Friday, August 24, 2018

sins of the Fathers

My friend Mike asked me to write about the Biblical concept of the sins of the Fathers being passed on to their children.  I know that my Father was very worried that his mistakes would be repeated by his children.  He felt some tremendous guilt for some of his life choices.  So, are the sins of the Father destined to be repeated by or punished in the children?

There are many verses that sound like Ex 34:7
"he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

there are a few verses that sound like Ez 18:20
"20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them."

And of course the overarching theme of scripture is that God is a God of love.

So how could the sins of the parents be passed to the children? I guess if a mom is on drugs, a baby could be born with the same addiction. I hear that some crimes like child abuse are passed down, that the abused become abusers, but I do think that it is a cycle that can be broken.

Surely there are genes that come down from one parent to the children. But in all cases I reserve the right of everyone to exercise their own personal free will, to break the cycles of addiction and to choose for the right. We may not be able to control where we came from but we can certainly shape where we are going in life.

Finally let me say that there are many Bible passages on various topics. You can prove one thing from the Bible and then use another scripture to "prove" the opposite. You have to decide where to hang your hat.

Personally, I am hanging my hat on the concept that we are responsible for our own actions, not those of our parents. [See Ex 20]

If we were punished for our sins, we would all be consumed. Grace comes from God in spite of our brokenness. That is why it is called the good news.

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.
Send replies to jsbrink57@gmail.com

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I am leading some trips this year and next. If you are interested in reading about them, or joining in, the links are below.....

Wesley's Ireland with optional London Extension
October 8-17, 2018
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/wesley-in-ireland-2018-with-rev-jeff-brinkman#.WqHrI7puLIU

Holy Land Tour - includes my favorite spots
with optional Jerusalem extension
March 4-13, 2019
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