PURPOSES OF DISCIPLINE
HEBREWS 12:4-11
4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
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, 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.
ALL THE JEWS TO WHOM THE BOOK OF HEBREWS WAS WRITTEN WERE UNDERGOING PERSECUTION BECAUSE OF THEIR BREAK WITH JUDAISM. IT WAS COMING FROM THEIR JEWISH FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, WHO RESENTED THEIR TURNING THEIR BACKS ON THE RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS IN WHICH THEY HAD BEEN BORN AND RAISED. The readers had been reminded about “the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated (10:32-33). Even the unbelieving Jews who wee involved with the church must have suffered because of their association with Christians.
SOME BELIEVERS PERHAPS WERE WONDERING WHY IF THEIR GOD WAS A GOD OF POWER AND OF PEACE, THEY WERE SUFFERING SO MUCH. “WHY ARE WE NOT WINNING OUT OVER OUR ENEMIES, INSTEAD OF OUR ENEMIES SEEMING ALWAYS TO HAVE THE UPPER HAND! Where is the God who is supposed to supply all our needs and give us the answers to our questions, and fulfillment to our lives! Why, when we turned to a God of love, did everyone start hating us!”
THE LAST SECTION OF CHAPTER 11 BEGINS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS LIKE THESE AND ALSO PROVIDES A FOUNDATION FOR THE EXHORTATIONS OF 12:4-11. Suffering for God’s sake was nothing new . The saints of the Old Covenant had known what it was to suffer for their faith. They faced warfare, weakness, torture, beatings, imprisonment, stonings, destitution and every sort of affliction, all because of their trust in the Lord (11:34=38). And believers under the New Covenant, such as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the knowledge of sins completely forgiven, and peaceful consciences. These heroes of the past “did not receive what was promised, yet they endured valiantly and “gained approval through their faith (v. 39). They faced afflictions in the right attitude, which is what the readers of Hebrews are counseled to do – to run the race of faith as their forefathers had done (12:1).
THE KEY WORD OF 12:4-11 IS DISCIPLINE, USED BOTH AS A NOUN AND VERB. IT IS FROM THE GREEK PAIDEIA, WHICH IN TURN, COMES FROM PAIS (“CHILD”) AND DENOTES THE TRAINING OF A CHILD. The word is a broad term, dignifying whatever parents and teachers do to train, correct, cultivate, and educate children in order to help them develop and mature as hey ought. It is used nine times in these eight verses.
THE FIGURE CHANGES FROM THAT OF A RACE TO THAT OF A FAMILY. CHRISTIAN LIVING INVOLVES RUNNING, WORKING, FIGHTING AND ENDURING. It also involves relationships, especially our relationship to God and to other believers. The emphasis of this passage is on the heavenly Father’s use discipline in the lives of His children.
PURPOSES OF DISCIPLINE
GOD USES HARDSHIP AND AFFLICTION AS A MEANS OF DISCIPLINE, A MEANS OF TRAINING HIS CHILDREN, OF HELPING THEM MATURE IN THEIR SPIRITUAL LIVES. He has three specific purposes for His discipline: retribution, prevention, and education.
WE MUST REALIZE THAT THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOD’S DISCIPLINE AND HIS JUDGMENTAL PUNISHMENT. As Christians we often have to suffer painful consequences for our sins, but we will never experience God’s judgment for them. This punishment Christ took completely on Himself in the crucifixion, and God does not exact double payment for any sin. Though we deserve God’s wrathful punishment because of our sin, we will never have to face it, because Jesus endured it for us. Neither God’s love nor His justice would allow Him to require payments for what His Son has already paid in full. In discipline, God is not a judge but a Father (cf. Rom. 8:1).
PREVENTION
SOMETIMES GOD DISCIPLINES IN ORDER TO PREVENT SIN. JUST AS WE PUT RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITS, AND SOMETIMES LITERAL FENCES AROUND OUR CHILDREN TO PROTECT THEM FROM HARM, SO GOD DOES WITH US. We do not allow our small children to play in busy streets, or play with matches, or splash in the swimming pool without someone to watch them. God also puts fences around His children to protect them. What seems to us a terrible inconvenience or hardship may be God’s loving hand of protection.
IF THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS ANYTHING HE WAS SELF-DISCIPLINED. HE WAS ALSO GENUINELY HUMBLE, ALWAYS CAREFUL TO GIVE THE LORD CREDIT FOR ANYTHING GOOD OR MIRACULOUS THAT HE DID. Yet Paul tells us that God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” for the specific purpose of keeping him from exalting himself (2 Cor. 12:7). God showed this “messenger of Satan” to “buffet” Paul not because His beloved and faithful apostle was proud but to keep him from becoming proud. The thorn in the flesh was sent to protect his spiritual well-being. Paul did not enjoy the thorn and pleaded earnestly with the Lord on three occasions to remove it. But when God assured Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,” Paul gladly accepted the thorn, in fact, boasted in it (vv.8-9). He learned that not only this thorn but also many other hardships and afflictions were being used by God to make him better. “Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10). Because the Lord’s discipline made him better, Paul thanked the Lord for it. It is one of God’s blessings, though not as attractive as some of the others.
OUR SICKNESS, LACK OF BUSINESS SUCCESS, OR OTHER PROBLEMS MAY BE GOD’S WAY OF KEEPING US FROM SOMETHING MUCH WORSE. If God’s children accepted His preventive discipline more willingly and gratefully, He would have much less need for administrating His corrective discipline.
FORGETTING GOD’S WORD
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;
FORGETFULNESS CAUSES A LOT OF UNNECESSARY PROBLEMS AND HEARTACHES. Our greatest need is not for new light from God, but for paying attention to light we already have. When God’s Word is neglected it is forgotten. Sometimes the answer or the help we need is in a truth we learned a long time ago but have let slip away.
PROOFS IN DISCIPLINE
“FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCURGES EVERY SONE WHOM HE RECEIVES.” 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? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons (12:6-8)
A MAN WHO WAS ASKED WHY HE WAS LOOKING OVER A WALL REPLIED “BECAUSE I CAN’T SEE THROUGH IT.” When Christians cannot see through the wall of pain, confusion, hardship or despair, they need only look over the wall into the face of their loving heavenly Father.
PROVES OUR SONSHIP
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES. 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? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (12:6b-8)
PROOF OF DISCIPLINE
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? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 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. (12:9-11)
HOLINESS
FOR THEY DISCIPLINED US FOR A SHORT TIME AS SEEMED BEST TO THEM, BUT HE DISCIPLINES US FOR OUR GOOD, THAT WE MAY SHARE HIS HOLINESS. (12:10)
ALL DISCIPLINE FOR THE MOMENT SEEMS NOT TO BE JOYFUL, BUT SORROWFUL; YET TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRAINED FOR IT, AFERWARDS IT YIELDS THE PEACEFUL FRUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. (12:11) – MacArthur
Professor Thomas A. Rohm
