My dear readers,

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

Discipline is part of every growing child’s life. A life without childhood discipline will result in a profligate life of debauchery and sin because all babies are conceived in sin and therefore born in sin, totally and spiritually depraved. Biblical discipline by Christian parents gives their children the outward experience of a Christian life, i.e. a holy life, which children growing up in non-Christian families will not experience. In this way, Christian children are given a choice between a holy life and a sinful life as they grow up. When Christian parents fail to provide a holy environment for their children to grow (yet call themselves Christians), their children are worse off than children in non-Christian families. Their children will think that Christian homes are carnal and sinful, as their parents are Christians in name only and not in life at home. They do not relate to each other as husband and wife and do not conduct themselves in a godly manner, according to the Bible (cf. Ephesians 5:22-33).

When Christian parenting is absent, and children are disciplined for unbiblical reasons, they will despise Christ in time to come. However, when Christian parents discipline and guide their children according to the Bible, in reality Christ is doing the disciplining and guiding, since both are done according to the Bible, Christ’s Word.

What is a Christian home? It is a home where Christ is the Head and the Bible is the only rulebook governing everyone.

The Christian church environment is like a Christian home, only larger. Everything else is the same.

Therefore, just as in a Christian home, discipline is part of God’s way of showing love to His beloved children whom He purchased at the great price of the blood of His only begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Do not see church discipline as from man, especially when it is done according to the Holy Scriptures; always receive it as from believers’ loving heavenly Father. Hebrews 12:7-11 “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

• Impact on the sinner – The ultimate goal of God’s chastisement is to help transgressors yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness as they endure the consequence of the restoration process. It is more than just an apology from the transgressor because man cannot see the heart, whether he is sincere or not in his apology. Therefore, a period of bearing the fruits of repentance must be applied. Certain spiritual steps must be taken to ascertain the sincerity of the transgressor’s repentance. He will be suspended from taking the Lord’s Supper to ensure that he does not take it in vain if his repentance is false. Biblical counselling will be required. Reading the Bible, focusing on passages that directly address the sin committed, will help the sinner understand his transgression from God's perspective and learn how to deal with it so he will not commit the same sin again.

Repentance is one of the most important hallmarks of true salvation. The lack of repentance means that sin remains in the person’s life. If he is truly a child of God, then God's chastisement will soon follow. The sinner will have no peace in his heart as long as he stubbornly refuses to repent. He will not be able to sleep or eat. He will not be able to pray and worship because his conscience has been made alive by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

But if he walks around with a cheerful disposition and without vexation of spirit within, he is not God’s child. He thinks he is a believer, but in God’s eyes, he remains a child of the devil. God describes him well in 2 Timothy 3:5-7 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Unless he repents, no matter how hard and diligently he studies God's Word, he will not be able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

When he truly repents of his sins, he will be drawn closer to the Lord, having begun to turn his back on his sin for good, with God’s help. The shame and consequences he felt from hurting God’s children, destroying his own witness for Christ, and shaming the holy Name of Christ will grieve his soul for the rest of his life. Such an experience becomes an inward memorial stone that reminds every believer to always lean on Christ and to pray without ceasing for God's help and for His grace to abound. The spiritual lesson is precious, as the price he paid was his holy testimony for his beloved Saviour and Lord.

• Impact on the church – The congregation’s response to the transgressor is a spiritual test for all. If the church is truly a Christian home away from the heavenly home, then let Christ’s love prevail. If the congregation responds in sin, they fail the test. One of the things they must not do is to think highly of themselves, as if they are not transgressors and will not transgress. The warning from Christ is apt in the account of the woman caught in adultery. John 8:5-11 “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Self-righteousness and pride are the root causes of such a sinful attitude. Love, compassion, care, empathy, understanding, and encouragement ought to characterise their lives and be shown toward the transgressor and their family if they are an integral part of the congregation. The transgressor and his loved ones are struggling and suffering enough without the added self-righteous behaviour of the congregation. A sinful attitude is one of the best ways to drive someone away from God’s family. Do we have such a carnal attitude toward our own siblings when they transgress?

Another attitude to avoid at all costs is never to rejoice even when the person who is suffering deserves to be disciplined, as he endures the punitive will of God in his life. The warning from God is taught in Proverbs 24:17-18 “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” The LORD will stop and shorten the punishment on the transgressor, the enemy, to stop the one who is sinning against Him by his rejoicing; how much more when it is not an enemy but God’s child, one of our own family members. There must never be any joy, only grief. Let us learn to weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Such Christian reciprocal empathy is what is needed most in these last days of sin and apostasy, where there are more professing believers than genuine ones. These false believers have badly marred Christ’s holy name; let genuinely born-again believers not add to the hurtful list. In times like these, our love for our neighbour will be revealed by our response or lack of it.

• Impact on the Disciplinary Board Members (DBM) – Most of the time, the BOE also functions as the DBM since the dissolution of the B-P Synod of Singapore in October 1988. Their attitude has to be one of no censorious judgment as Jesus taught in Matthew 7:2-5 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” Discipline must always be done to restore, never to condemn. It must be carried out with a heart of love and great sadness, with the hope that when discipline is meted out with the restoration process in place, the transgressor will repent and soon bear the fruits of repentance. God teaches us the biblical hope in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

    Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, Pastor