Pr Joshua Yong

Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

 When we walk in the way God wants us to walk, we experience the Cooperative Will of God. As we obey God’s will, God will bless us and continue to lead and direct us to His glory. But what happens when a believer disobeys God’s Directive and Preceptive Wills? He falls under the Punitive or Chastitive Will of God.

The word “chastitive” was coined by the late Rev Timothy Tow, derived from the verb “to chastise.” We must differentiate the Chastitive Will of God from the Punitive Will of God. Though they fall under the same category, they do not function similarly, as they describe how God deals with those who disobey His will. The punitive aspect of God’s will describes God’s judgement upon unbelievers who do not obey God’s will. God will punish those who rebel against His Word and truth. One example of God’s punitive will is God’s dealing with Balaam (Num 22:32). God’s punitive will does not apply to believers, as this punitive will leads to the destruction of the wicked and disobedient. Believers will experience the Chastitive Will of God.

God’s Chastitive Will describes God’s dealing with His children when they disobey Him. Rev Tow used to say that God’s rod of discipline is like a sugar cane. The discipline may be painful, but the result will be sweet. That is how the LORD brings His children back to Himself so that they can enjoy sweet fellowship with Him again.

• The Basis for Chastisement

Hebrews 12:6 tells us “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”. Love is the basis of God’s chastisement. The Christian is reminded here that every time he suffers chastisement, it is not because God has forsaken him or does not love him. Chastisement does not mean that he is lost. On the contrary, it means he is saved as God’s child. God chastises him because God wants him to stop hurting the name of Christ by his sin. When he stops sinning and repents, the harm he does to Christ’s holy name stops.

If parents do not discipline or chastise their children when they sin, these parents do not love their children. Their children will think that sin and rebellion are harmless and correct, and they will only grow emboldened to remain in sin. As they continue to sin, they will reap the destruction and severe consequences of their sin. Parents who do not stop their children from sinning may think they love their children but they are actually hurting them. True love involves discipline. Parents who truly love their children will chastise and discipline them, which will save them from the greater condemnation of hell.

When God chastises us, it is divinely measured to humble and break us but not to destroy us. God will never over-discipline. The chastisement may be painful, but it will never be excessive.

• The Exercise of Chastisement

The word “chasteneth” means “to discipline”. It carries the idea of applying discipline with the purpose of instruction. The word “scourgeth” means “to whip” and, in this context, it describes the discipline inflicted by a loving Father on His beloved child.

Chastisement is corrective. The laws of our secular nations are punitive. They are intended to maintain law and order, and they are designed to serve as deterrence to others to not repeat the same crimes. But God’s discipline upon His children corrects them so they will walk in the paths of righteousness.

An example of God’s chastisement is in the account of Jonah. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, but he refused. Instead, he disobeyed God’s revealed will and ran to Tarshish. God intervened in Jonah’s life and stopped him. Jonah 1:4 says, “But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.” The purpose of the storm was not to destroy Jonah, but to bring Jonah back to the Lord in obedience. This was where God used the “rod of correction” to drive Jonah back to Him. God’s mercies upon Jonah were seen in how God sent a whale to swallow Jonah after he was cast into the sea. Inside the whale, Jonah prayed for forgiveness and understood that as a prophet, he must go where God sent him, without question. He learned after God’s chastisement.

When God chastises us, He may use afflictions, trials and difficult circumstances as His rod of correction.

• The Response to Chastisement

God chastises those whom He regards as His children. The Bible tells us that God “scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Chastisement is, therefore, not a sign of rejection but it proves that we are indeed God’s children. How then should we respond to the Lord’s chastisement? If we know that God chastises us out of love and that it is because we are His children, then we must endure God’s chastisement with humility and submission.

We must recognise that God’s discipline is part of God’s divine will. We must never respond to God’s chastisement with bitterness or resentment. If a believer resists the Lord’s chastisement, the Lord will have to employ a more severe discipline to help him till he sees his stubbornness. But if he responds with submission to God’s discipline, it will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. When believers yield to God’s discipline, they will also experience God’s restoration.

An example of responding rightly to God’s chastisement is seen in David’s life. David faced God's chastisement when he sinned against God with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12). Yet, instead of giving excuses, David repented and humbly submitted to God’s discipline. The Lord restored David so that he could continue to fulfil God’s purpose for him as the line through which the Messiah would come.

Are you in the Chastitive Will of God? Do not delay in returning to the Lord. God’s chastisement is out of love. It is not designed to destroy but to restore. Repent and turn to the Lord and you will experience renewed fellowship with Christ. Amen.