Foundations In Grace – Whom the Lord Loves He Disciplines
Discipline in Scripture can be viewed from two perspectives. Both are based in God’s love for us as His children.
We are disciplined as sons when we have un-confessed sin in our lives.
We are disciplined as sons for the purpose of becoming more Christ like.
Discipline as sons has nothing to do with condemnation or eternal judgment for sin.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:24
“One who stands in the imputed merit of Christ, as every saved person does, could not come into condemnation; nevertheless, for sin in which a Christian willfully persists there may be chastisement from the Father, who is Himself a perfect disciplinarian.” Lewis Sperry Chafer (Systematic Theology, Vol VII, p.71)
1 John makes it clear that fellowship with the Father depends on our walking in the light and also, when we realize there is sin in our lives, our immediate confession.
Discipline or chastisement for un-confessed sin.
The Bible sets forth three consequences of sin:
1 – Discipline
2 – Death
3 – Disinheritance
“The principle is that discipline results in judgment in time or forfeiture in eternity but not loss of salvation.” Jody Dillow
“But if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord in order that we may not be condemned along with the world.” 1 Corinthians 11:31-32
1. Discipline…
One of the purposes of discipline is to bring believers to the place of repentance and confession so that their fellowship and walk with God will be restored.
“The issue is not one of sustaining a union with the Father…it is rather the issue respecting communion or fellowship.” Lewis Sperry Chafer (Systematic Theology, Vol VI, pp. 240-241)
2. Death…
“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.” 1 Corinthians 11:28-30
There are a number of other passages in Scripture that indicate God may take home the believer who fails to respond to discipline.
James 5:19-20 – Saving a believer’s life by turning him away from sin.
1 John 5:16-17 – The sin unto death and prayer.
1 Cor. 5:5 – The brother persisting in immorality
Acts 5 – Lying to the Holy Spirit
Hebrews 10:26-27 – Willful sin
3. Loss of Inheritance…
“The final consequence of protracted carnality is forfeiture of reward and stinging rebuke when the King returns to establish His rule. No tragedy could be greater than for the Christian, saved by grace and given unlimited possibilities, to forfeit all of this and fail to participate in the future reign of the servant kings.” Jody Dillow (The Reign of the Servant Kings, p. 341)
Discipline for the Purpose of Holiness…
The key passage is Hebrews 12:1-11. The motive for discipline is divine love! 12:1-4 – Proper Attitude – Focus on Jesus!
Some have said that discipline is an ongoing process but that scourging is not often repeated. Scourging has been likened to those intense instances when God has to break the rebellious human will. Once this occurs in the life of a son it usually doesn’t have to be repeated. Whatever the meaning it is clear that scourging is much more severe than discipline.
Not all suffering is a result of sin or discipline for sin. Christ suffered because of His righteousness and because of the evil of man. Paul prayed, “that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Philippians 3:10
At times God will use discipline because of sin in our lives to also teach us and help us become more Christ like. In other words He will take our failure and use it to teach us more about Godliness. Ultimately all discipline is based on our family relationship. Because God is our Father and we are his children He is intimately concerned with us. He is very pro-active in His relationship with us and uses every means of discipline to help bring us into conformity with His Son. If we resist His discipline the consequences can be severe, even to the loss of physical life. More tragic than physical loss is the potential loss of reward and inheritance in the kingdom.