Discipline versus Punishment

From a worldly perspective there is really no difference between the following two terms; discipline and punishment. If we look up the word punishment, it is defined as “the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense.” The definition of discipline is “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.” In other words, one is punished because they have caused an offense by failing to follow rules or a code of behavior as set forth by the one offended. However, from a biblical perspective there is a vast difference between discipline and punishment. Punishment is still the infliction of a penalty as retribution for an offense- which amounts to God’s wrath against sin, however, discipline is the training of one to be a disciple. The correct definition of the word discipline does not involve punishment. If we are being disciplined by God, it is in order to train us toward being a better disciple of Christ. If we think, as children of our Heavenly Father, that we can still be punished for our sins, then we are in grave error.

God’s word tells us that, “….. God is love” (1 John 4:8b). It also tells us that, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love, (1 John 4:18). We are not understanding the perfect love of God if we believe we can still be punished for our sins.

IF we have truly been ‘born again’ into God’s family, Christ has already paid the full punishment (that being the wrath of God) for all of our sins, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:8-9). A righteous and just God will not require the suffering of added punishment on top of Christ’s atoning work.

We should, however, understand that there are always consequences suffered to sin. We may experience many hardships and dire consequences due to our disobedience to our Father’s commands. King David can attest to this. When Nathan confronted David he said to him, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites” (2 Samuel 12:9). Then he told David what the consequences would be to his transgressions, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house” (vss. 10-11); “because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die” (2 Samuel 12: 14).

If we are living in unrepentant sin, God may allow difficulties into our lives in order to steer us back to Him and obedience to His word, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons, (Hebrews 12:6-8). The longer we fail to seek God through His word and an exercising of our wills toward obedience to that Word, the more and greater consequences we may have to suffer. If we continue to live in disobedience and fail to repent, we are giving evidence to show that we are not true sons of God.

In John 3:36 we are told, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Ephesians 5:5-6 gives this warning, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). These verses speak of God’s punishment toward those who fail to come to repentance.

Thankfully, Jesus intercedes for His own, praying to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). If we are not understanding that, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11), then perhaps we do not have the assurance that we are indeed sons of God, nor “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Let us be mindful of the following verses in Revelation 3:13, 19, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,…..Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” In displaying a Godly repentance, we show that we are not illegitimate sons who will suffer God’s punishment for their unrighteous deeds. Praise God that those who are true sons “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”(Romans 3:24).