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The Persecuted Church

 

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Should a Christian be Concerned about Curses Today?

In the Old Testament we find the concept of a curse given frequently. The first time a curse is mentioned in the Scripture is in the account of God’s confrontation of Adam and Eve after they are tempted and fell. God first cursed the serpent (Gen 3:14-15), and the ground (v.17). This resulted in the woman having pain in childbirth and man toiling for a living (by the sweat of his brow.)

After Cain killed his brother Abel God spoke to Cain, “ So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand” (Genesis 4:11).

After the flood, Noah drank of his vineyard and was drunk and Ham came in and saw his father naked. When Noah awoke and realized what had happened he pronounced a curse on Canaan “Cursed be Canaan, A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren” (Gen 9:25). While this verse has been discussed vigorously what it means in all its aspects, what we do know that Canaan will be Shem’s servant as the preceding verse says.

In Genesis 12:2-3 the Lord says to Abram, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” In other words, Israel that comes from Abraham will be the apple of his eye. God will deal with man and nations on their position of being for or against Israel. (Deut. 32:9-10; Zech. 2:8-9; individually Ps.17:8).

As the Abrahamic covenant was further outworked we find Isaac blessed his son Jacob and pronounced a curse on those who would came against him. Genesis 27:29: “Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”

In his affliction Job was losing heart and pronounced a cursed his birth. Job 3:1-3 “After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said: “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, A male child is conceived.”

Balaam the soothsayer was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, hoping he would pronounce a curse on his enemies the Israelites (Num. 22-24). Balaam could not curse the people that God had blessed. Goliath, the Philistine when challenging Israel, “cursed David by his gods” (1 Samuel 17:43), that didn’t seem to work, it backfired on him.

After the city of Jericho is conquered “Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates” (Joshua 6:26-27).

In the act of treachery by the Gibeonites, “Then Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you dwell near us? Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves--woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God” (Joshua 9:22-24). The curse was in reference to their slavery. The Gibeonites were a Canaanite tribe which some recognize as a reference to the outworking of Noah’s curse (Genesis 9:25).

The Lord himself deals with Israel as a nation. His Mosaic covenant was conditional and depended on the nations obedience. Deuteronomy 28:45-46: “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.”

This was a pronouncement upon the nation if they did not obey. Keil & Delitzsch’s Commentary states “the curse is proclaimed in all its extent, as covering all the relations of life, in a sixfold repetition of the word “cursed” (vv. 16-19, as above in vv. 3-6); and the fulfilment of this threat in plagues and diseases, drought and famine, war, devastation of the land, and captivity of the people, is so depicted, that the infliction of these punishments stands out to view in ever increasing extent and fearfulness. We are not to record this, however, as a gradual heightening of the judgments of God, in proportion to the increasing rebellion of Israel, as in Leviticus 26:14 ff., although it is obvious that the punishments threatened did not fall upon the nation all at once” (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament).

All the curses mentioned in Deut. 28 are applied to Christians today by those who promote the teaching of generational curses. Though they admit that curses are not the cause of every problem in ones life, there really is nothing exempt. Whatever problem you might have can probably be traced back to a past curse. Marriage problems, divorce, a series of accidents, poverty and unusual deaths or circumstances in your family are all due to curses. So, it becomes a matter of guesswork; you pick and choose which problem or affliction is by a curse (some or all of them). The teaching of generational curses claim that God will reveal the curse by your praying,  the Holy Spirit will show you what in the past needs to be broken. However, this can be very subjective and is often interpreted by ones feelings or supposed “words of knowledge.” Will God’s Spirit identify to us something that is not taught in God’s word? To some there are no boundaries and anything goes, even in the face of Scripture. After Jesus died He left to go back to heaven and He gave us the Bible through those, He appointed to write it (2 Cor. 4:6). To go beyond His written word and invent something that is supposedly so powerful to affect people’s lives actually shows contempt for His word.

Proverbs 28:27: “He who gives to the poor will not lack, But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.”

Malachi 3:10: “In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.” God’s solution to reverse this conditional pronouncement of judgment on Israel, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this.”

