Heb 12:5 ..."My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when reproved by Him; (6) For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives." (10) For they [the fathers of our flesh] disciplined for a few days as it seemed good to them; but He [the Father of spirits], for what is profitable that we might partake of His holiness.
[Part 1 of 2] [In Hebrews 12:5-6], we see clearly that the motive of discipline is the love of God. Those who receive God's discipline are the sons of God. If someone is not a son of God, God will not discipline him. You can never find in the Bible that God disciplines an unbeliever. Therefore, the realm of discipline is confined only to Christians, and the motive of discipline is love. It is not because God hates man that He disciplines him. He disciplines man because He loves him. He disciplines us so that we can partake of His holiness [v. 10]. If a Christian lives in a very loose way on earth, without manifesting God's nature and holiness, God's hand will fall heavily on such a one. God does not like to chastise us. His purpose is to have His holiness manifested in us. He will only stop disciplining us when His holiness is manifested in us. Therefore, we see that discipline does not prove that we are not the Lord's. Rather, it proves that we belong to the Lord. Only those who belong to the Lord are qualified to be disciplined. [continued tomorrow]
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, The Gospel of God, pp. 385-386. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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