or lack, as a result of not something I’ve done, but really something that started from my great-great-grandfathers down the line.

Grace: Precisely. This is not my fault. I’m a victim. A victim — my forefathers messed up, and here I am suffering.

Mark: So, I’m a drunkard because my father was a drunkard.

Grace: Yes,

Mark: Okay. So, where does this come from? What’s the origin — as in, the people who teach this — where do they get this from?

Grace: The people who teach this claim get it from the Bible, and that claim is unfounded. The reason it is unfounded is because of the way they approach the Bible.

Mark: Mhm.

Grace: Because we are preoccupied with the strife and struggle we are having in this world, we want to solve it. And everything that seems to solve that appeals to us.

So, the Bible is approached in two basic ways. If I use contemporary examples — we go to the Bible as one would go to a pharmacy. You go there looking for Paracetamol because you have a headache, or you go there looking for Flagyl because you feel your tummy has been disturbed. You go there looking for an ointment because you fell down and bruised your knee or something.

So, we go to the Bible in that way.

Mark: To find a remedy for something causing pain in my life.

Grace: Some pain, some problem. And the Bible is going to say something about it, and it’s going to get resolved.

Mark: So basically, the Bible becomes a Panado!

Grace: It’s a pharmacy where we go to solve problems.

But then other people approach the Bible as a supermarket, and they’re looking for a snack — something to make them feel good. “While I’m here, I’m looking for a verse that will stir up my spirit. I go to Jeremiah 29:11 — ‘I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you’ — and I feel edified.”

And those two ways of approaching Scripture make it very difficult for us to hear what Scripture is saying. We end up hearing what we were looking for.

And I think that is the primary struggle that we have.

So, let’s come back to generational curses.

The basic anchoring Scriptures are Exodus 20 — when God is giving the commandments to the nation of Israel — and Exodus 34, where God is introducing Himself to the nation.

Mark: Yeah

Grace: In the Ten Commandments, He says: “You shall not worship any other god but Me, because I am a jealous God. I visit the sins of the fathers to their sons — third and fourth generation.”

Mark: So it’s basically because of the word generation there?

Grace: Yeah. So we pick that word generation, and then say: “Generational — I am — I’m a victim. This has been coming, I can trace it.”

Exodus 34 — He now introduces His name to Moses, and He says: “I am the Lord, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love — but punishing every sin to the third and fourth generation, and showing steadfast love to a thousand generations.”

Mark: Generations, yeah.

Grace: And so, we read generation again. We read punishment, visiting iniquity to the third and fourth generation, and we say, “Ah! I am having these problems. It’s for sure coming down the line.”

Mark: But when He says visiting iniquity, doesn’t He mean punishing sin — you know, the consequences of sin, in a sense — to the third and fourth generation?

Grace: Precisely.

Mark: So He’s not saying that your generation will be sinful to the third and fourth generation.

Grace: Yeah, precisely.

Mark: So, for me — who’s in the fourth generation, who is sinful — God is not actually… it’s my idea.If you follow the logic of that verse, it should be that the ones who come after will suffer the consequences — not that they will fall into the same sin.

Grace: Exactly. Now, where the real challenge comes: when you approach the Bible as a pharmacy or as a supermarket, you miss something very foundational. You miss what the Bible is saying.

The Bible is God introducing Himself to us — how He relates with humanity, what His purpose is, how He would have us live, and what He blesses and what He curses.

And so, the Bible is telling us who God is and how He wants us to relate with Him.

Now, think in terms of blessings and curses. What attracts a curse? What attracts a blessing?

Mark: So: obedience — blessing. Sin — the curse.

Grace: Call it disobedience.

Mark: Okay. Disobedience…

Grace: Disobedience — a curse.

And we would start now from there: I am disobedient. So what do I deserve? A curse. I’m actually a candidate for a curse because of my disobedience. That’s where I should start from — before my father and grandfather. I am following in their disobedience.

