I watched a clip (see below reference) of a preacher claiming that Ezekiel 18 debunks teachings on generational curses.
This kind of fallacious teaching is so dangerous. It’s one of the reasons why Christians in particular aren’t living the John 10:10 abundant life, but instead trapped in a life of the enemy stealing from them. The passage in Ezekiel 18 is essentially describing the wages of evil (works of sin) and the wages of doing good which leads to life. Where else have we seen this kind of language? We find in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death… Immediately it is pretty obvious that Ezekiel 18 is talking about individual accountability where salvation is concerned. We know that we are not saved by our works but by grace through faith. Those who have truly trusted in God will produce good fruit. So the one who does good leading to life have hearts that truly belong to God. If one’s heart belongs to God, evidenced by their good deeds, the curse of death is broken from them.
The preacher in error conflates the topic of bearing fruit in keeping with true repentance with generational curses. Having Christ’s imputed righteousness doesn’t mean immunity from generational issues.
How? Because Abraham and Isaac. Because David and Solomon. In fact, God Himself said that trouble would not leave David’s house because of his sin (2 Samuel 12:10). This was separate from David’s redemption status with God. Both of these cases we see patterns. Additionally because Deuteronomy 5:9. When it comes to the Bible, all other related passages and accounts must be considered. Otherwise, we end up with errors in our expositions and theology.
Being saved doesn’t mean the other areas of our being are whole. Just look at the man who was healed from leprosy and came back to give thanks. Scripture mentions that he was made whole (Luke 17:11-19). We already know him and the other 9 were healed. But there was something extra that happened to this man. Deliverance is the extra that many Christians need. Deliverance is essential.
Christians can be delivered, curses broken through various means:
1. Casting out in the name of Jesus. This is what we see Jesus and His apostles do for the oppressed during the times of the early church.
2. Through experiences of intimacy with God, like deep praise, worship and reading the Word.
3. Through sanctification. Ongoing practices of obedience to God will lead to that peace that indeed surpasses understanding and thus ultimately our freedom in areas where we once were oppressed or afflicted
In any case, the believer must have a heart posture that wants freedom. When we notice patterns of affliction in our lives leading back generations ago, we ought to consider that such could be a generational curse. The experience the preacher had with the adoption agency was unfortunate. Yes the child could have generational issues, but discouraging anyone from adopting due to this is sad. God is bigger and in Christ He has given us authority to cast out demons, break curses and live Godly lives.
Reference clip:
See clip of preacher “debunking” generational curses.