Parental Sin, God's Grace, and the Choice to be Different

There are so many people who live in fear of becoming like their parents and yet others who hope that they get all the benefits of their parent's righteous lives. Some today even believe that they will go to heaven because of their parents' faith while some have the opinion based on their reading of Old Testament passages that children can and are punished for their parent's sins. However, the truth is that each person is responsible for their own sin as seen in Romans 3:23 and 6:23.

The Old Testament is seen by some to be a contradiction in this area and opposing views can be formed. Some verses talk about the Lord God being a jealous God and "punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who have me . . ." (Deut. 5:9). This verse is said to point out how a child can be punished for his or her father's sin. The punishment of generations can also be seen throughout the Old Testament as God has wiped out entire families because of the father's sin. Achan sinned by keeping spoil from war which was a direct disobedience to the Lord's command and as a result his whole family was stoned and burned (Josh. 7:20-26). In a sense God could have punished the whole family for what Achan alone did. However, there is a chance most of the people in his family knew about his disobedience and went along with it. How could a warrior bring back so many things and bury them under his tent without his family knowing?

Each individual is responsible for his or her own doing. Deuteronomy 24:16 clearly spells this out as it is written, "Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin." People should not live in fear of being held accountable to God for their father and mother's actions. Each individual chooses for himself or herself who they will be and what they will do. Regardless fo the negative effects on children by wicked parents, they still have the choice to live a righteous life and be a man or woman of God as He draws them to Himself (Ez. 18:19-21).