Hebrews 12:5-11

The discipline of the Lord as training (Heb. 12:5-11)

POST OVERVIEW. Thoughts about “the discipline of the Lord” in Hebrews 12:5-11 as mostly being about the Lord calling His servants to difficult assignments for the purpose of training those servants for their future good works.

In my experience, the most common teaching about Hebrews 12:5-11 and “the discipline of the Lord” is that this discipline concerns the Lord’s taking the believer “out to the woodshed” to “discipline” him so that he won’t make the same mistakes again. This teaching also usually includes the reminder that the Lord cannot “punish” those who are in Christ Jesus because all the believer’s sins have been punished in the death of Christ. But while the Lord cannot punish the believer’s sins, He can “discipline” them. So, the teaching goes, this is what the author of Hebrews is talking about here in Heb. 12:5-11. The purpose is punishment, but we call it “discipline.”

Let me briefly critique this teaching. While I appreciate that this teaching stands firm on the doctrine that the Lord cannot punish the sins of believers because their sins have all been punished in the death of Christ, I do not believe that the author is here simply using “discipline” as an acceptable synonym for the word “punishment.”

In fact, I do not believe punishment is in view at all as the author talks about “discipline.” The context of Heb. 12:1-11 is about faithfully persevering in your faith and being steadfast in the midst of testing. In 12:1, the author refers back to our great cloud of faithful witnesses (Hebrews 11), who persevered in faith despite anguish and testing and ill treatment and he exhorts us also to run with endurance the race set before us, no matter the difficulties encountered in our race. We are to imitate the example of our Lord Jesus (12:2) who victoriously endured the shame of the cross because of the joy set before Him. When we are tempted to grow weary and lose heart (12:3), we consider how Jesus endured the hostility of sinners. The repeated theme is endurance and perseverance. In spite of opposition, the disciple of Jesus continues to press forward (Phil. 3:13-14).

Therefore, when we read that we are “not to regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (12:5), we must interpret this through the truth that, “those whom the Lord loves He disciplines” (12:6) and “God deals with you as with sons” (12:7). Those who have believed on Jesus Christ as Lord are now those whom the Lord loves. So the Lord relates to us primarily as those whom He loves. Our faith has given us the right to become children of God (John 1:12). And we are not prodigal children who are seeking our own will nor are we rebellious children needing constant correction (“discipline”), but we have become obedient children who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6). My point is that the child of God desires to please the Father. Our deepest longing is to be useful to the Master so that we will hear, both now in our soul and ultimately when we see Him face to face, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21). We can live with freedom and relate to God with joy because, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). In Christ, we are free and there is no fear of punishment (1 John 4:18).

So, if “the discipline of the Lord” is not about the believer’s correction or punishment, what is it about? The answer appears in the last verse in the passage, in 12:11. There we read that discipline is for training. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

THE PURPOSE OF DISCIPLINE IS TRAINING

The discipline of the Lord is intended to train us so that we bear “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Thus we see that the purpose of discipline is training the disciple. In this sense, then, when He disciplines us, the Lord is acting more as a loving coach than as a correcting father. As the coach’s goal is to bring out the best in the athlete through rigorous training activity, so the Lord intends to help us bear more peaceful fruit of righteousness by bringing spiritual training activities into our lives. We are to be trained by the discipline of the Lord.

We know that our earthly fathers disciplined us “as seemed best to them” (12:10). Because they were mere flesh and blood, their efforts at training us and raising us were flawed and limited. By contrast, the Father of spirits is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and is, therefore, perfect in His discipline. Not only that, but He “disciplines us for our good” (12:10). The Lord’s training is perfectly designed and perfectly carried out to discipline us for our good. The primary motive of the Lord’s discipline is our good.

If correction and punishment are not the intentions of the Lord’s discipline, then what exactly is this “discipline” that the Lord brings into our lives to train us? What are some examples? My definition of the discipline of the Lord is: “Those trials and difficulties that the Lord brings or allows into our lives to train us to become more useful to Him for His purposes.” Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Cor. 12:7-9 is an example of this discipline. The Lord sovereignly ordained that Satan would torment Paul to keep him from exalting himself.