Mark:  Not that I am suffering and my sin is a result of their disobedience — but rather, I am following.

Grace: Exactly. So, we take lessons again from the Bible. Think about the nation of Israel. You have Saul as king of the united kingdom. You have David — a man after God’s own heart — as a king of the united kingdom. Then you have Solomon.

And then Solomon does exactly what Exodus 20 is forbidding: “You shall not worship other gods.” And when Solomon sets up altars for other gods, what happens? The kingdom is split, and we have Jeroboam as king of the northern kingdom.

So we read — we read in 2 Kings chapter 13, verse 6 — we read that the Samaritans, the people in Samaria, did not depart from the sin of Jeroboam. So they were consistent with that sin, and so that sin followed down the line.

Mark: And so God was not punishing them because of Jeroboam’s “generational curse,” as we understand it, but rather for continuing…

Grace: Continuing in that sin. It’s that sin which attracts the curse to them.

Mark: Yeah.

Grace: Now again, as you continue reading Scripture — if you’re reading in Zechariah — the prophet Zechariah is reminding Israel and saying, “God is saying, return to me, and I will return to you. Don’t be like your forefathers, who listened to the prophets and refused to turn away from their evil ways.” (Zechariah 1:4)

So, there is a turning away. And so, you have a responsibility — as much as your grandfather had a responsibility. In his time, he had an opportunity to turn away — he didn’t. In your time, you have an opportunity to turn away. God is calling.

So the responsibility actually comes squarely on you. You’re not being punished literally on behalf of your grandfather — but you’re being punished for yourself because you are a sinner.

Mark: Yeah — you are not departing from the sins of your ancestors.

Grace: You are not departing from the sins of your ancestors.The Bible still also teaches.

Mark:  So, that brings me to a passage I think most people have no idea exists in the Bible, which deals directly with this particular issue: Ezekiel 18.

Grace: Yes.

Mark: I think the whole chapter is really to address that issue. And I think it starts off because the children of Israel were suffering the consequences of their own actions, and they were blaming their fathers for that — for the captivity that was coming upon them and everything.

And I think it starts off by saying, “What is this saying that I hear, that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?” (Ezekiel 18:2)

Grace: They had coined a proverb.

Mark: Yeah.

Grace: They had coined a proverb that was, in a nutshell, explaining why they are where they are — saying, “Our fathers ate grapes, our teeth are being set on edge.” And God is saying through Ezekiel: That is not true.

If you go down to chapter 20, He will say that, “No father will be guilty of the sin of his son, nor will any son be guilty of the sin of his father. Every man will be guilty of their own sin.” (

We read the same in Deuteronomy, actually. Ezekiel is referencing the words of Moses in Deuteronomy.

And that now sets us up… God is saying He is going to pass down these curses to the third and fourth generation…

Grace: The same God is saying, “I will not punish a father for the son’s sin, neither will I punish a son for the father’s sin.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

Is God contradicting Himself?

Mark: Ah — yeah, go on. Is He? ’Cause I’m sure many of us — yeah — you read that passage, and then you see this…

Grace: Right, there is where you see that “collision.” It’s because you started using the Bible for a different purpose.

So, let’s go back to these passages. When you go to Deuteronomy or to Exodus 34, what is at stake when God is saying: “I am the Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, blessing those who are obedient to a thousand generations, but by no means will I let sin go unpunished. I will punish it to the third and fourth generation”? (Exodus 34:6)

What is at stake in that verse?

When I go to the Bible as a pharmacy, I say, “What I’m suffering right now is as a result of my grandfather’s sin. It is coming down to me.” But if I look at that verse closely — what is at stake is not me. It’s not the predicament. The complication is not my curse.

The complication is God’s character.

Because God is introducing Himself in that chapter. He is saying, “This is who I am.” 

Mark: I will not let sin go unpunished. 

