“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:11)
My friend,
Surely this verse gives us encouragement that God our Father works for our good; and, also that He is working for the good of all His children across the world, for those who are born from above. If one’s view of God is wrong and He is not trusted, His wisdom not yielded to, His Fatherly care not wanted, then the divine discipline that He intends for good may certainly go unrecognized. It could even be disregarded. And, if His chastening comes upon someone possessing unbelief and a partially hardened heart, the training and potential benefit may be wasted or even scorned. Those who do not understand that God works through chastening position themselves to miss out on an education that God wisely manages and which He declares is for our good.
We might say that if a Christian has not already experienced training by God’s chastening, then that person will not have the discerning eyes to know additional lessons which come in this same way. We, as individual Christians, participate in this divine action. This may seem obvious—Of course we as Christians participate in God’s chastening!—but, I assure you, I rarely encounter any Christian going through God’s chastening, so why should I think it actually goes on? Personal knowledge of this divine work requires going beyond only possessing informational understanding of it. One must render a personal interpretation of one’s life as having actually been through one or more episodes of it. To truly know the goodness of God through chastening, one must experience His discipline directly, come through it and be able to see the process and the good fruit it yields. I assume one can talk about what God did in their life and what came as a result. The difference we are pinpointing is between one knowing about something without having experienced it and one knowing it having experienced it. The way Hebrews 12 presents God’s chastening, it should be something each Christian both knows about and knows personally.
Some Christians who access the scriptures regularly will come across this text and they will be able, with the Spirit’s aide, to interpret their experiences as this divine training. They will recognize God’ role and the blessing of God’s direct involvement in their lives, and they yield willingly to all God desires of them. But others there are who need to be instructed that this is a foundational way in which God at times works to teach His children many lessons about their lives of faith. It is needful and helpful for Christians to understand how and why God works this way, so they can know Him better and understand their lives in light of His works.
This training from chastening, like “the shaking” of God mentioned later in the same chapter, comes to us in the context of dealing with sin. The record of these two divine actions declares how God works in people’s lives with the result that their lives conform to Gods, and that their lives are being prepared to be with God through eternity. Working through these topics in chapter 12 we enter chapter 13 where we are encouraged to love others. My view on this theme development is that if we do not follow scriptures call to forsake sin, then we will not love others. To help us forsake sin, God our Father lovingly and wisely disciplines us. As we grow through discipline, He also gives us understanding of our end with Him. Knowing our end, and having His careful work in our lives now, we become more like Him. This likeness is manifest in how we relate to others, and love is the chief quality.
It is imperative that we as Christians view our lives through what scripture declares. Christians with trained eyes see and understand what comprises their lives moment to moment, event to event, and they understand where it all leads. Others cannot see because they do not believe what God has said. Some have no or very little knowledge of His word. They neither see nor know their end, thus they cannot understand their present. Then, there are others who tend to believe strongly in themselves, in their wisdom, in their judgments, in their self-righteousness, in their power, and in their rights. They may not see this about themselves. Living this way is natural to them, and they do not discern their true condition. They live as gods, desiring self-rule. Categorically, there are others who having direct access to God’s word will learn on their own with the aide of the Spirit. And I know we will meet people who need much prodding and guidance. If a person does not have direct access to God’s word or demonstrates a lack of understanding, we need to inform them and lead them in the way. We, ourselves, also need to be led by those God provides to counsel us.
One conclusion from these many points is that because of the universal work of God the Father in the lives of His children, each child of God should be aware of this work unfolding in their lives. Some Christians are. Some Christians aren’t. All should be. One reason as to why any particular Christian may not be aware of God’s disciplining work in their life is because, in general, the church does not teach this or it fails to assign proper value and importance to God’s direct involvement in the process of personal holiness and sanctification. The subject of discipline itself has suffered by being redefined and marginalized into something that, at best, may happen only when church leadership address a gross sin in a member’s life. But discipline as a virtue of the Christian life, as it pertains to self and sin, is hard to find. This absence creates the needed environment for self to live secure. It is not looked at or talked about, and it takes cover and concealment from shallow and external religion. People do not know what to look for and they do not know how to deal with self and sin if they catch a glimpse of them in their lives.