A COUPLE OF PERSON INSTANCES OF THE LORD’S DISCIPLINE

In my own life, I would identify two instances of the Lord’s discipline. The first instance was when the Lord called me in my mid-forties to leave my quiet life of a bachelor and to marry a widow with three kids. This season in my life stretched me in so many ways and much of that stretching was painful and difficult, but the Lord used His discipline through the means of my marriage to make seismic changes in me and to sanctify me by decreasing so many of the sinful patterns and behaviors in my life.

The second instance was the job that He gave me when we moved to Charlotte. The job was definitely the Lord’s provision, but it was also a trial in many ways. I needed to learn how to submit to a boss that I did not respect and to work in a company that was very poorly run and to accept this relatively humble employment at the end of my career when my peers were reaching the peak of their careers. The Lord left me in that job for eleven years before releasing me. I now look back at that position and see that the Lord was using that to prepare me for other good works that He had planned for me in the future.

SUMMARY. The Lord’s purpose in bringing this discipline into our lives is to train us for the work that He has planned for us up ahead. He loves us and disciplines us for our good so that we can be useful to Him and so yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. So we accept His discipline, and we endure and we persevere and we continue to glorify Him.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 1/20/2024                   #689

The Discipline of the Lord – Part 5 (Hebrews 12:5-11)

THE PASSAGE – HEBREWS 12:5-11

INTRODUCTION. Hebrews 12:5-11 is the classic passage in the Bible about “the discipline of the Lord.” This is the fifth and final post in a series of studies covering this section of Scripture, and this article will draw the series to a conclusion. In the last two posts in this series (February 21 and 23), we had worked to discover the exact nature of this “discipline of the Lord.” Now we are going to apply what we have learned and understand how we are to respond when the Lord brings His discipline into the life of the child He loves.

WHAT IS THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD?

What did we discover in our previous posts about the nature of the discipline of the Lord? Although the author of Hebrews does not speak in this passage of suffering, I think the best way for the believer to understand the Lord’s discipline is to see that the Lord is bringing the perfect amount of affliction and yes, even suffering into the disciple’s life for the purpose of bringing about the disciple’s greater holiness. We experience this as suffering and pain and affliction, for these are the human labels we attach to this anguish, but from the Lord’s perspective He is bringing His sanctifying discipline onto the child He loves. The Lord is demonstrating His love to the disciple of Jesus through the means of His purifying affliction.

EXTRAORDINARY MEANS OF SANCTIFICATION

Why does the Lord choose to use suffering to produce sanctification? He does this because of His immense grace to us. The Lord has given to His children many means for growing in holiness. He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit who allows us to understand His Word. He has given us the Bible so that we can be renewed in the spirit of our minds and can know what it is to hunger and thirst for righteousness. He has given us communion with Him through prayer. He has given us His church, where we can worship Him with other believers and disciple one another and spur one another on to love and good deeds. These ordinary means of grace allow the believer to steadily grow in practical holiness and to increase in usefulness to the Master.

But the Lord is so personal with His children that, when He perceives an obstacle to His child’s holiness that is resistant to the ordinary means of sanctification, He crafts extraordinary means which the stubborn obstacle cannot resist. This is “the discipline of the Lord.” This discipline often feels like suffering and affliction, but it is the Lord’s appointed means of purifying us with hyssop so that the stubborn, entrenched unholiness can be cut out of our life.

AMAZING GRACE

Consider the grace of this discipline of the Lord. First, the Lord is so concerned about His child’s greater holiness that He is attentive to when there is a stubborn unholiness that must be addressed. The Lord then crafts the perfect discipline for this specific unholiness. He custom designs the discipline so that it is painful enough to purge away the unwanted unholiness but is not so painful that it crushes the disciple’s spirit. The Lord Himself then brings the discipline into the life of the believer so that the believer can share His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