Grace:I will not let any sin go unpunished. 

Mark: But I’ll be merciful. 

Grace: Yet I will forgive every sin.”

And then — yeah — so you say, how will this happen? How can He punish me completely for my sin, and at the same time forgive me for all of my sin?

Mark: ’Cause if He’s to punish you for all your sin — really, He would crush you.

Grace: Yes. I’d be finished.

Mark: Yeah, I’d be no more.

Grace: In fact, if He forgives my sin…

Mark: Then He’s not just

Grace: …then I’m not going to be punished.

Marke: I’m not going to be punished — and, in a sense also — what is… He has somehow managed to write off sin without punishing it,

Grace: and that also would contradict what He has just said.

Mark: Yes, exactly.

Grace: So, the question would be: How will God do these two things, which seem contradictory — and opposite?

That is the biggest dilemma. And we miss that dilemma by going to generational curses. No — we find ourselves in that verse and say, “Oh, I am suffering because of the generations.”

No — that verse is not just about you and your suffering.

Mark: It’s actually introducing God Himself. It’s introducing how God works in His world. How God deals with sin.

Grace: He deals with sin with mercy and grace. He deals with sin with justice and punishment. And all those must be fulfilled.

Mark: And I think we see the culmination of those two at the cross.

Grace: Yes — so, at the cross, right there, the two happen.

The wrath of God is poured out for sin — on Jesus.

The mercy of God and the grace of God is delivered to the sinner who will receive it and be saved.

So God remains consistent with His Word. His Word will never go unfulfilled. He does not lie. If He says, “This is who I am,” — indeed, that is who He is.

So, concluding that point — again, pharmacy and supermarket analogy: what is at stake?

Is it the curse and the pain I’m suffering, or is it the wrath of God?

Those verses are just telling us: the wrath of God against sin will crush and punish sin wherever it is found. And the mercy of God will come for the sinner, wherever he is.

Mark: There’s that verse: “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”(James 2:13) So — and I guess, from what you’re saying — you see God, in a sense, promising mercy upon the people who are undeserving, and also justice against the people who have rebelled against Him.

So, it has nothing to do, really, with the generational curses.

Grace: It’s not the generational curse. It is God introducing Himself. And as we go on through Scripture, we will see God vindicating His name, vindicating His identity.

He is saying, “This is who I said I am. Now you’re going to see how I’m going to prove that this is actually who I am — this is how I deal with humankind.”

Mark: In that passage — in the two passages, Exodus 20 and Exodus 34 — yeah, we see… everyone who preaches about that passage, as we have seen, really, it’s not generally about that.

But everyone who preaches about that passage concentrates on the third and fourth generation.

But God has promised to be merciful to a thousand generations of those who love Him.

Why is it that no one ever… so why can’t I be one of those who are in the thousand generations?

Why — why do people have to be… the people who preach that — why do they have to be among the third and fourth generation?

Why can’t they preach about themselves being in the thousand generations?

Grace: Two reasons.

The first reason is that they go to that Scripture looking for themselves,

Mark: To find the reason for their suffering?

Grace: To explain away their suffering and their sin.

And so, the only place they fit is the third and fourth generation.

They say, “I’m struggling because the curse is coming down on me…”

But the second reason is that — um — we are very idolatrous. And actually, if there was no pain, we would not need God.

Mark:  Yeah

Grace: We would not need God.So, we are thinking that God should come into our circumstances to resolve things. It’s not about Him — it’s really about us. It’s about us. And so when they are reading that passage, they miss God, and instead discover themselves — discover their problems — and then proceed to prescribe a way out of those problems, ironically outside what God is saying.

Because they are not seeking God, they are seeking a solution to the problems they have enlisted — and which they have decided to brand as generational curses. And so they are trying to work their way out of them.

Preaching that passage faithfully would highlight how God is so gracious and so merciful — even more — that He is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love that doesn’t change from generation to generation. And He will bless those who are loyal to Him for a thousand generations. What a blessing!

