by Caleb Hancock
Guys, I hope each of you got to hear Bill Kittrell’s message from 2 Sundays ago. (If not, click here to download it! It’s from 2-1-09 titled: Reconsidering Adversity)
If you’ll recall, Bill spoke on how God disciplines us. He spoke from Hebrews 12:1-11 and highlighted that God’s discipline is confirmation of our sonship.
Please don’t read this passage and forget that not all men and women are children of God…
Rather, in His mercy, He provided a substitute to receive the wrath that our sins deserve, and He imputed righteousness to all who forsake their sins and trust in this substitute, His Son, Jesus. He is the one who chooses us and imparts faith that we should not only be justified (as if that wasn’t enough) but that He should desire to and bring about our adoption into His own family!(Eph. 1:4-6)
With John we should declare: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1a)
Along with this truth, the fact that God disciplines his children because he loves them, caused me to think of and thank God for my father.
Verse 9 of Hebrews 12 states: Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
Did you have a father who disciplined you in order to train you in godliness? Have you ever thanked him? Are you a dad? Have you recognized that if you refuse to discipline your children, you are not loving them?
In any circumstance, and as Bill reminded us, God is our perfect heavenly father and never disciplines out of anger, impatience, or for selfish motivation, but “he disciplines us for our good” (v. 10).
Let’s thank God that He doesn’t leave us or give us up to our depravity, but that He lovingly corrects and guides us through His discipline. Let’s strive to live as fathers who discipline out of love following our Heavenly Father’s example , and as sons who are trained by it, that we might share in His holiness.
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Manspeak 
My mom usually disciplined because my dad was a workaholic and not around enough. (He was a bread-winner though but that is not always enough.) I have seen that my view of my earthly dad for a while altered my view of God. Being trained in Godliness doesn’t happen unless it is here. Otherwise, it is natural and merely external.
Furthermore, earthly discipline is not perfect. I could not be understood as a child because of a speech issue. Not physiological but maybe psychological. I had to be on pure oxygen for three days as a pre-me. I am not sure if that did anything. (I am behind on my fine motor skills to.) There is nothing they could do for me. I would then throw a temper tantrum from not being heard/understood. Get disciplined (usually by mom) and then cry for an hour on end, unable to be calmed. Just because I wanted a glass of water or something like such. I have seen perfection in God’s discipline that no one on earth can obtain.
Comment by Dave M February 9, 2009 @ 6:49 pmWould you include God being just and people going to Hell “discipline”?
I’m just wondering why you felt the need to include “Please don’t read this passage and forget that not all men and women are children of God…”
Comment by Maverick February 11, 2009 @ 4:30 pmMaverick,
Those are great questions! God IS just and he does send unrepentant sinners to hell, but that is not how scripture defines discipline. It seems that in v. 11, discipline is meant to train, the object is for the child to be trained by it. Hell, on the other hand, is God’s righteous response to transgressions against Him.
I think your second comment is related to the topic of discipline and scripture’s understanding of it. A child of God, one who is redeemed, justified and adopted into God’s family by God’s grace through the giving of saving faith in the atoning work of Christ, is the one who receives discipline for training. A child of God is one whom Romans 8:28 applies, and not to all men and women. A great book on this subject is Sinclair Ferguson’s “Children of the Living God”.
That is why I included the disclaimer that you referred to, it qualifies the rest of the post and should remind all Christians of the unmerited favor that God has shown them that should lead them to praise and gratefulness.
Thanks for reading and your comments.
Comment by Caleb H. February 12, 2009 @ 2:20 pm