good and proper to them with their limited understanding, but He is the all- knowing Spirit who disciplines in a man- ner that is truly for the good of His chil- dren. His discipline is toward their sharing in His holiness (v. 10). While no discipline is pleasant while it is being experienced, God’s discipline produces fruit in His children’s lives—the peaceful fruit of righ- teousness (v. 11).
There are a few concluding observa- tions that need to be made from Hebrews 12. First, at the heart of this book which connects the Hebrew believers with all believers in Christ—past, present, and future—is the assertion that suffering as a Christian is strong evidence the believer is a legitimate child of God (v. 8). True dis- ciples are disciplined.
The call to follow Jesus into His kingdom is a RADICAL CALL for everyone to TAKE UP THEIR CROSS, join themselves to the sufferings of Christ, and RUN WITH PATIENCE the race He has set before them.
line of their faith. This race requires that the runner shed everything that might interfere with the run. In order to remain encouraged, runners are to look to Jesus as their example. They are to consider continually the way He ran in the midst of sinful opposition.
It was (and is) a dirty, painful race. The Hebrews, who were living under persecu- tion, had not yet endured the level of suf- fering Christ endured—they had not yet suffered the shedding of their own blood. Therefore, they must look to Jesus, the author and finisher, or “perfecter,” of their faith (v. 2). He endured everything the opposition could throw at Him and kept going to the end, after which He sat down at the right hand of the Father. How did He keep going? He embraced the
cross. In other words, He accepted the suffering as a necessary part of the plan for redemption. It was through suffering that He was made perfect as the redemp- tion for sins (2:10; 5:9).
It is in this context of suffering that the discipline of God the Father is intro- duced (12:5). The Hebrews were suffering for their faith. They were to understand their suffering as discipline or training (paideuo) from a loving father. Just as their earthly fathers spanked them, their heavenly Father spanks them. Every blow from the opposition is in fact part of their training. They are to endure their trials for the sake of being disciplined (v. 7). The discipline of God is far superior to that of earthly fathers. They discipline their children according to what seems
Second, in Hebrews the discipline of God is administered through others, indeed through the enemies of their faith (vv. 3-4). Disciples must recognize the hand of God in the suffering associated with endurance. God is at work in the tri- als and tribulations of His children. Third, there is no hint that the dis- cipline is because of their sins. God’s discipline is toward His children’s perfec- tion in holiness and righteousness (vv. 10-11). They are admonished to lay aside every sin because it will cause them to stumble, but their suffering is not because of sin. They are disciplined because they are contending for the faith. God is not punishing them for transgressions; He is bringing to completion their identification with Christ.
From time to time, invitations are issued for volunteers to enter a lifestyle of radical discipleship. What is needed in the Church today is an understanding that the call to follow Jesus into His kingdom is a radical call for everyone to take up their cross, join themselves to the suffer- ings of Christ, and run with patience the race He has set before them.
Jackie D. Johns, Ph.D., is professor of discipleship and Christian formation at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleve- land, Tennessee, where he also pastors the New Covenant Church of God.
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