The Sins of Your Ancestors

We blame the gun after I pulled the trigger, the cigarette company because I smoked, or the prostitute because I get a disease. Fans blame the coach for losing the match.

Mormons have a great plan for your dead ancestors. You get baptized in their place, their sins are forgiven, and they enter the kingdom of God.

Others have another take on the sins of your ancestors. You’re guilty of their sins 300 years ago and must pay the price through social justice. It’s Mormonism without the water!

Should you be held responsible for the sins of your ancestors? How would you know those sins? How many generations back will you go?

No one today, nor of the past, has clean hands. No tongue, tribe, nation, skin color, or individual – past or present – is innocent of horrible things.

Africans enslaved Africans over thousands of years. In the 1400s, the Inca in South America murdered their neighbors in violent religious rituals. Pacific islanders stole from one another and then ate each other. Five hundred years ago, Roman Catholics killed Protestants and Lutherans killed Anabaptists. My great-grandfather defrauded his neighbors with rotten potatoes. The whole world is a guilty mess!

What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?”

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. 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” (Ezekiel 18:2-4).

In the days of the Jewish prophet Ezekiel, people blamed each other for the sins of their ancestors, even creating a proverb about it. God told Israel to stop repeating the proverb because it wasn’t true. God holds each sinner personally responsible for his own sins and not the sins of others.

When Adam sinned, he blamed God and Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent was the only one in the Garden who didn’t pass the buck (Genesis 3:8-13). Blaming someone else (or their ancestors) is always easier than looking in the mirror to see where I miss the mark.

God saves and forgives individuals one-by-one by grace through faith in Christ. God’s Saviour meets the sinner where he is, not where his great-great-great-grandmother was.

Life’s Warning Label

Today I bought and used a new bottle of spray glue. Printed in big letters on the can were the words, “Do not eat or spray in mouth.” It made me wonder how many people buy glue to eat for breakfast.

We are so foolish (or stupid) that the government requires danger warnings on everything. My toothpaste warns: “Not for consumption.” The bottle of water explains: “Cap poses a choking hazard.” The box of food warns: “Caution: Food may be hot after microwaving.” The cup of coffee is marked: “Contents are hot.” Even the box of copier paper is stamped: “May cause injury if dropped.” Are there really people so stupid they don’t know a 50 pound box of paper will hurt when it falls on their foot? Do we need the government to warn us about the simplest things of life? Yet we live in an age when common sense is no longer common.

Life doesn’t come with a warning label stamped on your forehead, yet God has laid out a clear warning in the Bible. 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 (Ezekiel 18:4).

There is then this promise:

“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die … for I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:31, 32).

We are very concerned about our safety. How concerned are we about our eternal souls?

Warning Labels

Today I bought a spray for killing spiders. Printed in big red letters on the front of the can are the words: “Do not eat or spray in mouth.” I wonder how many folks buy spider spray to eat for breakfast?

We are so foolish (or stupid) that the government requires danger warnings on everything. My toothpaste warns: “Not for consumption.” The bottle of water explains: “Cap poses a choking hazard.” The box of food warns: “Caution: Food may be hot after microwaving.” The cup of coffee is marked: “Contents are hot.” Even the box of copier paper is stamped: “May cause injury if dropped.” Are you so stupid that you don’t know a 50 pound box of paper will hurt when it falls on your foot?

Life doesn’t come with a warning label stamped on your forehead, yet God has laid out a clear warning in the Bible. 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 (Ezekiel 18:4).

There is then this promise:

“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die … for I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:31, 32).

We are very concerned about our safety. How concerned are we about our eternal souls?