The Father’s Discipline

They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:10-11

Part of God being a good and loving Father is that God disciplines His children. God loves us so much that He is unwilling to leave us in a state of immaturity. He loves us too much to see us continue to be trapped in sin and selfishness.

This is the paradox of real, agape love. Real love unconditionally loves a person just as they are. It loves them without condition even if they never grow and change. Yet, love also wants the best for that person. And the best is maturity, growth and holiness. So real love is not just loving someone unconditionally; it’s also loving them enough to encourage them to change and grow into who they were created to be. Real love involves both of these things simultaneously.

Notice what God’s goal in discipline is: 1) it is for our good, and 2) it enables us to share in the very nature of God, His holiness. We get the profound honor and privilege of getting to share in, partake in, join in the very nature of the Godhead. What an unbelievably honoring and humbling reality! As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit dance together in perfect unity, love and holiness, we get invited into the dance. We get the absolute privilege of sharing in God’s holiness when God discipline’s us.

As for any parent, discipline is not primarily about punishing our kids. It’s about infusing discipline into their lives. It’s about training them in righteousness, so that their character has the strength–especially when we are not around–to choose right from wrong.

The same is true for God’s discipline. It is God the Father training us in holiness so that we will reap a harvest of righteousness and peace in our life. So many people today experience no peace in their lives because they reject God’s discipline, the very thing that will produce peace.

No discipline is pain-free. That’s kind of the point. The pain comes from putting to death our old self so that we can live clothed in the new self that was purchased for us by Jesus on the cross. Death can be painful. Putting to death our selfishness and sinful desires can be painful. But it’s the kind of pain that comes from working out at the gym. It’s the pain experienced when a physical therapist helps a person come back from an injury. It’s the pain involved in growing and getting whole.

Jesus describes this process as pruning. He said to His disciples and to us:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:1-2

Either way there is a cutting that happens. If we separate ourselves from Christ, we are cut off. If we submit our lives to Him and bear good fruit we still get cut, but the cutting is a pruning that makes us even more fruitful. The parts of our life that do not bring honor to God get trimmed back so that we can live in His holiness. Our Father doesn’t want us wasting our energy on branches of our life that won’t bear good fruit. This is the discipline of a loving Father.

Everything That Hinders

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2

Most Christians understand that sin can easily entangle us as we run our race of faith. Sin wraps like cords around our ankles tripping us up and keeping us from running. These cords of sin must be severed from our life or our faith will limp along unfruitful. Most of us have experienced this reality and know this all too well.

But what is sometimes missed is that there are things in life that are not sinful but can still be a hindrance. The passage of scripture above calls us to throw off everything that hinders. Because these things are not overt sin, they can fly under the radar of our lives. They are not like the cords of sin, tripping us up, but they do have a dampening effect on our faith.

We see the same reality represented in how the priests worshiped in the Temple. They would offer sacrifices on the altar in order to address sin. The sacrifices were about atonement for sin with blood. But then the priests would walk over to the wash basin–made of bronze mirrors–and wash with water. This washing wasn’t about being cleansed from sin but about getting the “uncleanness” off of them.

There are things that we read, things we listen to, and things we watch that aren’t necessarily sinful but do end up dulling our sensitivity to the Spirit. Likewise, there are habits of distraction and escape that aren’t sinful but lull us into a passive faith and trap us into keeping our minds on the things of the world rather than on things above (Colossians 3:2). These things gradually contaminate our mind and our heart if we continue to expose ourselves to them. These are the hindrances that need to be thrown off. These are the “unclean” things that need to be washed off.

Paul says it this way to the Corinthians:

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.
1 Corinthians 10:23

If we are going to run with perseverance and “not grow weary and lose heart”(Hebrews 12:3), we need to run light. In other words, we can’t run with unnecessary things weighing us down. It could be our interaction on social media or our relationship with food or alcohol. It could be our favorite way to escape that becomes a bad habit. Whatever it is, if it is a hindrance to our sensitivity and intimacy with the Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it needs to be thrown off.

