Hebrews 12: A Father's Discipline

As the father of an active and curious toddler, I am quickly learning about the art of a father's discipline.  For example, this past week my wife gave our son her set of keys to play with.  Don't ask me why, but the boy loves playing with keys.  Unfortunately, he was playing with these keys at a friend's house that is not "baby-proof."  Looking over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of our son attempting to stick a car key in an electrical outlet.  Immediately, I intervened and made it very clear to him that doing something like that was wrong.  Naturally, he was upset and thought I was ruining his fun.  On his end, he could not see that my discipline was definitely for his good.  In this case, my discipline was a matter of life and death.  If I don't correct this particular behavior, one day my son could pay the ultimate price.

In Hebrews chapter 12, we find that the discipline of an earthly father provides a window into the discipline of God.  Our earthly parents apply discipline, education, and guidance so that we will eventually grow to become mature adults.  In the same way, God applies discipline to his children so that they will share in God's holiness, so that they will have the character of God.  In short, God wants children that bear a kind of family resemblance-- the image and likeness of God.  If a person does not receive discipline from God, they are not legitimate members of God's family.  They don't bear the family traits so they are not a part of the family.  Since the defining family trait is holiness, this means that no one can see God who is not holy or has not been sanctified (Heb. 12:14).

This teaching, that you must be holy to see God, is all throughout the book of Hebrews.  In fact, the overarching message of Hebrews is that there is no final salvation without holiness.  Drawing on the Exodus story, Hebrews tells us that you can be saved out of Egypt but not enter into the final salvation of the Promised Land if you reject the discipline of the Lord.  As Christians, we are warned against making the same mistake as the Israelites-- being saved but coming up short of the grace of God (Heb. 12:15).  Going back to my initial example with my son, God applies discipline to us so that we do not pay the ultimate price-- eternal death.  To reject God's discipline is to be in a dangerous place.

Although this teaching is plain in Hebrews and elsewhere in the Scriptures, we've done a good job of making holiness optional or even irrelevant in a good many of our churches today.  This is actually a scary thing when we consider the sobering message of Hebrews 12.  This means there are Christians, who like the Israelites before them, are openly rejecting God's discipline.  As for me, I don't want to be that kind of person.  I want to go along with the Lord and allow him to shape me and change me.  My hope is that other Christians might come to this same revelation and desire for holiness.  Amen.