Mark: But we concentrate —

Grace: We glean over that and go to the fourth generation, spend all the time on the four generations, rather than on the thousand generations of blessings.

Mark: One of the things that has really perturbed me about this teaching is — you find that it’s Christians who are crying about generational curses. Yet, if I was to read Exodus 20 logically, they should be the ones talking about the blessing.

So, if the Christians are the ones who are suffering these curses — as these people claim — then there should be no one getting the blessings. Because if a Christian can’t get the blessing of God, no one should be.

Because if you read Exodus 20 — say from verse 5 — “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

That’s what a Christian is! As in — someone who was initially rebellious but now has come to love the Lord God and to live obediently by the power of the Spirit, as a result of the work of God in that believer.

So — I’m sure you get my conundrum. Because — you should be on this other side rather than on that side.

Grace: And you see, 1 John chapter 5 will explain that: “This is how we know that we love God — when we obey His commandments.”

The relationship with God — of love and obedience — which should be the sweet experience of a Christian: “My sins are forgiven. I am now adopted as a son. And I am happy to love and serve my Master.” — is not my greatest aspiration or longing.

My longing is to dispose of these pains. My relationship with God is very transactional — and very sad.

And so we don’t even appreciate what the cross achieves for us. What is the death of Christ? What is its implication on the curse of sin?

Mark: Now that you brought in that aspect of sin — and we spoke about it earlier — Exodus 34, where God is revealing Himself, and you have that conundrum of a God who is merciful, and at the same time will not clear the guilty.

So how is God merciful to me, yet at the same time He says, “I will not clear the guilty.” As in, “I will not let sin go unpunished.”

So — I think we said that then comes — we see that in the cross. And so we have passages — Isaiah 52 and 53 — which really bring that and highlight that, on how that curse is broken.

Perhaps you can tell us a bit — for a Christian, or for me, I’ve become born again — people have been telling me I’m under a curse. How is this curse broken?

Grace: So, Jesus explains to us what the cross will achieve for us. And we have memorized and we remember John 3:16.

Mark: Yeah.

Grace: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”

Mark: It’s one of the — by the way — one of the most popular verses in the world. Actually, I think it’s the most popular worldwide, generally.

So — “…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Grace: Now — we have not read verses 14 and 15.

Mark: Mhm.

Grace: Verse 14 — Jesus says, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” That’s verse 15.

“For God so loved the world…” —

Mark: So that “for God” is actually tied to Him hanging on the tree. So that whoever looks on Him…

Grace: when we believe in Him and His sacrifice on the cross, we are no longer candidates of the curse. We are now children of God — because we have believed, we have had faith in Him.

Mark: Mhm.

And many Christians miss that reality, and then they think they are going now to do some things to take away the curse. But He has taken the curse away, so what curse is still remaining?

Mark: Yeah, actually, I’ll just read also Galatians 3, where He speaks about taking away—exactly about similar to that—Galatians chapter 3, verse 13:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree,’ so that in Christ the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

Grace: And we would say, amen.

Even Colossians 2, and in Colossians 2 He says that all the requirements of the law have been fully met. So there is no charge against me in regard to the curse; I am now free because I have died with Christ by faith. I have been buried with Him, and I rise with Him, free from even the sting of death.

And then 1 Corinthians 15 will say, “Where, oh death, is your victory? Where, oh death, is your sting? Thanks be to God, we have the victory.”

And this should be the joy of the Christian—that by the death of Christ, I have been ushered into blessings of thousands of generations. But I missed that beautiful promise of God, and I am now ushered into a place where I am going to work out these things. I’m going to spiritually map; I am going to pray and fast for so many days overnight; and I’m doing these things—yet there’s no precedent for that. I’m supposed to simply look, look, look up.