The death sentence was for those who cursed their father or mother (Exodus 21:17) or the ruler of his people (Exodus 22:28). “You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:14). Leviticus 20:9: “For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.” Hebrew- qalal. a primitive root; to make light, literally or figuratively (easy, trifling, vile, etc.): bring into contempt, despise. Blasphemy, or cursing God, was a capital crime in Israel. We see this also mention in Proverbs 20:20 (Numbers 5:23; curses in the covenant-Deut 29:21; 2 Chron. 34:24; Jer. 15:10). Similarly there is prophecy, “There is a generation that curses its father, And does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness” (Proverbs 30:11-12).

Today you have people in the occult that (especially voodoo) that supposedly can send a curse on another person. The curses mentioned in the Bible are not like this. What we need to understand is that a curse or blessing were both kept by God’s power; not mans. Many curses (and blessings) were spoken directly by God or through his servants prophetically. Curses pronounced on individuals (9:25; 49:7; Deuteronomy 27:15; Joshua 6:26) do not always convey revenge, but are predictions. For example Deut.30:6: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Also the LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.”

If we were to claim that curses pronounced in the Old Testament are still in effect we would also have to implement the punishments such as in Leviticus 20:9. It should be obvious that some were specifically for the nation Israel, for a certain people at a certain time. (The only curse we all share in today is the one God gave in the Garden of Eden.) There are statements that related to Israel under the covenant that they had with God specifically in the Old Testament. For example in Joshua 8:30-35 at Mount Ebal, when the Book of the Law of Moses was read and all of Israel, its elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. V.34 “And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.”

Scriptures in the Old Testament such as Exodus 34:7 and Numbers 14:18 are used by the teachers on curses to verify the generational sins of our ancestors. Exodus: 34:7: “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” 
This is repeated in Numbers:14:18: The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” He says, He will not clear the guilty up to the fourth generation- but He also says that God will forgive their iniquity and transgressions.

A sin that is committed, such as i.e. the father being an idolater or an alcoholic will often affect the children growing up. If he is physically abusive to his wife or children, the child will often be influenced in this. Even though the sins of God's people would have bad consequences throughout generations, there was grace and mercy given to any individual on the basis of their personal repentance. In other words, if one repents and follows the ways of the Lord, the bondages that would have been passed on by their bad influences to the next generation are broken. Simple isn’t it?  We don’t need to hold our ancestors responsible for a curse brought on us today. We also need to note that in both Exodus 34:7 and Numbers 14:18, God is dealing with a nation, a people according to His covenant of law. His covenant was conditional. Obedience brought blessings and breaking the commandments brought curses. But we can thank God there is an easy way today to break this sinful training passed on to the next generation-- Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament they were told to bring up your child in the way of the Lord, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). God's Word gives us the instructions and guidance to have His blessing continue. In the Old Testament He commanded His people to teach His Word to their children throughout the day (Deut. 6:6-9). Even in the New Testament Paul wrote: “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

We also have the principle in the Old Testament that God does not punish the innocent for the guilty. Ezekiel 18 addresses: “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon [the righteous], and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon [the wicked]” (Ezekiel 18:20). God’s mercy is always greater than his judgment; grace is above law. Ezekiel makes it clear God does not punish the sons for their fathers’ sins, but that “the soul who sins shall die (for its own sins).” 

Many use the Scripture that says, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations.” Exodus 20:5-6: “You shall not bow down to them (images) nor serve them For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” 

God always gave Israel time to return to Him before He would execute judgment. We are told that God visits “the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations” WHO HATE HIM. If one reads the Scripture carefully, they will find that curses where God is “visiting the iniquity on the third and fourth generation” are in reference to continual idolatry being practiced (Deut. 5:10) and not repented of. Again this is God's promise under the Old Covenant, not the New.

