Does God punish children for the sins of a parent?
The bible tells us that fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins. (2 Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4) Who can argue with that? If I eat sour grapes, surely it is not my daughter’s mouth that will be filled with cavities. No! Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge. (Jeremiah 31:30)
But the bible also says that He punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation? (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9) Now there’s something the world would argue with? What kind of a God punishes innocent children because of what their parents do? To quote Abraham, will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)
There are those who gleefully chalk this up as just another irreconcilable biblical contradiction; another example of the capricious and vengeful God of the bible; without giving it any thought. But let’s take a little time to consider what the bible asserts in these passages. By way of example, consider first yourself. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:20). I know that when I stand before God, I will have to admit that I have sinned against God in ways that deserve death. And so, it is fair to say that I rightfully die for my own sins. But consider also the sin of Adam. Biblically, it is by Adam that both sin and death first entered the world (Romans 5:12). As children of Adam, we are like him in our nature and we are powerless to resist sin. And so in another sense we die as a consequence of Adam’s sin. And so, both statements are true.
If that seems as clear as mud, let me expand on the example; Adam’s sin had consequences which he did not foresee. The wages of Adam’s sin was his own death (Genesis 2:17); so Adam had to be removed from the garden (or else he might also eat fruit from the tree of life, escaping death and living forever—Genesis 3:22-23). When, of necessity, Adam was removed from the garden, so too the world in which his children would grow up was changed. Of necessity, the man who reared his children was himself changed by his sin. That is, Adam was no longer a good example for his children. The son who followed in Adam’s footsteps would disobey God. At best, Adam might exhort his children to “do as I say”; but “not as I have done”.
The point is Adam’s sin brought with it consequences for his children which he did not foresee. Adam’s children were raised in a changed world by a man who had been changed by sin—a man whose testimony was made weak by sin. His children were raised in a different world in which sin was highly visible–even irresistable. The fact they were not in the garden was a constant reminder of the sin that led to their removal. The fact they could only eat by the sweat of their brow was a constant reminder of the sin that brought this curse upon them (Genesis 3:17-19). And, temptation was easier to give in to because even their father had failed. Compare this to the world they could have been raised in; and the man they could have been raised by; if Adam had not sinned.
These then are God’s biblical principles as expressed in our opening verses:
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Every man dies for his own sins (Jeremiah 31:30); and,
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Every sin has unforeseeable consequences for the generations which follow (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9).
I know that we want to believe that there are such things as “private” or “personal” sins—ones that only God and we know about and that only impact us. But God promises us in no uncertain terms—the sins of the father will be visited upon his children to the third and fourth generation. God promises that there are no private sins. God promises that we will be changed by sin. And if we are changed by sin so is the world in which our children will grow up.
Again, consider Adam’s sin. How could it have been any more private? There was no one there to see it and no one had to know about it. It was just between Adam and God. But in the end, no sin could have ended up more public. Because God promises that sin ALWAYS finds us out; and sin is ALWAYS visited upon the generations that follow.
The world knows that these principles of God are true. Who can deny the long-term generational consequences for children who have an alcoholic parent, a drug addicted parent, divorced parents, absentee parents, a promiscuous parent, or a violent parent. According to God’s word these are sins and some children will follow in their parent’s footsteps—and, in turn, so may their children’s children. Others may rise above the same temptations. But all are raised in a changed world by parents who are changed by the sins they have committed.
The world questions God about this principle of His! Why do YOU punish innocent children for our sins? It’s fair that you punish me, but not them!! And God answers, that is not how it works. Why do you commit sin—knowing that your children will bear a portion of the cost? You know My principles. And knowing them it is you and your decision to sin which commits your children to share in your punishment—not I. The world is quick to criticize God demanding that He change. But they are unwilling to do what they demand God do—they are unwilling to change themselves. Get over it because God will not, nor should He, change. But, there is another answer to sparing your children the burden of your sins: You change! You stop sinning! And there is God’s point!! And that should be your goal!!
Let me provide another, more modern example. Turn on your television and look for the visible sins of our generation. For that matter, just look at the world around you: in America sexual promiscuity, greed and worse are everywhere. Because of the sins of our generation, we have changed the world for our children. We did not foresee that our generational sins would become so culturally visible. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that our children are being desensitized to sexual promiscuity, to greed and to worse in the world that we have made for them. And, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it will be generations before our sins have finished bearing their foul fruit in the lives of our descendants.