Reasoning Faith

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”^{[Genesis 21:12]} Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
Hebrews 11:17-19

This passage is found in the famous “hall of faith” section of Hebrews chapter 11. This is where the writer of Hebrews recounts all the many acts of faith done by those in the old covenant. The phrase “by faith” is used 22 times in this chapter. And it all points to the reality that they acted by faith even though they didn’t see the completion or fullness of the promise given to them. How much more should we, who now know the fullness of the promise in the new covenant through Jesus, act in faith? Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that “without faith it is impossible to please God.”

Yet, what I find so striking about this passage is the combination of faith and reasoning that we see from Abraham in his decision to do something that seems crazy. Sometimes people of faith, and faith itself, get pitted against reasoning…as if you can either choose faith or reason but not both.

But what we find in Abraham is a different kind of reasoning that is empowered by faith. Abraham was asked by God to do something that seems crazy. But context is everything. First of all, the crazy thing he was asked to do wasn’t to sacrifice his son. In the pagan world, it was very common to offer children as sacrifices to the gods. This was sort of standard practice for pagans. This was culturally “normal” for Abraham’s day. And before we get too judgmental, we need to remember that even in all of our modern advancements we live in a society that has legalized the murder of babies in the womb by their own mother.

The crazy part was that all the promises that God had given Abraham all rested on Isaac. Not only was God asking Abraham to do something that felt more like a pagan practice, but he was asking Abraham to give up all the promises that God made in favor of obedience to God. God was asking Abraham to choose the Promise Maker over the actual promises themselves. God continues to ask this of us today.

But notice Abraham’s reasoning. This wasn’t haphazard fideism or irrationally blind faith. Just as Abraham’s faith was grounded in the nature of God, so was his reasoning. He reasoned that God can raise the dead. In other words, his reasoning factored in the miraculous power of God and the goodness of God. So his obedience was both an act of faith and an act of reasoning.

Is it irrational to give your life in order to spread the gospel in closed countries knowing that you might be killed? It might seem that way to some. But if your reasoning factors in a God who is good, a God who sacrificed everything for you, a God who is powerful and loving, a God who longs to see others come to know the truth of Jesus, then it’s reasonable to give your life for such a God.

When God is factored into our reasoning, suddenly the impossible looks possible, the irrational becomes rational. As we see from Abraham, a life of faith is not just having God factored into our beliefs but having God factored into our reasoning. This is the God who can raise the dead to life, give sight to the blind, and heal impossibly broken hearts.

Perfectly Just Judge

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^{[Deut. 32:35]} and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^{[Deut. 32:36]}It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:30-31

This is such good news! Without this truth, forgiveness would be nearly impossible. We forgive others because we ourselves have been forgiven. Our debt with God has been canceled and that empowers us to cancel the relational debt that was incurred when that person hurt us. Forgiveness is not saying that what they did was okay. It is saying that we will no longer take it upon ourselves to bring revenge.

By forgiving, we hand the person over to God and allow Him to be the one to bring justice. This passage in Hebrews, which quotes two passages from Deuteronomy, reminds us that we can trust God to bring justice. We can trust Him to be our righteous and just Judge.

This truth bring us freedom. We no longer have to hold the grudge or hang on to the resentment. These things only poison us and never really bring justice. Forgiveness releases us from the emotional attachments that keep us bound to the one who hurt us.

So long as we live in unforgiveness and bitterness toward the person who hurt us, we stand in-between God’s justice and that person. We block God from dealing with that person because we are still trying to be the one to deal with them. Forgiveness is us stepping to the side and giving up the right to bring our own form of justice.

Sometimes God’s justice is allowing the person to reap what they’ve sown. Sometimes God’s justice is opening their eyes to see what they’ve done. Sometimes God’s justice is to allow the person to be on the receiving end of the same hurt they’ve dished out. Sometimes God’s justice is saving the person from any and all harm. God’s kindness and grace leads them to repentance as they come to realize the weight of their sin that’s been forgiven.

