This post is written by Mike Brooks and is published as a companion to Unit 6, Session 3 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 2 (Winter 2021-22): From Captivity to the Wilderness.
Corrective action is often unpleasant. Whether a parent disciplining a child or a superior in the workplace reprimanding an employee, the conflict is usually difficult to navigate, not to mention the fallout that inevitably results. Yet, we know discipline can be a good thing, too. A parent’s correction of a child’s behavior over time helps shape them into productive and thoughtful adults. Done rightly, a boss’s stern words help build character and maturity in an employee, traits which cultivate virtue and reach far beyond a bottom line. What can be true about earthly discipline is true about God’s discipline.
Corrective Discipline
In Numbers 21:6-7a, God’s discipline looks strange if we are honest. The Israelites had rebelled yet again, only this time God wasn’t content to provide for their needs and reaffirm His faithfulness. His judgment fell upon the people in the form of poisonous snakes which bit many of the people. The text indicates many even perished from their wounds.
Despite the seeming harshness of the punishment, we know God does not discipline for discipline’s sake. God is right to judge sin on account of His holiness, yet He is not pleased to simply unleash arbitrary punishment, contrary to some ill-motivated caricatures of Him. Rather, God intends to restore a right relationship between Himself and His people. The Lord desires for His people to repent of their sin and to return to Him. Thankfully, in this case, the people do so.
Don’t take God’s kindness toward you for granted. Though his wrath toward sin is often not immediate, the delay is not licensed to dig your heels in further. Rather, His kindness is meant to lead us toward repentance (Romans 2:4).
Constructive Discipline
Through God’s corrective discipline, He girds His children up for constructive discipline that is to come later. The first is shaping by chastening; the latter is formation through the cultivation of habits which promote godliness. In keeping with repentance, believers plant both feet firmly in the truth and indicatives of the gospel, i.e. who we are in Christ, and immerse themselves in a life marked by the persistent pursuit of Christlike character via the means of spiritual disciplines.
Spiritual disciplines run the gamut of activities done in private for the sake of cultivating one’s own spiritual growth and maturity, and activities in public, in which one’s involvement serves both himself and those around him. The believer prioritizes regular Bible-intake, time in prayer, and perhaps journaling or listening to gospel-centered worship music. Prayer and fasting are also regular habits of the growing Christian. Spiritual disciplines extend into the sphere of one’s relationships with roommates, friends, and family, as he or she cultivates good will in the building up of others with the gospel. Church attendance is prioritized, and the believer participates in the ordinances—the Lord’s Supper and baptism— along with other spiritual activities among fellow church members including worship, prayer, confession of sin, and fellowship.
All these and more promote the believer’s growth in godliness. Two types of discipline—one corrective and the other constructive—are God’s means of bringing His children along to Christlikeness and happiness of heart.
Mike Brooks serves as associate editor of For the Church at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently a PhD student in Historical Theology at MBTS and a member at Emmaus Church. Mike and his wife, Paige, reside in Kansas City.
