Forgive me... I'm a little slow...

HeKkLeR

... I just recently made the connection between 'discipline' and 'disciple'.

The fall of man is God's discipline to man for disobeying His word. Those that adhere to and understand God's discipline... and humble themselves before His perfect Justice and Judgement... are therefore disciples of God.

I have read the debates over the issue of God choosing man or man choosing God. Here is my answer to this, using wisdom as my guide:

God chooses us once... with a perfect promise that lasts forever. In His choosing of us, He disciplines us daily out of His love for us... every one of us. It is up to us to take notice. After our receiving knowledge of God, it is then up to us to choose the way of God's discipline. It is up to us to choose to constantly understand the difference between wrong and right, and to rely on God's counsel of righteousness to act accordingly. It is up to us to choose to openly and wholly allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts, and to guide our every action. It is up to us to choose to become disciples of God.

The 12 Disciples of Christ Jesus were the first. Once the full number is reached, only true disciples will remain.

To adhere fully to the discipline of our God... what does that really mean? Does it mean to do everything right? To live our lives by every law found in the Bible? Does it mean that if we sin, we go to Hell? No.

To adhere to the discipline of the Lord is to learn from our sins. For, every time we sin, the Lord disciplines us. The righteous recognize the Lord's discipline, humble themselves before it, accept the Lord's rebuke, gain wisdom from it, repent of their sins, ask the Lord for forgiveness, and continue on in life. Disciples of God.

That is the connection between discipline and disciple.

vsjb34 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 04 Aug 2003 Posts: 281

Good post. Discipline is part of being a Disciple. It is one of the defining qualities of a Disciple. We always want to do our best to please the one we love.

This is all part of the sanctification process. Discipline produces the fruits of the Spirit. Plus John 14:21 says if you love me you will obey my commandments. That is why the Antinomian position is false (since I have grace I can sin all I want it doesn't matter). God expects you to mortify the deeds of the flesh, as pointed out in Romans 8, and He gives you the Holy Spirit to help you.

vsjb34 · Fierce Poodle Joined: 04 Aug 2003 Posts: 281

I just want to add that I have found that discipline spills over into all areas of your life. Diet, exercise, work, marriage, etc. God has wonderously shown me how all these things are integrated. It is all part of being a holy man or woman. We are set apart. That is one of the meanings of being sanctified. We should live like it. We should act like it. People should see a difference in our lives. We should all be striving for that.