God Disciplines His Children for the Future, Not the Past

Quoting Proverbs chapter 3, in Hebrews 12 the author of Hebrews reminds his listeners that all people who are truly Christians can expect discipline.

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves as a father the son he delights in.

So, all Christians can expect that God will providentially discipline them through the circumstances of life.

Now, to many of us, the idea that we may go through difficult times may seem initially discouraging.  But, one thing we need to see about God’s discipline of those who truly know him, is that it is for the purposes of the future not the past.  The author of Hebrews wrote:

10b but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 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.

The author of Hebrews talks about a harvest in the future.  It isn’t that God is getting us back for what we have done.  But, it isn’t for the purpose of making you pay the penalty.  If you believe in Christ, then he paid the penalty for your sins.  God’s discipline of his children is for our own good in the future.

Once when one of our sons was about three years old, he crossed our street without permission and snuck off to see one of the neighbors.  Of course, we had to discipline him.  But, our purpose in disciplining our three year old, was not to say, “Look buddy, we’re going to get you back for what you did.  We didn’t need to get back at our son.  Our purpose in disciplining him was to teach him so that in the future he would make better choices about the street.

So it is for us.  All believers will face some discipline from God.  Those who deliberately stray will face more.  But, the purpose of God’s discipline is not to force us to pay the penalty for our sins.  Jesus already paid the penalty for the sins of his people. God disciplines his children for the purposes of the future, not to get them back for the past.