The passage above makes very clear God’s discipline produces a pain. This pain is associated with God’s discipline and with the process of forsaking sin. The presence of pain lets a Christian know that God is working in their life. It is a specific type of pain, and it is a pain only experienced by Christians and only discernable by Christians. All true Christians are supposed to experience God’s chastening and this pain, but perhaps in different ways. Hebrews 12:8 provides the statement declaring the universality of Christians experiencing this divine work. The pain, I believe, is the sensation we Christians acknowledge within as we are transitioned degree by degree from being of the world to being of God, in Christ Jesus, by means of God’s pruning and chastening. God is separating out to Himself what is of Him in us, fashioning what will be fully in His presence and what will remain with Him everlastingly. This pain stems from a tearing of the heart, which alone is sufficient enough for us to endure. But, because this work is God’s work there is the issue of sin to deal with as well. Pain from sin comes by our seeing and acknowledging our commitment to self and sin, and the ramifications of this commitment as it affects other relationships. But this pain from sin also comes when we understand how it reveals what we think of God, and the offence He bears in relating to us. The pain from God’s chastening is unique. It is multifaceted. It reveals and redirects.
Do you remember from previous letters my reference to Ephesians 1:4, and that I consider this passage one that reveals the end God has set for us? And, do you recall how I believe that if God has set that as the end, then I argue that He also sets the means of shaping us along the way to that end? If we believe God has redeemed us, and we believe we will be with Him for eternity, then we had better see something of His work in our lives as we near that time when we will transition to being fully with Him. Holiness, blamelessness, and love are qualities of God and His environment. He fashions us here to be fit for there. Consider these verses:
“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” (Eph 1:4-5)
“And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. “ (Col
“that He might present her [the Church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:27)
God’s righteousness by and through Jesus Christ is the all-in-all for our standing outlined above. God does this marvelous work and He is praised and glorified through age upon age! The divine work of preparation for eternity is a wonderful, good, and necessary task. Knowing this, we should thank God for this work and that He has not left it up to us to design and carry out our sanctification. What human could know the requirements to fashion a life to be fit for the presence of God? I dare not pretend I do. God does, and I trust Him. The apostle Paul does admonish us to work out our salvation, and he says for it is God who works in us. Thus, even here, our response to the divine initiative is declared. The way Paul presents this implies we can discern what God’s work is so that we know what to work out and how.
Now, permit me to circle back to the notion of that pain that accompanies God’s chastening or discipline. This passage is discussing Christians. There are Christians who have hardened hearts and who do not believe in what God declares. (I assume this view does not come as a shock to you.) To Christians in this category, the pain is also very real. It is magnified many times over because of their response. These Christians, committed to self, are not moved to confession and repentance. They are committed to life in themselves instead of life in God. Therefore, when the pain comes they move away from God. They do not understand what is going on. This movement seems to bring strength and security, because every thing resonates with self, but it actually increases frustrations that plague the mind and life. That peace which quiets the person and sets the person in a more God-ward fashion is not theirs to know.
Rejecting God carries an unpleasant edge into the person’s life that defines movement away from God and this edge cuts into life in a way that brings about additional hardness of heart. One is naturally fortifying self. As a person truly rejects God’s work in their life (even though they may not understand this is what is taking place), they cannot discern God’s work. Darkness increases. They lose ability to see and discern. They are functionally moving away from the Tree of Life toward the outer boundaries of the garden or out of the garden and functionally into the cursed and godless world. They live as without God. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death.” (Pv14:12) I am convinced that God will retrieve such a one, but when and how we don’t know. What I do understand is that I myself, due to sin and hardness of heart, I could find myself relationally moving away from God and back to self, sin and the empty crumbs of the world, and life could appear fine because “I” and not God am defining life. This potential I know about myself. And, my friend, perhaps you also share this possibility with me. Therefore, our need to talk and encourage one another becomes obvious.
