Practicing Christian Leadership, Student Workbook, SW11

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P R A C T I C I N G C H R I S T I A N L E A D E R S H I P

2. Discipline has to do with one’s condition (state) before God as a child of God, and not with one’s position (standing) as a believer.

3. The Heavenly Father disciplines those who belong to him, 1 Cor. 11.31-32.

4. This discipline or correction is directed towards those who are God’s very own offspring and children, Heb. 12.6.

5. Condemnation has no connection to discipline; it is to correct the erring believer not to condemn them.

a. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8.1.

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b. Those who believe in Christ are not judged in the sense of condemnation, John 3.16-18.

B. Discipline has a corrective purpose.

1. It is given to prevent a problem from happening: God moves in the life of the disciple to prevent moral or spiritual error (as in the case of Paul’s thorn in the flesh), cf. 2 Cor. 12.7-9.

2. It is given to correct a problem that already exists: Heb. 12.6; Rev. 3.19.

a. By dealing with moral impurity : by engaging in moral evils with no sign of repentance or openness to change