The New Testament Breaking of Curses

Everyone at one time or another because of circumstances that seemed so bad probably had the thought run through their mind, “am I cursed.” If you listen to some of the popular teachers today it just may reinforce this false thought. With all the books and teachings on Generational Curses, familiar spirits, family curses, that hinder the work of God in a region or country, or ones own family. One wonders how anyone can survive this onslaught of the enemy from the past. Generational repentance is taught as the method needed to break these curses, spiritual mapping is used to target the strongholds the enemy has had in the family along with a host of other non-biblical teachings. Even people who are poor need to break the curse of poverty, because it is blamed on a curse placed on your family finances somewhere in the past. If poverty is always a curse, then we have a whole continent[s] that is cursed. Furthermore, we must admit the apostles had a curse, because they were poor. They say so themselves (1 Corinthians 4:11-12; Acts 3:6). Jesus asked the rich man to give away his goods to the poor (Mark 10:21-22). We do not see him break a curse of poverty for people who are poor, in fact the Bible says the poor are rich in faith (James 2:5), which is what is needed to be pleasing to God. In the beginning of the Church the apostles received a large amount of goods and money which they distributed “according to each person’s need” (Acts 2:45). Romans 15:26: “For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” When Paul took money from one church to help another, he had nothing to say about a curse of poverty. Why do some people read into Scripture what is not there? I could go on and on and cite many more examples to see the silliness of this teaching, but this should be sufficient to see it is correct.

It is not my intention to address any specific teachers philosophy on this subject but in general look at the common teaching shared by them all. Today, the teaching of curses it has been popularized by Neil Anderson, Joyce Meyers, Marilyn Hickey, Larry Huch, Benny Hinn, Cleansing Streams and many more. You will find that 90% of their teaching on curses is from the Old Testament, Why? Because you cannot justify this teaching by New Testament! There are some who have written books and devoted their whole ministry to taking care of a curse that is not mentioned in the New Testament.

In the New Testament, in Jesus’ ministry He cursed only one thing-- the fig tree, saying, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again,” and the fig tree withered (Mt. 21:19; Mark 11:14). 

He also spoke about curses from people. In the only reference in the New Testament where He tells us what to do if someone cursed us, Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (Luke 6:28). He did not give us fancy methods, or special words on how to break curses. He taught the believers specifically how to deal with curses without any superstitious teachings that would bring fear of an evil that would occur to them. BLESS THEM. In other words-- do good to them by your actions; try to reach them. Jesus did not give a supernatural spiritual solution but a very practical one-- do what they would have done by someone who is their friend and cares for them.

Why do these teachers disregard Jesus’ own words of what we are to do if people curse us?  They produce a false teaching that leads you away from the simplicity in Christ.

People a who are very zealous and intend on purging themselves to reach a higher degree of sanctification are susceptible to these type of teachings. They desire to be purified from all the things of the Devil, so they go on this journey of discovery to release themselves of anything that would block this freedom. Eventually one can find a curse behind every problem they have. Just like those in deliverance ministries blame nearly everything that goes wrong on Demonic activity. Something goes wrong and immediately you think its the outworking of some curse. This becomes a very unkind teaching that actually punishes those who are going through in fiery trials. Any, hurtful, negative or critical word spoken can become a curse on your life. What a way to live. It’s like avoiding the cracks in the sidewalk.

There are only a few times the word curse, curses or cursed occurs in the New Testament. The word curses is found only once in the New Testament and it is referring to an Old Testament law (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9). In Mark 7:8-13 (also Matthew 15:3-5) Jesus said to the Pharisees who neglected their family feigning their dedication for the things of God, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban” (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.” At this time they were still under the law which punishment was death, as Jesus reminded them to show that they were not obeying the law.

Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matthew 5:43-44). Paul repeats this to the church in Romans 12:14-15: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

James speaking on the right use of our tongue, he explains, (3:9-10) “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.” James is not making a connection between what is spoken about someone and these words actually manufacturing a problem in someone’s life. James is addressing our attitude toward our fellow man; he is simply saying that if we are still cursing (speaking ill) and this is not conducive to the new creation in the believer’s life, he may even be referring to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. We are to have respect for people because everyone is made in God’s image. There is a difference between the damage that words do to a person, hurting them emotionally, to injure or sever a relationship and having a curse come upon them that will affect their life and others afterwards. To those trained in word-faith theology this idea of being cursed by words is only an outworking of their false premise on speaking faith. So if enough negative words are spoken (heard or not) you have cast a lasting curse that affects another persons life. Take for example Peter who cursed and denied Jesus during his trial and said he did not know him (Mk14:71). If a curse had the power that many attribute to them then what would have become of Peter? It was Jesus himself who restored Peter.