God has an unlimited number of ways to bring His perfect justice. It likely won’t look like the revenge that our sinful heart desires, but we can trust Him completely with it just as we trusted Him to deal with our own sin and the justice we deserved.

God is not like Santa Clause. Jesus is our ultimate image of God. God is perfectly loving and perfectly just. These two parts of His nature are never separated from one another and are never in conflict. He is a holy, righteous, and awesome God. He is worthy of holy reverence and worship. Forgiving those who’ve hurt us is one way we stop trying to be God, and we let God be God.

Draw Near

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:19-25

The writer of Hebrews lays out the proper response to the good news of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Most Holy Place was the inner most room of the Temple. The priests would sacrifice animals on the bronze altar in the courtyard. Then they would wash with water in the wash basin. After that they would enter the Holy Place where the lamps on the lamp stands needed to be trimmed, the bread of Presence had to be replaced, and the altar of incense had to be kept burning. This was their daily work as priests.

But once a year the high priest, and only the high priest, would go into the Most Holy Place where the ark of the covenant rested between two cherubim. He had to do an elaborate set of cleansing rituals before he went past the inner curtain and entered the Most Holy Place because the very Presence of God was there. If he entered in an unworthy or unholy way, he would drop dead in God’s Presence.

But when Jesus give up His body and spirit on the cross, that inner curtain separating God and humanity was torn from top to bottom. Jesus became the once and for all sacrifice that allows us to approach God confidently with a cleansed conscience. Faith in Jesus is what allows us to receive the cleansing that comes from the blood of Christ and the water that flowed from His side. Because of Him, we can approach God with confidence.

So our proper response to this great news is that we draw near to God. We live with an awareness of the reality that God is already near to us. The Kingdom of God is “at hand.” It’s within reach. We only have to draw near to God with our hearts and minds to experience His Presence.

And we respond to this great news by holding unswervingly to the hope that we profess. Our hope is this: that we’ve been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus and not by our own works. Our hope is that even though we make mistakes, God calls us a new creation and sees us as clothed in Christ, unblemished and washed clean. Our hope is that Christ now dwells in us through His Spirit, and that we will eternally dwell with Him when this life is over.

Our response to this great news is to spur one another on toward love and good deeds as we continue to meet together as the church. We respond to this great grace by meeting together as the Body of Christ, the church, and encouraging each other to continue in the faith. We lay down our pride and admit that we can’t live this life of faith in isolation. We admit our need for one another. We admit that we not only need Christ in me but we need Christ in you to help strengthen me on this journey of faith.

All of these things–the drawing near to God, the living in hope, the love and good deeds, the encouraging each other, the meeting together as the church–are the proper response to the good news of the gospel. This is what gratitude for our rescue looks like.

Eternal Intercession

but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Hebrews 7:24-25

Jesus is alive. He is at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us. While the enemy hurls accusation after accusation at us, Jesus declares what is true about us. Paul said it to the Romans this way:

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Romans 8:32-34

Have you ever had a friend tell you that they are praying for you? And not just in the casual way. But you know this friend is truly interceding for you night and day. It is humbling. Praying is one of the most loving acts that we can do for one another.

What these passages of scripture are saying is even better than that! Jesus Himself is interceding for us. He is advocating for us before the Father. He is representing us to the Father. He is our eternal high priest that goes into the Most Holy Place. He is our sacrificial offering, our bread of presence, our light from the lamp stands. He is our scapegoat and our spotless lamb.