THE HUMAN RESPONSE AND RESPONSIBILITY

How should we respond to the discipline of the Lord? We have already found much instruction in our study about how we are to respond, but before we review those responses, I wanted to make an observation from my own life. We have said that the Lord brings His discipline into our life to address an obstacle to holiness that He perceives. So, He knows the reason He is bringing His discipline, and what the intended result of the discipline is. But the disciple who is experiencing the affliction of the discipline of the Lord usually does not. When I have experienced the discipline of the Lord, I only perceived that the Lord was bringing suffering into my life, but I did not know the purpose of His discipline. By faith, I believed that the suffering I was experiencing was from the Lord as His discipline and was sent from heaven for the purpose of my greater holiness. This is the typical experience of the disciple, that they are aware of the suffering but do not know the specific reasons why or the details of the intended result. Even when the affliction is over, and the suffering has past, rarely does the disciple know the “whys” of the discipline of the Lord. But the Lord does. The disciple is called to trust the Lord and persevere through the affliction until the Lord determines that His intended greater holiness has been achieved.

We can review Hebrews 12:5-11 to remind ourselves of how we are to respond to His discipline. When we perceive that the Lord is bringing His discipline into our life, we are not to faint (12:5). We saw in post #493 (2/23/2022) what this meant: “We resolve to endure. Endurance and perseverance mark out our course because it is the enduring of the discipline that brings greater holiness and the fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10, 11). To reinforce this point, we see that Hebrews 12:7 calls us to endure: “It is for discipline that you endure.” By faith, we are also to patiently “be subject to the Father of spirits” (12:9) and allow His extraordinary work to have its intended result. Finally, we are to be trained by His discipline (12:11) so that we will “yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

SUMMARY OF THE STUDY

This study of Hebrews 12:5-11 and “the discipline of the Lord” has yielded a solid understanding of the nature of the discipline of the Lord and of how the disciple of Jesus can respond when they perceive that the Lord is bring His extraordinary means of sanctification into the disciple’s life.

SDG                 rmb                 3/3/2022                     #496

The Discipline of the Lord – Part 4 (Hebrews 12:5-11)

THE PASSAGE – HEBREWS 12:5-11

INTRODUCTION. Hebrews 12:5-11 is the classic passage in the Bible about “the discipline of the Lord.” This is the fourth post in a series of studies covering this section of Scripture. We have been seeking to understand concretely what this discipline of the Lord is, but I wanted to take a brief aside to explore two ways we can incorrectly respond to the discipline of the Lord. We will be looking at Hebrews 12:5-6.

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

TWO WARNINGS

The Lord brings His discipline to His children so that the children can share His holiness (12:10) and so that they can yield the fruit of righteousness (12:11). Therefore, the discipline of the Lord is a display of the Lord’s grace toward those who have placed their faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus. But because of the distorting effects of the fall and because of incomplete sanctification in the disciple, the child of God can misunderstand and misinterpret the Lord’s discipline. For this reason, the author of Hebrews issues two warnings about wrong responses.

Warning #1: “Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord.”

What does it mean to “regard lightly”? This means to respond in a way that ignores or despises the magnitude of the gesture. In this case, the Lord of the universe, by His providence, has ordained that His sanctifying, loving discipline is to be applied to one of His children at this specific time in human history. Imagine the immensity of this gesture! Imagine the condescension of the One bringing the discipline! The Lord has perceived in this specific disciple something that is hindering the disciple’s holiness. There is an obstacle to sanctification that the Lord not only sees, but that also moves the Lord to action. Now the Lord is going to bring the perfect discipline to bear on this disciple’s life so that the disciple will bear more of the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Such a spectacular gesture deserves a spectacular response. But to respond requires that the disciple perceive that the Lord is bringing His discipline. For this reason, every disciple should be alert for the presence of the discipline of the Lord in their life (ACTION ITEM). Then, once the disciple senses that the Lord is bringing His discipline to bear on his life, he needs to “lean into” the discipline so that it will have its full effect (ACTION ITEM). Give thanks to the Lord for His gracious care for you in sending His “scourging” discipline (ACTION ITEM). The opposite of “regard lightly” would be “make much of,” so the disciple should recognize this form of the Lord’s grace and praise Him loudly for His good instruction (ACTION ITEM). Taking these actions will help you avoid “regarding lightly” the discipline of the Lord.