Just remembering the story in Numbers 21 that Jesus is alluding to again—not reading our Bible well—the context of Numbers 21 is that the children of Israel have…

Mark: …sinned against God.

Grace: They sinned against God, and God has sent serpents, fiery serpents—the Bible says. They are biting them, and many are dying. That reminds us of the curse on the serpent: the serpent will bruise the heel of the seed of a woman, and the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

But look what happens: God sends serpents; they bite the Israelites; they begin to die; and they cry to Moses, “Please pray to the Lord to take away these serpents.” And God hears that prayer. You would be amazed at how He answers it. He had the power to take away the serpents, but His own would send. Yeah, His own would send them. So He doesn’t send away the serpents. Instead, He tells Moses, “Make a bronze serpent, hang it on the tree. Whoever will be bitten by the serpent and looks at the hanging snake, his life will be preserved.”

Are the serpents still around? Yes. Will they bite? Yes. Do they have venom? Yes. But whenever that happens, look at the hanging serpent again and again.

Mark: And that’s where your hope should be, in that.

Grace: My hope is in the cross, is in the hanging serpent. So Jesus says, “Just as the serpent hung, so am I going to hang. Whoever has faith in what I’m doing on the cross will be saved.”

So will I be tempted? Sure. Will I fall? Sometimes. But even when I do, I look up—the cross. That’s where my hope is, the hope of my salvation.

So precisely, we need a Savior. We need a Savior because we cannot save ourselves. We cannot pray away the curse. We cannot pray away the serpents. We cannot fast them away. We cannot spiritual map them. And we cannot preserve ourselves against them. The only thing we can do…

Mark: When He bites—the only thing that stops you from death—is the preserving effect of looking at, looking at—and Jesus relates that to believing in Him.

Grace: Yeah. And so we say, “Jesus paid it all, and all to Him we owe.” So where is the curse?

Mark: So in that sense then, all our suffering, all the things which people are going to break, in a sense, redirect us to see our own weaknesses, our fallenness, our failures, and our need for a Savior—to always keep our eyes on the one who hung on the tree.

Grace: So true. And Jesus prayed for us this way in John 17: “I pray for them also, not that You remove them from this world, which is full of evil, but that You will protect them against the evil in the world.” And so we are living in the world where evil has not yet been taken away, where serpents still live and they still bite, and they have venom. We are living in a world that is fallen, but we are looking forward to the day when there will be no more weeping, and no more mourning, and no more death—that is the second coming.

Mark: Revelation 21:21.

Grace: So we are looking forward to that day, and we can live through this difficult day with hope because our Savior overcame.

Mark: Ah, that’s nice. That’s really powerful.

So what are some of the dangers you’ve seen with this doctrine? Because, especially people blaming their sins on—uh, “well, yeah, I’m like this because my grandfather, and my grandfather before that, my great-grandfather; I’m like this because my uncle.” As in, basically, there’s—you know, it’s not me, there’s something else.

What are some of the dangers of this?

Grace: I will highlight two.

The first one is self-righteousness. So Jesus said, “It is the sick that needs the doctor,” (Luke 5:31-32) and for us, it’s the one who is conscious of their wretchedness and sinfulness that needs a Savior.

When we still think we can do something about it, then we don’t need a Savior whom we are going to help. It is the completely helpless sinner that comes to the cross and cries for mercy, and that one will receive mercy from God.

So there’s a diminishing of what the cross means for a Christian life—that’s the first danger.

The second danger is presenting a gospel of works—starting to convince myself that I can do something to, what they call “break the curse.” The Bible does not tell us that we actually break the curse. That God, in His mercy, takes it away, takes it away.

And He takes it away through His Son, and He gives us a free gift of salvation, for which we only receive—that’s the only labor we have: the receiving labor.

So the second danger of this doctrine is the work that it loads on those who are faithful to it. They are fasting themselves to unconsciousness; they are giving away everything; and it is asceticism at its best. They are inflicting more pain on themselves to try.