This is why Paul can declare with confidence:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31, 37-39

Average Christians

Notice how the writer of Hebrews describes average followers of Jesus. He describes them as people who have…

…been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age…
Hebrews 6:4-5

So here is what the writer of Hebrews expects from the average believer:

They’ve been enlightened. They think differently now. They have set their minds on things above. They have experienced a renewal of the mind.
They’ve tasted the heavenly gift. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God, and salvation. In other words, they have the Holy Spirit and have experienced salvation.
They’ve shared in or have partaken in the Holy Spirit. So, beyond just having the Holy Spirit, they’ve partnered with the Spirit. They are actively engaging with the Spirit and with the gifts of the Spirit.
They’ve tasted the goodness of the word of God. They are convinced that God is good and that God’s word is good. They have been regularly and profoundly impacted by the word of God. They trust the word of God.
They’ve tasted the powers of the coming age. The New Testament envisions two ages: 1) “this age” (the one we are in now, human history as we know it) and 2) “the age to come” (the point at which eternity begins, there is a new heaven and new earth, God dwells with humanity and Jesus brings the fullness of the Kingdom of God). Through the Presence and power of the Holy Spirit we get to experience powers that exist in the coming age, but we get to experience them right now! This is part of what it means for the Spirit to be a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. This is the power Jesus told His disciples to wait for in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49).

As we look at this list, is this what the average believer looks like today? Is this what the American church is full of? If not, we need a new standard!

Double-edged Sword

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 NASB

Reading scripture regularly is so important to the Christian life. Many followers of Jesus believe they can live the Christian life without immersing themselves in the word of God. But this leaves us open to deception and the ever-changing whims of cultural preference. We need the word of God in our life, regularly bringing us back to the truth.

The word of God is living. It is alive. It moves and breathes when we read it. This is why we can read it a thousand times and never get to the end of its power and wisdom. Like the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, when the Holy Spirit breathes on the word of God, it comes alive to us. Without the Spirit, without ears to hear, you can read and study scripture your whole life and it will only be an ancient text to criticize, writings from a bygone era, as dead as dry bones in a desert valley. Without the Spirit, the Bible is just a book to dissect and reject.

The word of God is active. The word used here in the Greek means “at work.” The root word is where we get the English word “energize.” The word of God speaks to our hearts and begins to expose us. It highlights the good and brings conviction where there is sin. The word of God is at work renewing our mind, changing the way we think and changing how we see the nature of God.

The word of God is a sword that pierces us deeply. It pierces us all the way down to that place where soul and spirit meet inside of us. It pierces our bodies all the way down to where the joints meet, down to our bones. It reaches down to our hearts and into our thoughts, exposing the unhealthy things that exist there.

And with the word of God, it’s a double-edged sword. There are always two sides to the cutting. It declares the good news that salvation is available. Yet, it also demands that we admit we need saving. Those are the two edges of God’s word. It declares that we can be healed, if only we’d admit we need healing.

To those humble enough to admit their need, the sword is a surgical scalpel removing the cancerous tumor of sin. To those offended by the notion that they need saving or that they need healing, the sword cuts painfully into their pride. To the tax-collectors, sinners and prostitutes, this sword meant hope, life, healing and salvation. To the Pharisees, this sword was a constant irritation, a constant cutting against their pride and posture of superiority.

This is the beauty of the Bible. We don’t like people judging us, but we need help exposing our blind sides. There are things about us that need addressed; they need lovingly corrected, so that we can be made aware and be set free from our selfishness and sin. And so we come to the word of God, and it graciously exposes our hidden thoughts and the intensions of our heart. It judges us as we stand naked and exposed before God.

And in this place we don’t receive harsh condemnation, but instead loving correction, full of grace and truth. When we allow the word of God to pierce our lives, we are transformed by love. His kindness leads us to repentance. Like a Father doing surgery on His sons and daughters, we leave our time in the word of God changed, different, encouraged, embolden, loved, forgiven, and hopeful.

Father, thank you for your word! We are grateful for it!

Entering Rest

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…
Hebrews 4:9-11

When we enter into Christ, we enter the Sabbath-rest purchased for the people of God. We can rest from trying to earn salvation. Our good works won’t earn us a right standing with God. Our striving won’t conquer sin and death. Jesus did that for us by His death and resurrection. So now we can rest in Him.