Warning #2: “Nor faint when you are reproved by Him.”

The first warning cautioned the disciple not to regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, but this second warning tells us not to make too much of the Lord’s reproof. What I mean is this, that the Lord’s discipline is a perfect discipline. Like He sends His word to accomplish all that He intends and desires (see Isaiah 55:11), so the Lord brings His precise discipline to accomplish His precise ends. We know that His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3), and we can be assured that His discipline is likewise not onerous. The purpose of the Lord’s discipline is, by applying heat and affliction, to burn off the dross of remaining ungodliness and leave the disciple more conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). As Job said when he was undergoing the Lord’s severe discipline, “He (the LORD) knows the way I take, and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

Again, the Lord’s discipline is sent at the exact time needed to affect the change He desires. Although Paul was speaking of the persecution he faced because he faithfully proclaimed the gospel, the idea is similar with the Lord’s discipline: “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing” (2 Cor. 4:8). The Lord brings enough affliction to affect change and to spur greater holiness, but not so much that it crushes the spirit and brings despair.

The discipline of the Lord comes with heat and affliction, and there can be a response of “shrinking back” (Hebrews 10:38-39) and a temptation to faint under the stress. This warning #2 comes as an urgent exhortation to those who do not expect the Lord to test them and who therefore can feel the temptation to quit or to surrender to relieve the stress of the Lord’s discipline.

What is the right response when we are experiencing the affliction and the heat of the Lord’s discipline? Rather than faint, we resolve to endure (ACTION ITEM). Endurance and perseverance mark out our course because it is the enduring of the discipline that brings greater holiness and the fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10, 11). This is key: It is the enduring of the discipline and the persevering through the pain that brings the spiritual fruit. The Lord sends His perfect discipline, but if the disciple faints or takes shortcuts, then even the perfect discipline of the Lord will not have its intended results.

SUMMARY. When the Lord chooses to bring His discipline into the life of the believer, the believer is not to regard lightly this discipline, but is to receive it as a gift from his perfect heavenly Father and is to allow the discipline to work its full work. Even when the discipline of the Lord feels withering, the believer is not to faint, but is to continue with an attitude of endurance and perseverance.

SDG                 rmb                 2/23/2022                   #493

The Discipline of the Lord – Part 3 (Hebrews 12:5-11)

THE PASSAGE – HEBREWS 12:5-11

INTRODUCTION. Hebrews 12:5-11 is the classic passage in the Bible about “the discipline of the Lord.” This is the third post in a series of studies covering this section of Scripture, and we are now seeking to understand concretely what this discipline of the Lord is. We have found out what it does, but now we are seeking to discover what form it takes when the Lord administers His discipline on us, His children. In the last post we looked carefully at the passage itself to see what the passage taught us about the nature of this “discipline.” Now we are going to turn to dictionary meanings of the Greek words to see if we can gain more definition from them.

THE GREEK WORDS FOR “DISCIPLINE”

For this part of our study, we will look at the Greek noun for “discipline” and the Greek verb for “to discipline.”

First, the noun.

παιδεία (paideia)

1) the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body; 2) whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions. 2a) instruction which aims at increasing virtue; 2b) chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment) 

EXAMINATION. As we examine these definitions, meaning 1) applies to children and so can be ignored. Meaning 2) brings us better results, for the author of Hebrews is certainly speaking to and about adults in our study passage. “Whatever cultivates the soul by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.” This seems to strike pretty close to the target. So, a possible definition might be, “Discipline cultivates the soul by correcting (moral) mistakes and curbing (fleshly) passions.”

Going farther, meaning 2a) says “discipline is instruction that increases virtue.” Meaning 2b) may be the best definition of all. My own rendering of this meaning would be “God bringing (“visiting”) difficulties and trials (“evils”) upon His children for the purpose of chastening.”

Here, then, are the definitions of “discipline.”

“Discipline cultivates the soul by correcting (moral) mistakes and curbing (fleshly) passions.”

“Discipline is instruction that increases virtue.”