Self-rule and self-justification not only lead one to reject and repel the divine advance intended for good, but the ungodly one manifests the opposite of a peaceful end. There would be increased tension, unsettledness, confusion and anger, because life in this condition gets harder and harder to manage and control. It seems that someone in this condition is destine for being totally out of control! Instead of the peaceable fruit of righteousness manifesting in relationships, warring and destructive powers of self-interest deliver to the person severe blows that must plague one’s life if God is not acknowledged as God. The very same work of God experienced by to two different types of people can bring life from the pain of correction for one and increased pain leading to further distancing from God (i.e., death) to the other. It is by God’s mercy and goodness that He tells us chastening or disciplining is to be expected and that it is for our good. He tells us the goal of manifest peace is something He works in our lives. God wants us to manifest that which is of Him as we pass through this world on our way to Him. We must believe that the end is real or we will not be able to rest in God concerning the means He uses to achieve that end. We must realize that God does this work on an individual level and on a corporate level collectively as the church. I will address below.
I find it remarkable that as you and I read and meditate on this passage, that we understand each Christian across the globe, at various times, and all under the Master’s crafting care, all are constantly undergoing the detailed work of God. Maybe the degrees and depths of the work vary over different periods, but God seems intimately connected to us in this way. Do you have any doubt that God is bringing many to Himself and He uses those things in our lives (illumined by His Spirit and His Word) to cause us to think and pray and pursue holiness? We must interpret life this way, and we must help others see and know that God is always working in their lives. We must help others desire the good work of God, have discernment to see it, and to talk about it with us and others. Sanctification, separation, is a major element of the Christian life, and I fear that it is not addressed as a central Christian element with direction, conviction and passion! With its absence comes a lack of transformational activity in Christian lives. The tendency is to focus on gaining information, and lots of it, but the inside never undergoes change. Internal transformation comes through godly discernment, confession of sin, repentance, faith, and living in God’s presence. The danger the church faces is that people will not fully understand this divine work from chastening and shaking and, therefore, do not deal with sin in their lives by God’s provisions and power. They do not and will not yield to God. People naturally tend to still view themselves as better than God says they are, and they by default trust in themselves. (And I include myself!) I have one additional element pertaining to this topic to mention.
My comments regarding God’s intimate involvement through discipline thus far have been with reference to God our Father. He is the one behind the chastening and the shaking in Hebrews 12. I am passing over addressing the shaking now for the sake of brevity, but what it is and how it benefits us must be understood. Consider its placement in connection to the topic of sin at the beginning of Hebrews 12, followed by chastening, then comes the shaking, and once prepared we move into chapter 13 which begins with loving. There is a life process outlined here. I trust you recognize it.
Jesus Christ is Lord over all. He is priest. He is king. He is head of the church. He exercises his right of rule over all creation. Earlier, I referenced Ephesians 5:27: “that He might present her [the Church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:27)
Consider this passage:
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis
We find here, in the context of a specific church being addressed, the notion of being dead if not submitting to divine command and instruction, and with a deficiency related to godly works. The church spoken of was not living out a faith relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Lord by the Spirit. But, it seemed to them, and perhaps others around them, that they were. Jesus being head over the church owns the church. He knew the truth about this church, and he knows the truth about us. The Father has given him all authority to rule. (Jn 5:27) Because he has this authority, Jesus Christ chastens or disciplines this church. I see no reason to assign the addresses to the churches in Revelation 1-3 as pertaining to the primitive church only and somehow the church today escapes the ministry of its Head.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev 3:19)
We have seen that the Father chastens. The Father has given all authority to His Son. Jesus Christ also chastens. He does this because of his love for the church; his bride. As priest, Jesus Christ intercedes for the church. As King, he exercises his right to rule his kingdom and bring all under submission. If the Father chastens from love and the Son chastens from love, and the Spirit works for our holiness, (thus, the Trinity is unified in this marvelous work!) where is the open and active proclamation of the fact of these realities in the church today? Where is the confession of these most intimate and all ruling realities? Where is the open discussion of these things being fact, taking place, and unfolding in my and your life? Where are the private self-reflective pursuits of these things on bended knee before God our Father and His Son? Why are we, as a church, so caught up in things that do not really matter and do not address and deal with the sanctifying work of God in dealing with sin and moving the body along to be renewed in the image of Him who created new creatures in Christ Jesus?
I have much more to say and many questions regarding this, my friend. Perhaps we can find time to talk about them later. I have more on the mind, but I need to close this letter and send it to you. Pray with me about these things, what they mean and for what God would have us also do.
God’s best.
Carl
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