Hebrews 12:7
There is a distinct difference between receiving chastisement out of wrath and anger and receiving it out of love. All chastisement that the believer receives from the Lord is out of God’s heart of love and compassion; not a result of God’s anger. Jesus was wounded for our sins and also, “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Isaiah 53:5). This means that Jesus was disciplined so that we could have peace. God can’t discipline us for the same reason and still remain righteous in His dealings with His Son, therefore all discipline on us is to profit us and make us partakers of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).
Did you know that the same Greek word used for ‘chastisement’ is also used for ‘nurture’ and ‘instruction’? It appears as nurture in Ephesians 6:4 when Paul tells parents to raise their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord”. It is used as instruction in 2 Timothy 3:16 when Paul tells Timothy that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. Placing ‘nurture’ next to admonition (which means ‘exhortation’), we see that Paul wants parents to show their children a loving God. In his use of ‘instruction’ to Timothy, he can’t be showing that the Bible beats people, for a book has no power to do so, but it certainly can ‘instruct’.
Remember, it was the translation from Greek to English that brought us these different words. The translators could have used the word ‘nurture’ throughout Hebrews 12, and we would have less confusion regarding the chastening power of the Lord. The author used the same Greek word in each passage, but our rendering of it into one word or the other has a profound effect on our interpretation of these passages.
Why must we always view ‘chastening’ as God beating us senseless? Or why do we assume that it means that God sometimes takes our job away or breaks our car or gives us a disease so that we will be less prideful or more giving? Would you do this to your child? If you wish to teach your little girl not to play in the street, do you shove her in front of a truck and then say, “That’s what happens when you play in the street. Maybe now you will listen to daddy”? That kind of parenting would get you locked up!
The fact that we are sons of God means that we are going to receive true chastisement from our Heavenly Father. This chastisement will instruct us in the ways of righteousness and show us a little more of Jesus every day. As our Father, He deals with us in much the same way that we would deal with our own children. The word ‘chastise’ is ‘paideuo’ in Greek and it means “child-training”. God is training us up as children and the quicker that we think of Him as a Father to little children, the quicker that we will see Him as good.
I think that in our Western culture, we had several generations of distant fathers, and this caused us to view our Heavenly Father in the same light. Dads were seen but not heard from for quite some time, and they were only brought into situations when there was discipline needed. That discipline usually came of the physical variety, and thus our perception of God became that He only steps in when we have done something wrong and then His wrath will be felt. You are His special child, and He is NOT a distant Father. He is right next to you at all times, training up the child in the way that he or she should go. Walk tall believer, Daddy has got your back!
There is a distinct difference between receiving chastisement out of wrath and anger and receiving it out of love. All chastisement that the believer receives from the Lord is out of God’s heart of love and compassion; not a result of God’s anger. Jesus was wounded for our sins and also, “the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Isaiah 53:5). This means that Jesus was disciplined so that we could have peace. God can’t discipline us for the same reason and still remain righteous in His dealings with His Son, therefore all discipline on us is to profit us and make us partakers of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).
Did you know that the same Greek word used for ‘chastisement’ is also used for ‘nurture’ and ‘instruction’? It appears as nurture in Ephesians 6:4 when Paul tells parents to raise their children in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord”. It is used as instruction in 2 Timothy 3:16 when Paul tells Timothy that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. Placing ‘nurture’ next to admonition (which means ‘exhortation’), we see that Paul wants parents to show their children a loving God. In his use of ‘instruction’ to Timothy, he can’t be showing that the Bible beats people, for a book has no power to do so, but it certainly can ‘instruct’.
Remember, it was the translation from Greek to English that brought us these different words. The translators could have used the word ‘nurture’ throughout Hebrews 12, and we would have less confusion regarding the chastening power of the Lord. The author used the same Greek word in each passage, but our rendering of it into one word or the other has a profound effect on our interpretation of these passages.
Why must we always view ‘chastening’ as God beating us senseless? Or why do we assume that it means that God sometimes takes our job away or breaks our car or gives us a disease so that we will be less prideful or more giving? Would you do this to your child? If you wish to teach your little girl not to play in the street, do you shove her in front of a truck and then say, “That’s what happens when you play in the street. Maybe now you will listen to daddy”? That kind of parenting would get you locked up!
The fact that we are sons of God means that we are going to receive true chastisement from our Heavenly Father. This chastisement will instruct us in the ways of righteousness and show us a little more of Jesus every day. As our Father, He deals with us in much the same way that we would deal with our own children. The word ‘chastise’ is ‘paideuo’ in Greek and it means “child-training”. God is training us up as children and the quicker that we think of Him as a Father to little children, the quicker that we will see Him as good.
I think that in our Western culture, we had several generations of distant fathers, and this caused us to view our Heavenly Father in the same light. Dads were seen but not heard from for quite some time, and they were only brought into situations when there was discipline needed. That discipline usually came of the physical variety, and thus our perception of God became that He only steps in when we have done something wrong and then His wrath will be felt. You are His special child, and He is NOT a distant Father. He is right next to you at all times, training up the child in the way that he or she should go. Walk tall believer, Daddy has got your back!
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