“WE AFFIRM that under God’s old covenant arrangement an Israelite who egregiously failed to uphold the terms of the covenant was liable to God’s curse. We affirm that these consequences of covenant breaking would sometimes affect even future generations. We further affirm that the visiting of iniquity down through to the fourth generation was God’s prerogative and involved His knowledge of their guilt before Him. We affirm that this state of affairs ended when Jesus was made a curse and consequently died on behalf of His people.“
“WE DENY that true Christians today can be under a curse, generational or otherwise, due to their own remaining sin or that of their unbelieving forefathers. We deny that Christians need to conduct careful investigations into their ancestral past and consequently to seek additional special deliverances from so-called ‘generational bondage’ beyond the deliverance that comes about when one is saved through Christ. We further deny that such special deliverances are to be procured by visiting special prayer sites, consulting special ‘anointed ones,’ or giving financial offerings.“
It is TRUE that under the Old Covenant, God’s people were liable to His curse on account of their sins (Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 11:26-28; 28:15-68, etc). To be cursed means being devoted to destruction by judgment or misfortune. It is also TRUE that God declared He would “visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation” (Ex. 20:5; 34:6–7; Lev. 26:39; Jer. 32:18, etc). In other words, children would bear the consequences of their parents’ sins and feel the effects of God’s curse upon the family line.
However, this did not mean those children were innocent victims. Scripture is clear that “children will not be put to death because of their fathers, but each one shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16). In exile, Israel was tempted to believe they were only suffering for their ancestors’ sins. But in Ezekiel 18, God rebukes this idea: each generation was guilty of its own rebellion. Though the exile came after centuries of accumulated disobedience, the final generation bore its own blame. God never punishes the innocent, nor does He clear the guilty. Those under His curse rightfully deserve it, and the manner and timing of His judgment belong to Him alone.
But through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, things are no longer the same. it is TRUE that all those who trust in Him are no longer under God’s curse and neither can they be. Jesus, by hanging on the tree, redeemed us from God’s curse by becoming a curse for us. On the cross, He was the one devoted to doom, set apart for destruction, condemned to die — i.e. cursed by God — on account of our sins. In other words, God visited the punishment of our transgressions on Christ so that in Him we may receive the blessing of being made righteous by faith alone and not by works (Gal. 3:6-14). Therefore, no Christian is destined for destruction, for Jesus has already borne the punishment that would have brought it about. As Paul declares: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
It follows, then, that it is FALSE to claim a Christian can be under God’s curse, whether because of their remaining sin or the sins of their ancestors. It is equally FALSE to suggest that a believer can be bound by the curses of others who wish them harm. Scripture teaches that such words have no power over the innocent (Prov. 26:2). In Christ, the believer has been declared righteous and cannot be cursed, for whom God has blessed no one can curse.This does not mean, however, that Christians will not experience suffering at the hands of those who oppose them. Rather, it means that spoken curses carry no spiritual effect on those who have been made righteous in Christ.
Therefore, it is FALSE that a Christian requires any “special deliverance” from so-called generational curses. It is a lie that such deliverance can be bought with financial offerings or obtained by consulting “anointed” men of God. Christ has once and for all delivered His people from the curse through His cross.
And so, dear Christian, rest secure in Him. Do not fear the shadow of curses. Your Savior has borne the full weight of God’s judgment in your place, and in Him you stand blessed, forgiven, and free.
