Prophetic Word – Sin, Transgression & Iniquity, What’s the difference?

This Prophetic Word is titled Sin, Transgression and Iniquity.  Since we talked about generational curses last week, and I showed you how it moves through generational lines, I wanted to show you how it begins and the progression that happens when a sin turns into a generational curse.

Who is this word for?  Everyone.  Many times when we look at our lives we can see that we are caught in a cycle and some of these cycles can be negative and passed from one generation to the next.  This post will help you to identify the root for all negative cycles, show you what the bible has to say about it and give you some understanding on how you can get out of it.

Let’s start with this scripture…

 

Deuteronomy 5:8-10

‘You shall not make for yourself an idol [as an object to worship], or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,  but showing graciousness and lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This is the Lord clearly showing the generational curse can go to 4 generations when there is no repentance, but He’ll show his loving kindness and graciousness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Note – generation curses gets passes on based on iniquity.  Blessings are passed on by loving God and keeping His commandments.

Now I need to show you that there is a progression to iniquity.  It goes like this…

Sin >>>>>> Transgression >>>>>>>> Iniquity

Once you get to Iniquity, there is a high chance that you will pass it to the next generation.

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These are the definitions in Hebrew

Sin – Chet: Sin, offense, fault

The noun designates (1) the act of missing God’s mark—sin itself, (2) the liability incurred—guilt, and (3) the remedy supplied by God— the sin-offering. Context determines which nuance is uppermost, yet all three ideas remain organically connected.

1 John 1:8-10

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

 

This tells us that all of us have sinned at some point in our lives but God is gracious and faithful to forgive us when we repent.

When we keep doing the same sin over and over again, this is when the sin turns into transgression.

Transgression – Pesha: transgressions, rebellion, rebellious act, rebellious acts, breach of trust, rebellious, trespass

פֶשַׁע denotes a wilful break with God’s revealed will. Unlike inadvertent sin, it is conscious revolt that fractures covenant relationship, producing guilt that only divine forgiveness can remove.

When you commit the same sin repeatedly, and you know it is a sin you are now in rebellion (witchcraft – 1 Samuel 15:23) against the will of God and it has now moved from a sin to a transgression.

Or as it says in Job 34:37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;

This is transgression because not only are you sinning but you sin repeatedly in the same thing or area rebelling against God’s will, His word.

This is Joshua speaking to the Israelites in the promise land about the fact that they have to remain faithful to God and not worship the foreign gods as they did back in Egypt.

 

Joshua 24

^…19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

The transgressions meaning the repeated worship of the false gods.

What happens after you repeatedly transgress against the Lord?  The transgression turns into iniquity.

Iniquity – Avon: iniquities, guilt, punishment, punishment for the iniquity, punishment for their iniquity, blame

עָוֹן (avon) gathers the ideas of twistedness, moral perversity, the personal or corporate guilt that arises from such acts, and the consequent liability to punishment. Scripture never isolates the deed from its effects on the sinner’s heart or on the community. Because the term carries both deed and burden, it can be translated “iniquity,” “guilt,” or “punishment for iniquity” depending on context.

The root word, Ava, means to do amiss, bow down, make crooked, commit iniquity, pervert, (do) perverse(-ly), trouble, turn, do wickedly, do wrong.

The verb עָוָה (ʿāvâ) portrays a deliberate turning from what is straight, whether by moral defection, perversion of justice, or the physical image of being bent over. Across its seventeen occurrences, Scripture employs the term to expose sin, describe its consequences, and invite repentance.

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Iniquity is when we have fully accepted the sin and now we accommodate it, we will bend, twist and pervert anything to keep it in place.  As such, because it is now deep rooted we will pass it on to the next generation because there is now no repentance for it but rather acceptance.

An example in the United States there is legalized gay marriages, this is an iniquity because the nation passed laws to accept it.  Same with Roe vs Wade, the abortion law, which was thankfully overturned.  This is an iniquity which was passed from generation to generation or president to president.  It doesn’t stop until someone repents for it and removes it.  The nation bent to it

An example is a church where you have a gay pastor, the congregation knows it and has accepted it.  This is an iniquity because they will now preach messages that says it is ok for them to be in that lifestyle and still be the pastor.  Or the pastor who is in a relationship with several women or men in the church.  Everyone knows and they all accept it.  This is iniquity.  What you will find is that even after that pastor is removed, for whatever reason, the next person that comes into that place will walk in the same iniquity because the congregation has accepted the behaviors.

Hence, if you are in a church and you see the sin turn to transgression and then iniquity because it is widely known and no one is saying or doing anything about it, your best solution is to leave because you are now sitting under the iniquity.  Your children will be learning it from church.

It’s like a step ladder, at the bottom is sin, the next step transgression, then iniquity, then it’s a generational curse because it gets passed on.  So when the next generation gets it, it is an iniquity, full blown and accepted.

In a family scenario, everyone in the family knows that it is wrong but it is somehow accepted. There’s no sit down family discussion to talk about how wrong it is, how did we get here?  Why are we not changing this?  Nothing like that, usually things are just the way they are!  We accept it.  Depending on what it is there is a lot of shame surrounding it so that also leads to the silence where it is concerned.

The next thing I have noticed is that iniquity never stays in place with just one sin, NOPE!  There are usually several different types of sins that keep the iniquity in place.  Have you ever seen them plant a new tree?

