The soul that sinneth, it shall die. 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 him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
God judges each person by his own works, not by his father's; this is plain justice. But how does this square with those passages where God visits the fathers' sins on the children to the third and fourth generation? The answer lies in Adam's fall: we all perish in him through our common corruption, yet each perishes also through his own guilt. Both are true.
AI summary
A godly father's prayers and pains cannot compel his son's obedience. The child may have every advantage, instruction, discipline, example, yet still shake off all good and run to robbery and idolatry, becoming the grief of his family and the curse of his generation. Parentage changes nothing in God's reckoning.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 18:10-20
The wicked man who turns from all his sins, not one, but every single sin he has cherished, and keeps all God's statutes shall surely live. Half-hearted repentance, retaining even one favored transgression, is no repentance at all and brings no life.
AI summary