Mark: Yeah. And which then leads them ultimately to claim—as in to claim Satan is afflicting them, yet really they have given everything, and they are doing this self-harm to themselves in some way.

Grace: So the biggest blessing should be to appreciate the free gift of God and be so thankful that it is free—that all we do is to behold the cross, receive Jesus. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gives the right to become children of God.” It’s a right that is just given—you don’t earn it.

And the curse you cannot break; only Jesus could with His life, and He did. Praise the Lord.

Mark: And one of these things—the people who preach this, you know, say “God has done,” “Satan has stopped,” “Now you must do.” I guess that’s where the whole works thing comes in.

That God has done everything on the cross, so in a sense they don’t deny the cross. What they’re probably doing is adding to it, saying, “Yeah, God has done it on the cross—in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ—He has done everything He can do; He has died for you. But now He’s waiting for you to do.”

Because somehow, without saying it, they’re saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Grace: And what a sad way to cheapen what Jesus Christ did on the cross!

What Jesus did was pay it all, and the Father was satisfied.

And so when we are reading in Hebrews, we see that Jesus goes in as the high priest, not with blood of sheep and rams and goats. Yeah, He goes in with His own blood, and He goes in once for all, for all.

Then Hebrews 4, towards the end there, says, “Now approach boldly, boldly, the throne of grace.” The throne of grace to receive what? Mercy—mercy and grace—and grace to help you in your time of need, to help you in your time of need.

What is mercy? It is God withholding all the punishments that you deserve. That’s how mercy works. You deserve a slap, and I don’t give you the slap. So God will give you mercy.

And grace is giving you all the gifts that you don’t deserve. You don’t deserve it. He withholds the wrath that you deserve; He gives you the gifts you don’t deserve.

You approach the most holy throne with confidence.

And I think that’s the call—that’s the call. It’s not any more labor. There’s nothing more I can add, and there’s nothing the devil can do about that.

Mark: On that point, there’s nothing the devil can do about that: There’s a passage in Colossians, chapter 2—we won’t read the whole thing, but I think it starts from around verse 8.

And, of course, we have this idea again from the people who say, “God has done, but Satan has stopped it,” as though Satan has the power to stop all this.

But towards the end, again alluding to God withholding His punishment—I think from verse 13 it says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.”

So He speaks about the forgiveness of the sin of our trespasses in Christ. Then He says, “By cancelling the debt that stood against us with its legal demands.”

I would think that means—let’s assume that even the sin of my grandfathers and great-grandfathers, in a sense, affected me. Let’s assume that.

We know, as you’ve clearly outlined, it doesn’t. But let’s assume it did. I think this verse would also actually just obliterate that, ’cause it says, “Cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.” That would mean all—as it says—all the dead.

Grace: And, and, and you see the picture: there is a court session. And the Bible will explain that Satan is the accuser of brethren, and he’s going to come and remind you of your generations and what they are guilty of, and then he will even remind you of what you yourself have done.

And he said—this is how filthy he is—he’s the accuser. But then remember that you have an advocate, and Christ Himself is your advocate, and it is on His merit that you are exonerated, not on your works, not on your efforts, purely on His merit.

So while I am being accused of all that my grandfathers did and of all that I have done, what do I do? I look at Christ. He is my only hope, only hope.

Mark: Zechariah 3

Grace: In Him I am saved, and in Him I am forgiven, and in Him I am accepted.

Mark: So He goes on to say this is set aside—nailing it to the cross. He disarms the rulers, authorities, puts them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him.

And again, from my normal layman’s reading of this: He disarmed rulers and authorities and put them to open shame—that would include Satan and all his demons.

Grace: That’s right.

Mark: So Satan then can’t be.

Grace: The psalmist would sing and say, “The battle is the Lord’s, the victory is ours.” Is ours. How we love to take on this battle and become the spiritual warriors! Warriors! I need to put on the full armor of God, and we want to engage in this battle.