“God bringing (“visiting”) difficulties and trials (“evils”) upon His children for the purpose of chastening.”

Blending these together, I would propose this as a good definition:

The discipline of the Lord is when God brings difficulties and afflictions into the life of His child for the purpose of correcting behavioral mistakes and curbing fleshly passions.

Now we want to take a look at the Greek verb for “to discipline.”

παιδεύω (paidyoo-o)
1) to train children – 1a) to be instructed or taught or learn; 1b) to cause one to learn; 2) to chastise; 2a) to chastise or castigate with words, to correct; 2a1) of those who are moulding the character of others by reproof and admonition; 2b) of God – 2b1) to chasten by the affliction of evils and calamities; 2c) to chastise with blows, to scourge; 2c1) of a father punishing his son; 2c2) of a judge ordering one to be scourged 

EXAMINATION. Definition 1) involves the training of children and so does not apply to the context of Hebrews 12:5-11. Under definition 2) we move immediately to 2b) because this talks about the chastising of God (close parallel to the “discipline of the Lord”). (Notice that the three other definitions under 2b) do not fit the context of Heb. 12:5-11, because God does not administer chastisement either by blows or by a scourge, He does not punish us, and He is not a judge ordering someone to be scourged.) Drilling down more into 2b1), we could render this definition as,

The Lord disciplines His children by bringing into their lives the affliction of evils and calamities.

Our work has yielded two definitions in which the Lord brings difficulties, afflictions, and calamities into the life of His child for the purpose of driving out remaining unrighteousness and increasing the child’s holiness. The Lord brings pain and affliction into His child’s life so that the child can be buffed and honed into an evident godliness. The discipline of the Lord is the Lord’s intentional shaping and sanctifying of His children through the means of painful affliction.

We will refine our study still more in the next post and see how others have understood this concept of “the discipline of the Lord.”

SDG                 rmb                 2/21/2022                   #492

The Discipline of the Lord – Part 2 (Hebrews 12:5-11)

THE PASSAGE – HEBREWS 12:5-11

Hebrews 12:5-11 is the classic passage in the Bible about “the discipline of the Lord.” This is the second post in a series of studies covering this section of Scripture. The last post established a basic interpretation of the passage, but also revealed that there is still work to do to see how this interpretation works itself out in life. What I mean is that we understand what the discipline of the Lord does, but we have not yet made clear what the discipline of the Lord is. This part of our study will dig deeper into the meaning of the passage.

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. – Hebrews 12:5-11

WHAT IS THIS “DISCIPLINE”?

What is the “discipline” in the discipline of the Lord? This is a crucial question for understanding this teaching, and so we will take some time to consider the meaning and the definition of this “discipline.” Here is our approach:

  1. What can we learn about “discipline” from the passage itself?
  2. Find dictionary definitions for the Greek and English words.
  3. How is “discipline” been understood by other Christians?

WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE ITSELF TEACH US ABOUT “DISCIPLINE”?

By carefully reading these verses, we can learn a lot about what “discipline” is and what it is not.

  • The Lord loves those whom He disciplines (12:6). We can therefore conclude that the Lord does not discipline in anger and that the Lord’s discipline is not intended to punish. (See 1 John 4:18.)
  • All believers will receive the discipline of the Lord as evidence that they are His children (12:6, 7, 8). But if all the Lord’s children receive His discipline, then the discipline of the Lord is not sent to correct or punish specific occurrences of sin or misbehavior in particular believers. Instead, the Lord’s discipline is sent, at the Lord’s discretion and providence, upon all believers universally to bring about the same result in all; namely, that they would share the Lord’s holiness (12:10) and would produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness (12:11).
  • Discipline is “sorrowful” (12:11). The disciple must “endure” the discipline of the Lord (12:7). The quote from Proverbs tells us “not to faint” and declares that the Lord “scourges” (The Greek word is understood figuratively, but literally means “beat with a whip.”) every son He receives. Thus, we conclude that the discipline of the Lord involves pain and affliction and suffering.
  • The discipline of the Lord has a purpose. The Lord “disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness” (12:10). This discipline is for training in holiness and has no retributive component.