What did the apostles teach concerning generational curses? Nothing! Not once do we see the apostles warn the church about any problem could be traced to curse from their far past. Can we find a Scripture that tells us how to identify generational curses and its affect in our lives? No. This teaching is extra biblical revelation and an addition to the power of the Gospel to set one free. If one begins a discovery course of finding out their ailment or problem caused by a curse they certainly can be overwhelmed. It certainly can rob you of the peace that Christ wants you to have. If you allow yourself to receive this teaching, it you will bring you into its bondage.

The closest concept we have of something being cursed in the New Testament is by the word anathema. Which means a thing devoted to destruction- the judgment of God will be exercised on it. The apostle Paul said one is accursed if they preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8-9). It is an anathema- this excommunicates a thing or a person (Rom.1:9) to eternal destruction.

Paul also addresses a “curse,” in a twofold way by stating if you go back under the law you are cursed. Gal. 3:10: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”  

The only place in the New Testament where a curse is mentioned is where it tells us we are free of it, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal 3:13).

Paul’s teaching to the Galatians (chapter 3) is that Gentile believers that submit to the Law by influence of certain Jews, (the Judaizers) through circumcision or any other command (“You must be circumcised and keep the law'-- to whom we gave no such commandment” Acts 15:24), were obligated to keep the entire Law (613 commandments). The apostle Paul spoke of those who try to keep the law as a curse because no one who cannot fulfill its complete obligations. Therefore, they who wanted to obey the law placed themselves under a curse, for it is impossible to keep the whole Law. This does not mean that all modern-day “Law-keepers” would be under a curse, but would anyone want to risk this?

Paul further develops his argument on this in Gal. 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage (which is a reference to sin and the law Gal.2:4, 4:3, 9;.5:1; 2 Pt.2:19). Vv.3-4 “And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

The curse of the law applies to those who want to live by the law instead of through faith in Christ. Those who live by faith in Christ are bought out from the curse of the law. No part of the law, nor any ancestral sin can afflict them if they are in Christ! By the grace of God “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). He took our punishment for sin and was cursed in our place.

The “curse of the law” is directly related to the issue of our justification, which can be understood by studying Galatians 3 in its context. “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (Gal 3:9). The curse referred to is failure to keep the Law of God. “ For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us — for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Galatians 3:10–13).

Christ on the cross became a curse for us (Deuteronomy 21:23) as Paul refers back to “He who is hanged (on a tree) is accursed of God” (Galatians 3:13). Deuteronomy 28:15-68 give us the curses that would come upon Israel for disobedience. The “curse of the law” is not the curses found in Deuteronomy 28 that was specifically for the nation Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. The curses in Deuteronomy 28 were temporary curses for the Jews in the land of Israel when they were disobedient.

It is ludicrous to say that Jesus bore the curses of Deuteronomy 28 on the cross when we consider the description of some of these curses. “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl” (v.17), Cursed “the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks” (v.18), The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew (v. 22), drought (v. 23), defeat by your enemies (v.25) the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and itch, which you cannot be healed (v.27), madness and blindness and confusion of heart (v.28), the violation of one’s wife by another man, you will not live in the house you build nor eat of the vineyard you plant (v. 30), your sons and daughter swill be given to other people (v.32) cannibalism of your sons and daughters (v. 53) and more.

Even if one wants to take the position that the “curse of the law” is Deut.28- then they would also have to take the position that Christ removed the consequences of them, therefore we have no curse today. However, the “curse of the law” seems to mean the failure to keep the WHOLE LAW.

Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law that no sinner could keep. Christ the perfect man fulfilled the law to its minutest requirement. He as a man kept the law perfectly as God would and took the punishment for not keeping the law (the curse) as sinful man, fulfilling the justice God requires for breaking His laws. Christ in a judicial sense became a curse for us on the cross.

Rom.10:4-5 tells us, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Moses wrote, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” We that are New Covenant believers do not live by the laws requirements for blessings or curses, so we cannot come under a Old Testament curse. We are “IN Christ,” who has redeemed us by fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law, including the penalty for not keeping it. Christ has delivered us from the law (Rom.7:1-6; Gal.2:19-21) that we might receive His Spirit by faith and be set free from the law of sin and death (Rom.8:2-4). This includes any curse that would come because of disobedience to the law. You cannot hold the position that we are justified by faith in Christ, not by the works of the law, and then teach that the law and its curse still apply today to New Testament believers that are under grace.

