The Cross and Discipline

Needing to finish writing this study has been difficult, and to be completely honest, I did not realize the profound affect it would create in your spirit when learning about the Cross. The experience has blessed and taught me that the Cross will not be embraced by everyone and that it has to be a personal choice one must make.

Picking up your cross to follow Jesus requires obedience, submission and a desire in your heart. These are struggles that every Christian will face.

Take a moment to listen to the words of this song and meditate upon them. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQBYI9wrqk

How did it speak to you?

What are your thoughts?

Discipline is teaching to do the right thing for the right reason. God wants to save us from ourselves because He loves us. When we are going in the wrong direction or doing things contrary to what God asks, He will discipline His children.

Why does God discipline His people?

Proverbs 3:11-12

 “My son does not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke,

  because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”  

Proper discipline is a proof of love. God does that with us. When a born-again child of God heads for sin or refuses to resist temptation, our Heavenly Father brings chastening into their life to direct them back to holiness (God’s right way).

Hebrews 12:5-6  
“My son do not despise the chastening of the Lord, 
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 
For whom the Lord loves He chastens, 
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Another word for “chasten” is “discipline.” We are not to be angry or discouraged when the Lord chastens us, but rather, we must have the proper attitude as it is essential in our maturity in the knowledge and grace of God. 

Throughout scripture,God portrays Himself as a Father. Those who have received Jesus as Savior are His children

John 1:12; 

          But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of      

          God, to those who believe in His name: 
He uses the analogy of father/son because we understand it. He compares Himself to a loving father who not only blesses but disciplines His beloved children for their own good. 

Hebrews 12:8, tells us, that those who do not receive God’s discipline are not legitimate children. A loving father carefully watches his son, and when that son defies his orders and heads for danger, the father disciplines him to keep him safe.

Chastening can come in the form of guilty feelings, unpleasant circumstances, loss of peace, relationship fractures, or any number of negative consequences for choosing sin. Sometimes, the chastening of the Lord can be physical illness or even death.

1 Corinthians 11:30

            “For this reason, many are weak and
            sick among you, and many sleeps.

Often, people ask if God is “punishing” them for wrong choices in the past. Keep in mind what you have heard and learned. Punishment for sin was done away with by Jesus upon the Cross. 
Because the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus for those who are “in Christ Jesus” there remains no wrath when we give our lives to Christ our sins are forgiven, and God remembers it no more. 

Romans 5:9

            “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ,

            He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.”  

Hebrews 10:15-17
            “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 
            This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: 
            I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds, I will write them. 
            Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Wrong choices in the past have brought about unpleasant consequences. God does not necessarily remove the consequences of sin when we repent. Those consequences will be tools for our good that God can use to teach us and to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes. It will serve us well to be reminded of His grace.

Examples of chastening are found throughout the Bible. The Israelites were continually disobeying God's commands. He was patient with them, He sent prophets to plead with them and He warned them many times. But when they dug in their heels and embraced idols or evil practices, God brought chastening upon them in the form of plagues or enemy attacks. He still loved them, and in His love, He could not allow them to continue in behavior that would destroy them.

Chose a scripture to read and see God’s love and grace towards His people then and now.

     Numbers 14:21-23               Judges 2:1-2             2 Kings 18:12            Jeremiah 40:3

There are many examples of personal chastening in the Bible, as well, upon those in whom the Lord delighted in. 

Moses - Numbers 27:12

David - 1 Chronicles 28:3 
Solomon - 1 Kings 11:11

Let's notice that although these men made mistakes and were chastened for them, God did not stop loving or using them. He brought discipline appropriate to their sin but always forgave the heart that truly repents, because God delights in restoring relationships with His children.

Read and mediate on these verses on God’s discipline and write out your thoughts. 

Job 5:17

          “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
            Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.

1 Corinthians 11:31-32

             ^“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 

            But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord,

            that we may not be condemned with the world.”  

Psalm 119:67

        “Before I was afflicted I went astray,
            But now I keep Your word.

  

Psalm 119:75

        “I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
            And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”