God’s principles provide that every man shall die for his own sin. And God promises that there are no private sins; every man’s sin will bear unforeseen fruit for generations to come. In our hearts, we know it is true that sin always changes us and makes worse the world in which we live.
But why do God’s principles provide that others will ALWAYS be caught up in the consequences of our sins. We cannot know for sure; because we cannot understand His ways. But perhaps it is so we will one day freely choose to quit sinning because we love others. Perhaps one day we will come to love others so much (even more than ourselves) that we couldn’t bear to see them caught up in the consequences of our giving in to temptation. One day it will be love of God and love of others, not fear or pride, which convinces us to remain holy before a HOLY God. When we are raised again incorruptible, it may be the love of our brothers which will keep us strong enough to resist all temptation!
After reading the instructive comments on what I originally wrote, I edited the piece to resolve my blunder. As the comments suggest, I edited out the idea of dying “solely for” our own sins. The piece still focuses on our sins and their consequences (without intending to exclude the importance of our nature as sinners) while hoping to reconcile, in a somewhat simpler form, the seeming conflict outlined in the opening paragraphs.
Until next time; keep the faith!
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Steve, you asked:
According to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith which is cited as your confession on the “Who Are We” page:
The 3rd Paragraph goes on to say that “the guilt of [Adam’s sin] was imputed” to us all. God can justly condemn all of mankind because of Adam’s sin. He was our perfect representative, and man is born ‘in Adam’.
Therefore I disagree with your “Biblical principle”:
I hope you receive this in the spirit it was intended. I thought this was important to address considering the Confession cited, and the title of this blog.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Nathan,
First, let me thank you for your comment. I wrote the piece hoping to make the complex theology of generational consequences (a stumbling block for some) more accessible. My goal is always to provoke thought. I hope to generate dialogue; perhaps even debate. The idea is that together we come to a clearer understanding of our faith.
We know that sin and death entered the world by the one man’s sin. And we know that as descendants of Adam, we inherited his sin nature by which we (operating apart from God) are powerless to resist sin—and so, all have sinned. In this sense, I agree that a man does not die solely for his own sins (Adams’ transgression is contributory in a most significant way). The contributory significance of Adam’s sin is summed up in a statement I have heard before: men are not sinners because they sin; men sin because they are sinners. That said, I agree that the statement would be improved by removal of the words “solely for” (and I have edited it along those lines).
The point I was trying to make in the piece was that this is not a basis upon which we should shift blame to our fathers, to Adam or to an unjust God. We are sinners in our own right. We each have earned, by our own sins and disobedience, the condemnation of God. Put another way, just as we do not die solely for our own sins; so too, we do not die nor are we condemned solely for the sin of Adam. Perhaps it is fair to say that we die and are condemned mostly for our own sins.
Here is Romans 5:12-14 which says it better than I could. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”
Here Paul tells us that all were sinners even before men were brought to accountability for, and awareness of, sin by the Law which was later given. That is, men sinned because they were sinners. And, God rightly regarded men as the sinners they actually were. And death spread to all men.
Steve, your point and dialogue is noted. Just to clear things up a bit. I wanted to be sure that I understood your emphasis properly. You noted the importance not to continue “blame shifting”.
Just to be clear this is what I thought your statement meant: Therefore in light of our state as sinners. Imputed sin from our forefathers does not not give us excuse for our sin as something we may give reason for our rebellion against God. In other words, our sin is imputed to us from our forefathers as noted in the confession. Yet this concept and reality does not by no means give us reason to stand before God and say “I didn’t choose this fate. It was handed down to me.” as an excuse
Our ability to choose sin is a part of our position in sin. We, because of the fall, have been handed down sin. It is written into who we are as a fallen human race. Romans 5:12-14 as you noted, makes this reality clear. Sin is more than a choice at this point. It is our position to God, apart from Christ, that we are enemies of Him in our sin.