The judgment due to us for our sin is removed when we believe in Christ. The teachers of curses claim that God forgives us of our own sin, but not the sins of our ancestors, God’s curse comes on you because of their failure. The New Testament teaches us that God does not remember your sins, but He remembers the sins of your ancestors and they are applied to you. So then what significance does the cross actually have? The curses that are from of your ancestors’ sins continue are active and affect damage to your life today.

In Ephesus people were delivered from the occult and witchcraft (Acts 19:10), by hearing the Gospel. When they burned their magic books this would have been a perfect time to break any curse from the occult but it was not necessary. 

If one is involved in the Occult or Witchcraft they giving the devil a stronghold, an opening, to have power over their lives (Christian or not). Some deliverance  ministries have you speak a prayer of renunciation to reject and disown all the sins of your ancestors and cancel all demonic power that has been passed on to you from your ancestors. While a prayer of renouncement may sometimes be applicable for certain people who have been entrenched in the occult or witchcraft, this really has no correlation with the ancient sins of ones relatives. Certainly, in the Occult, familiar spirits are active in the family and children can be susceptible to their influences. But all this has a direct cause and effect. It is not something that has traveled through time to you today by demonic spirits from someone you never knew and now you are reaping their judgment. It is related to ones own involvement in the Occult.

The Bible says, If God be for us, who can be against us?…Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God who justifies …Who is he that condemns?” (Rom.8:31, 33-34). He has justified and cleansed us through the blood of His Son having redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are not condemned by it. No weapon can touch the saint that puts his trust in God. Curses that are spoken cannot affect a Believer. Certainly what we see and hear can affect us if we allow it to. Your reaction to these words will make the difference. If you do not accept ill words, or give importance or merit to them they will not plague your mind to affect you. Our warfare begins in the mind. We should Believe God before we believe anyone who speaks contrary. Its is God that allows the trials and the testing of our faith, not some outworking of a curse or demonic presence from our lineage.

For those who think there are curses passed on from each generation, Scripture states those who are in Christ have been delivered from all the power of darkness and the wicked one cannot touch them (Col. 1:12; 1 John 5:18). No curse can go through the cross of Christ and have dominion over those who are in Christ. We are not under a curse once we have come through the cross. Every spiritual blessing is for us who are in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3). Anyone that insists they are cursed needs to know who they are in Christ, and maybe who Christ is as well. “We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption, where we cry, Abba, Father!” (Rom.8:15).  

These type of deliverance ministries are not bringing a stop to curses but perpetuating them. Those who impose the law and its consequences upon believers deny the power of the gospel to set them free by grace. Deliverance teachers of “generational curses” teach that Satan and his demons continue to create problems for Christians because of ones ancestors. More accurately, curses may demonically inspire fear. The church does not need to accept this; this only meant to deceive the ungrounded Christian. This teaching on curses is bringing people back into bondage and fear! We as believers “have not received a spirit of fear but power, love and a sound mind.”

At the judgment seat on earth we see what God’s curse actually means, “Then He (Jesus) will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41-42). As the Psalmist wrote (Psalms 37:22) “For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.” The apostle John saw a day coming when “there shall be no more curse” on the earth (Rev. 22:3); the original curse from God on the earth will be removed for all those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. What a day that will be! 

Try to break a curse (that is not there) and you lose your blessing that is there by grace. It’s your choice, go under a law that is not to be obeyed, or stay in grace where all our spiritual blessings are found in Christ.

If Jesus broke the curse, how can we who believe in Him have a curse? Did Jesus remove our sins by the cross or only some of them? Did Jesus remove the curse against man for not fulfilling the law by the cross or only part of it? This is what needs to be answered. Does His blood not cleanse all things as it says in the Bible? “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (I John 1:7).  Salvation can also mean deliverance. Those who have accepted His message are translated from the power of darkness into the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son. That is what the Bible says, and no mans teaching should be given priority over this. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and behold ALL things have become new!” It all points to Jesus Christ crucified-- Jesus Christ and Him crucified gives us victory.

 

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