Have you ever tried to rest at night but your soul was restless? Have you ever gone away on vacation only to return more tired than you were when you left? Physical rest is essential to the Christian life. But physical rest is only a picture of what is supposed to be happening in our soul. Jesus offers us true rest for our souls. He said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

A yoke would sit on the shoulders of two beasts of burden as they worked the field. Jesus is offering to walk next to us and give us an exchange. He will take our heavy burden off of our shoulders if we will take his light burden upon ours. We will find rest for our souls if we continue to walk with Jesus.

This is why the writer of Hebrews tells us to “make every effort” to “enter that rest.” It takes effort and diligence to enter the rest offered to us by Christ. Jesus did the work for us so that we we can rest in Him. Our part is to put forth the effort to enter that rest.

The prophet Jeremiah warned the people of God:

This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.
    But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I appointed watchmen over you and said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
    But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
Jeremiah 6:16-17

Jesus is the good way. He is the ancient path. If we walk with Him and remain in Him, we will live with our souls at rest. Apart from Him, we will feel a deep restlessness in our heart and mind. It’s not just about believing in Him but about remaining in Him. It’s not just about faith but about obedience. This is how we make every effort to enter that rest. Jesus said:

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

Unbelievable Unbelief

So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:7-8, 12-13

In God’s Kingdom, unbelief causes us not to be able to enter in. For that first generation of Israelites, unbelief caused them not to be able to enter the Promised Land. So they wandered in the desert until a new generation emerged. Speaking of this unbelieving generation of Israelites, the writer of Hebrews says, “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19).

How do we get to this place of unbelief?

First, sin begins to lie to us about ourselves and about God. Sin either makes us feel shame and guilt–which makes us want to separate ourselves from God–or begins to make us feel like God is holding out on us. In the end, sin, if not repented of quickly, begins to erode our trust in God. Our doubts begin to creep in and God no longer seems trustworthy. This is “sin’s deceitfulness.”

This then leads to a hardening of our hearts. Thick walls of doubts and deception begin to form around our hearts as a means to protect it. If we are in relationship with someone (a spouse for instance) and they don’t seem trustworthy anymore, then we build defensive walls around our hearts in order not to get hurt. We do the same with God.

These walls–this hardening of the heart–form a stronghold in our feeling and thinking. Strongholds are fortifications of intricate lies that have been woven together. We are lied to by the enemy and told that these strongholds will keep hurt out. But what they keep out are things like faith, trust, hope and experiencing the love of the Father.

People say, “I just can’t feel God anymore” and they make the statement as if it is some indictment against God…as if He somehow distanced Himself from them. But this confession is a self-indictment about the self-protective walls we’ve allowed to surround and harden our hearts.

Unbelief is sin. Unbelief is rebellion. Unbelief is a choice. Often, it is the by-product of a hundred little choices. And it is very different than uncertainty. A life of faith is full of uncertainties. But a life of faith is also full of trust, full of hope, full of love for God, full of intimacy with God. Unbelief separates us from God.

Just as unbelief kept the Israelites from entering the Promised Land, it keeps us from entering God’s Presence. Unbelief keeps us from experiencing and encountering the Holy Spirit. Unbelief keeps us from entering into the gifts of the Spirit. I know because I lived in that specific unbelief for years.

We, as the American Church, have to stop celebrating unbelief as if it is a natural and inevitable part of following Jesus. It’s not! Uncertainty is a natural and inevitable part of the faith journey, but unbelief is not. Not distinguishing between the two is harmful to the process of discipleship.

Compared to our Christian brothers and sisters on the continents of South America, Asia, and Africa, North American Christians are steeped in the sin of unbelief. And the first step to ridding ourselves of sin is repentance. The proper response to our unbelief is not to accept it as “normal” but to repent of it and renounce it in Jesus’ name.