When a specific topic is mentioned, are you absolutely sure where you stand on the matter? If you are unsure, then it means your mind is not made up, that you are in two minds, or that you are double-minded. When you are double-minded, you get tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (James 1:6-8) I am sure you realize that this is not a good thing… The mainstream teaching on generational curses has left many believers unsure of where they stand, not knowing whether they have generational curses or not, and digging into their past to find out what grandma was into. I know this is going to help you make up your mind on this topic! We all know where the teaching originates from, so let’s go look at those scriptures quickly:

Ex 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image — 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; 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 generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (NKJV)

Now the basic advocates for the generational curse teaching will no doubt use this verse to back up their whole case. “If you do bad things, God is going to punish your children, so don’t do bad things!” Calm down dude, read the whole sentence! “…of those who hate Me.” Now let me ask you a quick question? Do you hate God? If you said no, then that doesn’t apply to you. Not entirely convinced? Well, let’s go to few other scriptures.

Deut 24:16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. (NKJV)

See, you are not being punished because grandpa drank too much.

Ezek 18:1-3 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. (NKJV)

This is a scripture where God swears an oath by Himself saying, “As I live you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.” The proverb says that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge, meaning the children bear the repercussions of the father’s sins. God swears an oath and says this proverb is no longer applicable to Israel. Then God goes on to explain what He means:

Ezek 18:4 “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. (NKJV)

The generational curse came to an end even before the law covenant did! Why would people who are not even under this covenant anymore try to tell people that they need to dig back into their past and confess their ancestral sins? In the rest of the chapter God explains about a righteous man who has an unrighteous son, and an unrighteous father who has a righteous son. In each case He says that the soul which sins shall die.

Ezek 18:19-20 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 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. (NKJV)

If you have time, read the whole chapter and the examples. But I want to go on the New Covenant and the Generational Curse. Let’s pick it up where Jesus is confronted about it.

John 9:1-3 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. (NKJV)

The Pharisees were trying to see whether Jesus would give an explanation of why a person might be born with an illness. Generational curse teachers also try to use this reasoning to explain why deformed or sick children are born the way they are. “You have cancer because your mother had cancer because her mother smoked.” Well that is not what Jesus said. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned.” So the parents’ sin didn’t make God smite the child with blindness to punish the parents.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (NKJV)

I received Jesus, and now I have become a son of God. There are so many verses that say that believers are sons of God. (Rom 8:14, Rom 8:19, Gal 4:6, Phil 2:15, 1 John 3:1 and more) That tells me that my bloodline is now from God. My genealogy goes back one generation to God Himself. Paul said we died with Christ and was raised up with Him too. Any generational curse you might have carried stopped having a right to be on you the day you got saved since you changed families and your Dad has never sinned!

1 Tim 1:3-4 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia — remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. (NKJV)

Here Paul reminds Timothy to tell the people in Ephesus to not teach OTHER doctrine. Other meaning not the same as what he taught them. In the list of other doctrines, Paul mentions endless genealogies, referring to the incorrect doctrine of searching the past for ancestral sin and confessing that to God to receive forgiveness. Not only did Paul tell this to Timothy, he also wrote it to Titus:

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. (NKJV)

Paul again mentions genealogies something that is be avoided because it is UNPROFITABLE and USELESS. Why? Because God ended it hundreds of years ago, it is not applicable anymore, and Jesus made it complete by becoming a curse for us.

Gal 3:13-14 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (NKJV)

Jesus became a curse for you by dying in the only way it was possible for a person to become accursed of God, by hanging on a tree after dark. Why did He become a curse for us? So the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Him. Any curse you think you have was dealt with at the cross. There is absolutely no reason for you to live with one. It doesn’t matter what grandpa did, all curses have been dealt with! If the effects of curses are still evident in your life, it is just because you have failed to exercise dominion over it by destroying the works of the devil in your life.

But if Jesus dealt with it, then it can’t harm me anymore right? I don’t need to pay attention to it. Well, you can believe that and stay sick, or you can believe Jesus and break that curse. I have seen so many instant healings take place when we exercise dominion over curses. I don’t care why they are there or how they came to be, I just break them.

Prov 26:2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. (NIV)

Since Jesus became a curse for you, no curse is any longer deserved, meaning no curse has the right to come to rest. But the devil is a thief and looks for people who he thinks won’t exercise dominion, and attacks them with curse. If he can find a person who thinks a curse can be deserved through sin, he knows that person will just sit back and allow the curse to steal from them. That’s why Paul said the devil looks for those whom he can devour. (1 Peter 5:8) If you will learn to establish yourself in the finished works of the cross, the free gift of righteousness and start exercising the power and dominion as a son of God, you won’t have a curse problem; instead, the devil will have a manifested son of God problem! So if you suspect you might have a curse, don’t tell God about it, tell the curse what you want it to do! To be broken, and reversed!

Prov 6:31 Yet when he (talking about a thief) is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house. (NKJV)

My brother-in-law once did this. His car was stolen outside his office. He went and stood on the spot he parked and commanded the devil to restore to him 7 times what he stole. Sure enough, the insurance paid out and he bought another car for the price of the payout. When he went to re-insure the new car, the value of the new car was determined to be exactly 7 times that of the stolen one. You can beat the devil with just about any scripture if you will chose to believe it and act on it!

Glory to God! Freedom to man!

Cornel Marais

Click here to read a preview of Cornel’s new book, “So You Think Your Mind Is Renewed?” If you’re tired of religion, legalism and the traditions of man, this book will be a great starting block for you to starting living the life you were destined to live in Christ!