A good parent will use discipline to correct and guide a child, not to satisfy his own anger. The term “wrath” has been used in the past to describe God’s response to sin and rebellion, but this is a “human” quality that makes God’s plan sound like a campaign for vengeance or rage. The opposite is true. God uses divine discipline, based on love and grace, to bring us to “repentance”, or confession. Everything He does regarding us is designed to draw us closer to Him, where He can energize us, protect us, and fellowship with us...without forcing us to act, and without taking away our freedom of choice.
God deals with us in love, not in anger or disgust, even though His discipline can be quite painful. Since the objective of discipline is to get us to use the techniques we are learning, then the condition for discipline is that we are not using them. At the present time, we have only seen one of the techniques, which is confession of our sins, so we are examining discipline as a means for God dealing with “unconfessed sin”. He wants to TEACH us to confess, and then prod us, as needed, to make sure we follow through.
In Rev. 3:19, Jesus told the apostle John, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This is a perfect picture of the sequence of God’s discipline. Here is the normal order for discipline: 1) God loves believers, 2) God gives discipline or rebuke for unconfessed sins, as needed, 3) repentance or confession takes place, and 4) forgiveness is given and fellowship is restored.
Because God loves us, He disciplines us so we will honestly reflect on our sins and repent...i.e., change our minds about our sins, so that our view of them will match His. But we must be clear, God does not approve of sin, and will not ignore it. Sin will incur discipline, if left untended, and this discipline can be severe, up to and including physical death. We must not take it lightly. 1 Cor. 10:8 reports an occasion in the Old Testament when sexual immorality resulted in the death of twenty-three thousand Jews in one day! Ouch!
Even if discipline reaches an extreme point, we must recognize that discipline is for our good. Prov. 3:11a advises us, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke….” Job 5:17 adds, “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
We should be thankful for discipline, because it teaches us and makes us better. Prov. 15:32 says, “He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.” Therefore, we should actually “love” discipline, as called for in Prov. 12:1, which says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” If we accept the discipline...and respond to it...we will benefit from it. And get this...if the discipline is being administered because of unconfessed sin, and we confess, the discipline stops! Suffering may continue for other reasons, but it will not be because of discipline.
Discipline is an opportunity for us to make correction. This is why Heb. 12:5-11 encourages us strongly to endure the discipline with gratitude. This passage, quoted here in part, says the following:
“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: 'My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son….' God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
When the outcome of discipline is our return to fellowship, we will regain the control of the Spirit, or “share in His holiness”, so that His fruit can be produced through us...a “harvest of righteousness and peace”. Are you beginning to see how this works? God wants us to stay in fellowship, and He will pressure us (not force us) to confess and stay there. It’s that simple.
We should also distinguish what happens with believers who sin, as compared with unbelievers, who are totally under the influence of their sinful natures. God disciplines believers because we are His children. Unbelievers, on the other hand, will not be “corrected through discipline”, but will ultimately “stand judgment” for not believing in Christ.
1 Cor. 11:31-32 sheds light on the judgment of unbelievers, as opposed to the judgment of believers. Verse 31 says, “If we [believers] would judge ourselves [confess our sins], we would not be judged.” This particular “judgment” refers to the discipline of believers, not the eternal judgment that unbelievers face. Verse 32 adds: “When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” The consequence for the sins of believers is discipline, not condemnation.
Finally, we want to give a brief preview of future studies by indicating that not all suffering is “discipline”. If all our sins are confessed, any suffering we experience is not for discipline, but for testing and training. God is teaching us to “trust Him”, a subject we will cover thoroughly in future studies. We will study suffering, testing, training, and growth...down the line.
God deals with us in love, not in anger or disgust, even though His discipline can be quite painful. Since the objective of discipline is to get us to use the techniques we are learning, then the condition for discipline is that we are not using them. At the present time, we have only seen one of the techniques, which is confession of our sins, so we are examining discipline as a means for God dealing with “unconfessed sin”. He wants to TEACH us to confess, and then prod us, as needed, to make sure we follow through.
In Rev. 3:19, Jesus told the apostle John, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” This is a perfect picture of the sequence of God’s discipline. Here is the normal order for discipline: 1) God loves believers, 2) God gives discipline or rebuke for unconfessed sins, as needed, 3) repentance or confession takes place, and 4) forgiveness is given and fellowship is restored.
Because God loves us, He disciplines us so we will honestly reflect on our sins and repent...i.e., change our minds about our sins, so that our view of them will match His. But we must be clear, God does not approve of sin, and will not ignore it. Sin will incur discipline, if left untended, and this discipline can be severe, up to and including physical death. We must not take it lightly. 1 Cor. 10:8 reports an occasion in the Old Testament when sexual immorality resulted in the death of twenty-three thousand Jews in one day! Ouch!
Even if discipline reaches an extreme point, we must recognize that discipline is for our good. Prov. 3:11a advises us, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke….” Job 5:17 adds, “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”
We should be thankful for discipline, because it teaches us and makes us better. Prov. 15:32 says, “He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.” Therefore, we should actually “love” discipline, as called for in Prov. 12:1, which says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” If we accept the discipline...and respond to it...we will benefit from it. And get this...if the discipline is being administered because of unconfessed sin, and we confess, the discipline stops! Suffering may continue for other reasons, but it will not be because of discipline.
Discipline is an opportunity for us to make correction. This is why Heb. 12:5-11 encourages us strongly to endure the discipline with gratitude. This passage, quoted here in part, says the following:
“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: 'My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son….' God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
When the outcome of discipline is our return to fellowship, we will regain the control of the Spirit, or “share in His holiness”, so that His fruit can be produced through us...a “harvest of righteousness and peace”. Are you beginning to see how this works? God wants us to stay in fellowship, and He will pressure us (not force us) to confess and stay there. It’s that simple.
We should also distinguish what happens with believers who sin, as compared with unbelievers, who are totally under the influence of their sinful natures. God disciplines believers because we are His children. Unbelievers, on the other hand, will not be “corrected through discipline”, but will ultimately “stand judgment” for not believing in Christ.
1 Cor. 11:31-32 sheds light on the judgment of unbelievers, as opposed to the judgment of believers. Verse 31 says, “If we [believers] would judge ourselves [confess our sins], we would not be judged.” This particular “judgment” refers to the discipline of believers, not the eternal judgment that unbelievers face. Verse 32 adds: “When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” The consequence for the sins of believers is discipline, not condemnation.
Finally, we want to give a brief preview of future studies by indicating that not all suffering is “discipline”. If all our sins are confessed, any suffering we experience is not for discipline, but for testing and training. God is teaching us to “trust Him”, a subject we will cover thoroughly in future studies. We will study suffering, testing, training, and growth...down the line.
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