When they put the tree in the ground they have to put those wooden stakes or planks around it to hold it in place until the roots are well formed in the soil before they can move the stakes.

Imagine that the tree is the iniquity, what I am saying is that the iniquity is not standing on its own.  The stakes are sins that hold the iniquity in place.  If you remove the stakes it is easier for you to get rid of the iniquity.

Job 13:23

How many are my iniquities and sins?
Show me my transgression and my sin.

Yes, because sins are reinforcing the iniquity and sins are reinforcing the transgressions.  With a simple prayer you can ask the Lord to show you the sins that are keeping a particular iniquity in place in your blood line.

Prayer:  Holy Spirt, show me the sins that are keeping the iniquity of __________________ in my blood line, in Jesus name, Amen.

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As I always, let’s go to some real world examples.

PLEASE, brace yourself.  Trigger warning. Some of this may trigger you especially if I refer to something that is close to home for you.

I come from a culture where people don’t talk about things, they sweep it under the rug and it is not until they are old and on their deathbed they feel the need to “get things off their chest” so they start talking and quite frankly sometimes I wish they would just take it to the grave with them because now they are gone to heaven and I am left knowing things about others that I would rather not know.  Have you been there?

So let’s talk about children out of wedlock in families.  Most people know that this is not right but we don’t talk about it.  We celebrate the children and don’t question how the mothers got to that place.

Generally, but not all the time, you have a situation where the mother is in poverty (one of the stakes holding up the tree), fornication (yet another stake), the father is an unbeliever (another stake) so when he finds out he takes off, abandonment (another stake) and now she’s a single mother (another stake) and now you have a child that is fatherless (another stake).  I know right now some of you are saying being a single mother is a sin?  My love, in God’s perfect will you are supposed to be married!!!!  It is missing the mark for God’s perfection therefore it is a sin.

We have accepted so many things in our society as “normal” that we no longer see the sin as a sin.  Once this starts to happen it is way easier for you to transgress and then it is now iniquity and you have a generational curse.

Now, look at it on the flip side, what would happen if you saw the sin as a sin and stopped it?  When the first sign of a generational sin happens and you stop, sit with your family and say “hey guys, listen this is not right.  This is a sin.  We can’t let this happen again.  What are we going to do to stop this from happening?  Let’s gradually take steps backwards, talk this through and see how we can ensure we never go down this road again?”  Not accusing.  Or blaming. But rather being honest, transparent and open with each other on how we got where we got.  Like family therapy, except with no therapist!  LOL

In order to stop it what you will need to do is dismantle stakes. Pull them up one by one.  Look at the generational curse in your family, what are sins that are holding it in place?

Using the example above, remove fornication.  If you get rid of that first, there is no abandonment, no fatherlessness, no single mother.  Just stopping that one action gets rid of all of those!  You meet a man, he is an unbeliever you already know you are not marrying him. NOPE!  Not today! LOL

Whichever one of these stakes you can stop immediately, you stop it.

1. Identify the generation curse which will be the iniquity, repent for it and ask the Lord to break it off your family line.

2  Begin to dismantle all the stakes.  Now, you cannot fix what your parents did or your grandparents but you certainly can make better choices for yourself and your children.  Most parents are doing the best they can with what they know and the resources they have.  So blaming them is not the right approach, when we know better we do better and when we have access to more resources we can do more.

Even if you already fell into iniquity in your family line, you can still decide moving forward to make a change!  It starts with YOU.  When your children get old enough start talking to them about the generational curses so they can identify it and understand how to stay free from any of the stakes that would lead them into this.

I find that it is helpful to also admit where we went wrong with our children.  Admitting your fault doesn’t make you weak but instead it shows your kids that you are willing to accept responsibility when you are wrong.  Of course, they would need to be at the right age to appreciate and value a conversation like that.

Once you dismantle the stakes holding the iniquity in place, take a look at the transgressions.  What are the habitual sins that are being committed, you have to stop them.

Remember you moved up the step from sin to generational curses, now you have to go back down the ladder the same way – what is the curse? Break it, identify the iniquity break it, remove the stakes which more than likely those are the actual transgressions.  Once you get to the root you will be able to easily identify it before it starts. You won’t allow the devil to pull you into the first sin that starts the process. And now, the curse is completely finished!  You’re not allowing it to even start!

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Have you noticed that the bible never mentions David’s mother?  We know his father is Jesse but we never hear about his mother.  When Samuel went to his house to anoint the next king, he wasn’t even considered by his father.  He was the youngest.

But then, look at what David says in

Psalm 51:5

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.

 

Yikes! I think he pretty much told us what was up with his mother and father relationship.  Remember now he is a descendant from Tamar and if you read her full story you already know what is in his blood line.  He penned Psalm 51 after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.  Yes, obviously a generational curse.

Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 are two very powerful psalms of repentance from iniquity, transgressions and sins.

And, we clearly see now that regardless of how David came about, and even his own sin in his life, he remained repentant and God used him.  He was not cast out because of the iniquity in his bloodline because he repented

Exodus 34:5-7

⁵ Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷ keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

 

When we repent He wipes it away and as long as we continue to obey His word we and the generations that follow us walk in freedom. BUT, we have to teach them so they know.  TELL your children so that they know.

I’m going to close with Psalm 32, written by David and repenting for the sins, transgressions and iniquity.

 

Oh Praise the Lord!  You can also read Psalms 51 which is along the same lines.

Blessings!