sin, transgression, iniquity

From Curt Landry: Sin, Transgressions, Iniquity: What’s the Difference?

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”—Psalm 32:5

• Sin--Essentially, sin is ‘falling short’ or ‘missing the mark.’ It is an issue of the heart. We all miss the mark and therefore need a Savior.

“…For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”—Romans 3:22-23

• Transgression--This sin is done with deliberate A willful act of stepping across a boundary.

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”—Psalm 32:1

• Iniquity--The Bible speaks of iniquity as a deeply rooted issue. Iniquity, by its nature, can be passed down from generation to generation. It’s a sin that resides in your family and seems completely normal to you.

However, when put up against the Word, God reveals to you His morals—His family values. Confessing iniquities in this light can be difficult. That is why you need to remain in His Word.
“…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.”—Exodus 20:5

Breaking Generational Curses Sometimes, even when we pray, there is no breakthrough. It could be the enemy has put a curse on you. Curses are aggressive and continue until dealt with and stopped. The spiritual force against you is designed to sabotage your future and is often connected to a curse in the bloodline. Coming before God, and out of alignment with generational curses, breaks the enemy’s hold on you. Don’t give the curse a place to land. Guard your heart and mind with the shield of faith. When you give a corroborating testimony, you are agreeing with (having) a new bloodline in Christ. “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.”—Proverbs 26:2

Excerpted from Robert Henderson and Destiny Image:

     One of the things the devil uses against us the most is the iniquity in our bloodline. Most of us are aware of our own sins and transgressions. We know our own stuff. We recognize where we have fallen short. However, things buried in our bloodlines can be a little more difficult to deal with. Remember that when Daniel and others were seeking to get Israel out of captivity and back to their inheritance, they repented for their personal sins and the iniquity of their fathers. Daniel 9:16–17 shows some of this repentance.
     O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate...



     ...To discern iniquity in the bloodline, we should understand the nature of iniquity. The word “iniquity” in the Hebrew is the word “avon,” and it means something perverted. It means to be twisted. So iniquity in the bloodline twists the desires and purposes of God. It twists the moral compass of a person’s life. It twists desires from good to evil. Iniquity isn’t just about a single sin. Iniquity is about the twisting of nature. This is why when we are born again, we receive a new nature.
     Second Peter 1:4 tells us we have received the divine nature, or the nature of God Himself. It is God’s excellence and glory, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
     Through the divine nature, we escape the corruption that is in the world. Yet that which we receive at salvation has to dominate and empower us. Even though we have the nature of God in us, the issues in our bloodline will try to work against us. Notice that the Apostle Paul in speaking to Titus gave him instructions about ministering in the Cretan culture. Titus 1:10–13 shows us a perversion in a bloodline that has affected a culture: For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain. One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.


     Paul realized that even though these people were saved and born again, issues in their bloodline were still affecting them. Their culture had been twisted to be liars, evil beasts, and gluttons. Paul’s commandment to Titus was to rebuke them and challenge them to let the new nature in them arise. They could not conform to that which had fashioned their culture for generations. They had to deal with their bloodline issues so it didn’t continue to twist them and pervert who they were meant to be.
     In dealing with bloodline issues, we should be aware of anything that twists the real intent of God for our family. For instance, the Cretans were not meant to be liars, evil beasts, and gluttons. Generations of iniquity had fashioned them into this. Perhaps there are addiction issues in your bloodline. Maybe there are sexual issues there. Perhaps anger issues are present. Maybe there is violence. It could be anything. I challenge people to look at themselves and their siblings, their parents, and their own children. Within these three generations, you will see bloodline issues. Begin to repent of these things. As you exhaust these, then ask the Lord for any further revelation you might need. If there are no more realizations, then be at peace. You can only deal with the knowledge you have. I tell folks that when you have dealt with everything you know, then use Colossians 2:14. It says that God made us alive with Jesus...