© 11 Colin Melbourne
How does God chasten or discipline us?
It is pure joy to have the uncorrupted word of God to study how to please our Heavenly Father. We’ve discovered that modern English Bible translations are untrustworthy, for they chop, change, and muddy the clean water of God’s word. Depending on them is like leaning on a broken staff, or using a faulty bow against the enemies of God.
How does our Father teach us His way?
Let’s relish this divinely inspired passage of Hebrews 5:8-9 KJV;
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
From Darkness to Light
Before you knew Christ as Saviour, you were lost in your sins, controlled by the sinful nature, you did not know God, and went your own way.
You were spiritually dead, under God’s wrath, following your father, Satan, walking with the world, and eternally doomed, as Eph. 2:1-3 KJV reminds us, (Note: “conversation” here means how we behaved);
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
You followed your conscience, which was set to the world’s standard, and suffered terribly for it; experiencing the hard cruel discipline of the world, instead of God’s blessings.
Finally, God, in His mercy, opened the eyes of your understanding to see the Glory in the Gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ. You believed and received Him into your heart, and were made a new creature in Christ; righteous, reconciled, without blame before Him in love.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me
Your spirit was quickened, made alive, and you began to follow the Lord from your heart; His voice was new, tender, gentle, and loving. He reset your conscience to His standard, and it became trustworthy.
He instructed you through your spirit, to walk in the Light of His word.
When you followed His word from your heart, you found it was identical to His written New Covenant word of the Holy Bible. It became your delight to honour and obey Him, so you listened and read attentively. See: Divine Humility.
If our heart condemn us not
When you missed the mark, you knew in your heart, deep in your spirit. That was your first experience of God’s discipline. He became silent, and waited for you to notice, and repent. As soon as you confessed and apologised to Him, received His forgiveness, and did what you knew you should do, that velvety intimacy of fellowship with Him was restored. Your heart no longer condemned you.
That is how the Lord disciplines His children; in tender love, kindly, with long-suffering, and great patience.
To day if ye will hear his voice
If we harden our hearts, ignore His discipline, and continue to sin, we experience the consequences of our rebellion, like we used to following the world.
Instead of staying on the safe narrow path, we found ourselves in the quagmire, life became ever more complicated; as when in the world, chewing nails instead of savouring honey from the comb. Whereas He used to smooth your way, now things went wrong.
You quickly learned the lesson, and sought to please Him by always obeying His Spirit’s leading in your heart. Rom. 8:14 KJV;
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Where Did I Go Wrong?
Now here’s a precious insight that helps us appreciate the Lord’s discipline. Hebrews 5:8-9 KJV;
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
We think of discipline as punishment for wrongdoing; but it is much broader than that. Here we see that Jesus experienced Father’s discipline, training Him in His maturation, and we know Christ never missed the mark; never sinned, never disobeyed Father, or the Holy Spirit. Yet He learned obedience through what He suffered. Isn’t that interesting? (Also see the end-note on “being made perfect”.)
This means that even when we walk in obedience, we will meet suffering in this world.
Christian! Your walk with God is not going to be a bed of red satin sheets and rose petals, you will meet hardship, and suffering, and they may not come through disobedience.
God expects us to mature, to accept it as training, and thereby learn to steadfastly obey, like Jesus did, and in so doing we will prosper spiritually in the trial.
Legitimate Sons and Daughters
God’s discipline and chastening is to be welcomed, because it helps us become more Christ-like. And we keep in mind, whoever He does not chasten is not His child. Heb. 12:5-11 KJV;
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heavenly Father, we welcome, praise, and thank you for your chastening; training us in holiness, bringing forth the fruit of your righteousness in our lives, on Earth, as in Heaven, for your Glory, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
End Note: In Heb. 5:8-9 KJV; The phrase, “being made perfect” does not imply our Messiah needed to have imperfections weeded out, as modern Bibles blasphemously render it, “once made perfect”. No, it means, He had to grow and mature in His continual perfection, just as a perfect acorn has to grow into a mature Oak tree, but is always perfect. Christ grew in knowledge and experience; until complete, ready to minister, and fulfil His mission as our Saviour.
© 11 Colin Melbourne