FROM THE PASSAGE ITSELF

Just by studying the passage carefully we have gained a good understanding of what this discipline of the Lord is. The Lord disciplines in love all believers so that they will be trained to walk in greater holiness and to produce the fruit of righteousness. Nevertheless, this discipline of the Lord requires endurance (or “perseverance”) because it is administered by the Lord through suffering and pain and affliction.

FIND DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS FOR GREEK AND ENGLISH WORDS

Now that we have grasped the meaning of “discipline” from the context of the passage, our next task will be to learn what we can from dictionary definitions for the Greek and English words. That will be tomorrow’s post.

SDG                 rmb                 2/17/2022                   #489

The Discipline of the Lord – Part 1 (Hebrews 12:5-11)

THE PASSAGE – HEBREWS 12:5-11

Hebrews 12:5-11 is the classic passage in the Bible about “the discipline of the Lord.” In this post, we will give an overview of these verses and will make several comments before explaining how to understand and apply this passage. The two key words are “discipline” (both the noun and the verb) and “endure.”

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. – Hebrews 12:5-11

The author of Hebrews begins by making clear (12:5-6, a quote from Proverbs 3:11-12) the universality of this “discipline of the Lord.” The exhortation is addressed to all those who are considered as ‘sons.’ (Obviously, this is not limited to the male children of the Lord. Of course, this includes all the children of the Lord, meaning all those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ.) So, all the children of the Lord are not to regard the Lord’s discipline lightly. The writer goes on to make clear that the discipline of the Lord comes universally to all “whom the Lord loves” and that the Lord “scourges every son (child) whom He receives.” Therefore, if you are loved by the Lord and if the Lord has received you into His household based on your faith in His Son, then you can expect to experience His discipline.

“It is for discipline that you endure” (12:7a). “Discipline” is used here as a noun and “endure” is a verb. Discipline describes the positive outcome of endurance. To endure means to willingly experience pain, stress, difficulty, or suffering because there is something valuable to be gained by the experience. And so, the child of God endures the Lord’s discipline.

The author then draws a parallel between the discipline we received from our earthly fathers and the discipline that all the children of the Lord receive from the Lord (12:7b-10). Every responsible earthly father diligently trains his children using whatever means he has at his disposal. Thus, all legitimate children receive their father’s discipline (training). We subjected ourselves to our earthly father’s imperfect discipline, so should we not subject ourselves to our heavenly Father’s perfect discipline, especially since the outcome of God’s training is that we “share in His holiness” (12:10)?

From 12:11, we learn that “discipline seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful.” Once again it is clear that the author intends for “discipline” to be understood as a painful experience that the disciple (“trainee”) willingly endures because the one bringing the “discipline” can be trusted to use the pain and the suffering and the trial of the discipline to produce a greater good. In this verse, we observe that those who have been trained by the discipline of the Lord obtain “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

SUMMARY OF THE TEACHING OF THIS PASSAGE.

All the children of the Lord are going to receive “the discipline of the Lord” as evidence that they are, indeed, the Lord’s legitimate children. Discipline is to be endured because the pain of the Lord’s discipline produces spiritual fruit. As we subjected ourselves to our earthly father’s imperfect discipline, so now we subject ourselves to our heavenly Father’s perfect discipline, especially since the outcome of God’s training is that we “share in His holiness” (12:10). The disciple who will endure the pain and suffering of “the discipline of the Lord” and be trained it will obtain “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS “DISCIPLINE”?

In this post, we have established a basic interpretation of this passage, but there is still work to do to see how this interpretation works itself out in life. What I mean is that we understand what the discipline of the Lord does, but we have not yet made clear what the discipline of the Lord is. How do we recognize when we ourselves are experiencing this discipline? What prompts the Lord to bring His discipline into our life? What circumstances cause me to experience this discipline? Is this discipline sent as retribution for my misbehavior? Is the discipline like punishment? Is the discipline a good thing or is it a bad thing? What should be my response if I sense that the Lord has brought discipline into my life? These are some of the questions we will tackle in the next post.

SDG                 rmb                 2/16/2022                   #488