The battle is not ours; the battle is the Lord’s. The victory is ours, and that is humbling.

Mark: Yeah, okay. And then lastly, what about—so we have these people say, “Oh, these ones were dedicated when they were young; they were dedicated to demons.” There’s that category.

And we also have those who say, “This sin has run through my family. In my family, for five generations, we’ve had alcoholics, polygamy, sexual immorality.” As in, I see this trend in my family.

How do you address those in light of what Scripture says about—and what you have told us about—generational curses?

Grace: So, we are all sinners, and when we come to Christ, we read in 1 John we learn how to live as children of God. We do not continue in our sin. The Holy Spirit teaches us to live lives of obedience to God.

When we stumble, it’s because we are tempted—by the flesh, by the world, and all the allurements that are coming from there.

How do we deal with that? Scripture is not silent. It is: we transform our desires by feeding on the word of God. We renew our minds. We transform our minds by feeding on an alternative worldview.

Now, the problem we have, I think, is twofold:

We are affected by African traditional religion, where we know that the ancestors are out there doing things that affect our day-to-day lives.

We are also affected by the prosperity gospel, which is promising goodies because Jesus has died.

But when we come to the Bible, it says we are being made new day by day—being transformed into the likeness of Christ. Romans 8:28: “All things are working together for the good of those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose.”

Mark: And all things obviously means the good, the bad, the things we like, the things we don’t like.

Grace: But what is the end? We are being conformed to the image of His Son—the image of His Son. Remember 8:29? Yeah.

We have gone back to Genesis 1:26, so that we may look like God—in true holiness and righteousness—that’s what God in His image is.

And He is allowing all the things in His sovereignty to conform us to His likeness.

And the more we submit ourselves to that, the more we get transformed—in our attitudes, in our lifestyles, and in the way we relate with the world.

So I would tell such a person, “Welcome to the journey of transformation.” It doesn’t happen in one day, but you need to commit yourself to this journey because there’s nothing you can do.

Again, you will be transformed. It’s the Holy Spirit. It’s Jesus. It is His Word working in you, and I welcome you to that.

The other question was?

Mark: So there was one about the sin in the family and then those who are dedicated to spirits, that those covenants have to be broken, things like that. And again, that’s one of the reasons they come up with that whole generational curses.

Grace: I would invite them to really do a better study of Hebrews to understand how those covenants work and to know that they have entered a new covenant that is mediated by Jesus Christ.

And what does it mediate for them? A new relationship with God, which breaks away all the others—all the others are annulled.

So Jesus is greater than the angels. We read in Hebrews, Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is greater than Aaron.

He comes in the order of Melchizedek as a high priest who is able to sympathize with your weaknesses and mediate your relationship with God.

And He did that once and finished.

And so, whatever covenant was there in the past is canceled in Jesus Christ on the cross. ‘

Mark: Amen.

Grace: And that truth should liberate you because there’s nothing you would have done prior, and there’s nothing you can do.

Mark: Yeah, amen, amen. Thank you very much, my brother Grace.

As I told you, I have very few good Bible expositors like him in this nation, so this has been wonderful.

And I look forward to hosting you once again for another topic.

Grace: My parting short: How I pray that the gospel would be preached indeed, indeed, for only in the gospel are we truly saved and set free from all curses—from all curses, from the powers of Satan, from sin—and set free to love and serve our Savior now.

And that’s the greatest blessing, the greatest joy that no one should deny us by misrepresenting what Scripture is saying.

In a nutshell, Exodus 34 is setting us up for the cross of Jesus Christ, where God will be totally just in punishing all sin and totally merciful in forgiving all sin.

And it’s a precursor of the gospel for us to preach it and not present the gospel and the hope of salvation that lies in the name of God.

To know God is to embrace His salvation, and every Christian would say amen.

Mark: amen! I cannot add to that.

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