Steve:
I appreciate your response, and the correction you made in the original post. However, I think it is important to be clear on the the doctrine of original sin. I am confident that the inaccuracies in your post are not there intentionally to undermine Reformed (& Biblical) Theology, nevertheless I believe they do. We must remember that real guilt was passed onto all mankind from the sin of Adam, as he was our perfect representative (our federal head). We are all children of wrath, born with enough guilt directly though Adam’s sin that God would be just to condemn us to an eternity in Hell. For your readers, this is not an excuse that we can use before God, as already stated, Adam was our perfect representative. Also, who are we to answer back to God and tell Him what is, and what is not just.
What you appear to be teaching is at worst Pelagianism or Socinianism, and at best Semi-Pelagianism. I don’t throw around those terms lightly, so I’ll quote Louis Berkhof who says it better than I could:
Adam:
Thanks for your comments - they have been a helpful contribution to the discussion.
Nathan and Alan;
Again I am excited that the piece has generated such informative comments.
I will circle back to this at the end of my reply, but first let me point out that the original piece was intended as an apologetic; reconciling the seeming conflict in the biblical ideas that “each man dies for his own sin” even as “children are punished for the sins of their fathers.” If death and punishment are understood as types of judgments; then these ideas may seem to be a biblical contradiction—especially to the unsaved (and even among the saved).
First to Alan, I think you have said it well. The biblical idea of ‘imputed sin’ is no excuse for going on sinning. And there are consequences to sin. As the bible says: each man dies for his own sin AND your children will be punished for your sins. Your summary definitely reinforces in a useful way those important points I hoped to get across.
Second to Nathan, I accept and agree with your theology. And, I accept and reject as errors all the schools of thought that you describe. You are correct in that I did not intend, and I hope I have not, undermined any important points of reformed theology.
I was trying to simplify the complex theology of “Adamic accountability” (sinning because we are sinners; accountability by nature) with “individual accountability” (being sinners because we sin; accountability by behavior). Whereas one might argue that one or the other is true, I believe biblically that both are true. We sin because we are sinners; AND we are sinners because we sin. I will admit that the chicken came first—that is that Adam sinned first. So, first and foremost we are sinners by nature.
I was trying to find a way to help the concepts ring true in the ears of the unsaved (or even among the saved) for which this might be a stumbling block. I worry that we sometimes make stumbling blocks bigger when we say, for example, that real guilt was passed onto all mankind from the sin of Adam, as he was our perfect representative (our federal head). Or that, we are all children of wrath, born with enough guilt directly though Adam’s sin that God would be just to condemn us to an eternity in Hell.
I emphasized the “individual accountability” side of the equation in my zeal to write a potentially transformative piece; one which was also informative. According to my own experience, I first became aware that I was a sinner because I sinned. In order to address the problem, I tried to eliminate sin so I would no longer be a sinner. I tried very hard to be a good person and to do good things. Ultimately this effort proved fruitless. I continued to sin, even finding new ways to sin. Eventually, having tried everything I could think of, I began to understand and ultimately accepted that I was not just a sinner because I sinned—but I sinned because I was a sinner. The process did not start with my understanding that I was a sinner by nature, but I ultimately came to accept that this was true. If we are only sinners because we sin, then we can change our behavior to solve the problem. Who needs God? But, if we are also sinners according to our nature; what can we do about that? How can we change our nature without God?
So, awareness that I was a sinner because I sinned (accountability by behavior) pointed me towards an understanding that I sinned because I was a sinner (accountability by nature). And, that understanding pointed to my need for Jesus Christ, the second Adam–since only God can change a man’s nature. My prayer is that some not yet on this path will be led to begin the most important journey of their lives; and that those already on the path will be encouraged along the way.
In closing, let me say that I think this exchange has been great. I think a reader of my original piece will benefit greatly from reading the comments. Taken together there is a much more complete and accurate apologetic reconciling the seeming conflict in the biblical ideas that “each man dies for his own sin” even as “children are punished for the sins of their fathers.” And, as I said this was the original point of the piece–which is now so much more comprehensively addressed.
Two great and relevant verses, For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Note that after reading the instructive comments on what I originally wrote, I edited the piece to resolve my blunder. As the comments suggest, I edited out the idea of dying “solely for” our own sins. The piece still focuses on our sins and their consequences (without intending to exclude the importance of our nature as sinners) while hoping to reconcile, in a somewhat simpler form, the seeming conflict outlined in the opening paragraphs.