Dear Failure, He Disciplines You
Letters to a Weary Pilgrim
Dear Failure,
I often go astray. You do too.
In scripture, our sin is compared to sheep leaving their pasture, but more importantly, leaving their Shepherd. Our sinful flesh presents a greener field, a sweeter brook, and more beautiful scenery. But the enemy of our souls is like a good social media influencer: he crops/edits the photo to only show temporary pleasure and leaves out the destruction that will ensue.
In a previous letter, I wrote that God retrieves us when we’ve sunken to the bottom of our sin. One of the ways He manifests this grace in our lives is through loving, fatherly discipline.
A Neglected Aspect of the Good News
Jesus, upon bringing us into union and communion with Himself, commits Himself to be our Shepherd, and His Father becomes our Father. We’re adopted—we now dwell within the lush pastures of delight and unending nourishment. The good news is that our good Shepherd and gracious Father is committed to keeping us there. Why do we need to be kept? Because of the irreconcilable war we find ourselves in each day (Galatians 5:16-26).
In the letter to the Hebrews, the author (let’s just pretend it’s not Paul to make everyone happy) writes,
“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
(Heb 12:4–7)
Do you know what the common ground between legalism (a law-centered approach to earning God’s approval) and antinomianism (Being against God’s law) is? It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel and the fact that God is our Father.
Legalism is a subtle separation of the law from the lawgiver. The law is viewed as a means to earn approval from God. This results in a “do better, try harder” Christianity. Antinomianism views the law in the same way but responds to it differently. When Eve in the garden forgot that the law was coming from a Father who desired her eternal good, she responded with disobedience and became “anti-law.” At the root of her antinomianism was a kind of legalism; she separated the law from the lawgiver.1
The point? Discipline is not often viewed as a good thing because, amid the difficulties that come with God’s discipline, we forget that discipline is always Fatherly and never condemning, rooted in love, not wrath, designed to shape us, not harm us.
Discipline from a loving father is to help his son or daughter see that this temporary hurt that is being inflicted is nothing compared to the future harm that can be brought upon them; it may even save them from death (Proverbs 23:13-14).
The reality of the gospel is that Christ’s redemption saves us from the bondage, power, and penalty of sin—This sin which was going to destroy us and lead us to eternity in hell. And the good news is that He is still saving His people. If you are a child of God, He is still setting you free. So whether you have responded to God’s law and His discipline as a legalist or antinomian, the antidote is still the same: the gospel of grace.
Weaned off of this World
Herman Bavinck once remarked that sin is not just an affront to God the judge, it is also pollution of the soul.2 Apart from Christ, sin keeps us latched on to it as a source of satisfaction, which is merely a mirage in the desert of this present evil age. It’s deceitful. It gives us the illusion that, without being dependent upon it, we may not be safe. This is the essence of idolatry. True discipline lifts our eyes to see the person and work of Jesus Christ as the solution for the idols that keep us bound because He is the source of all true salvation.
Sanctification and, therefore, God’s discipline is nothing other than weaning us off of the empty promises of this world. Sinclair Ferguson puts it this way, “Although I have been delivered from addiction to sin, its presence remains. I experience withdrawal symptoms and remain weakened by its devastating impact on my life.”3
Thus, on this side of eternity, the need is great for God to constantly draw us away from what kills to what brings life and God Himself is the satisfaction we return to. Thankfully, no matter how far we stray, we’re not far from home.
Make no mistake: if you walk in unrepentant disobedience, God will go after you, and His discipline may hurt for a time. But when we go astray (which is often), we remember that
“When blood from a victim must flow, This Shepherd, by pity, was led To stand between us and the foe, And willingly died in our stead.”4
There is no need to despise the discipline of the Lord, dear saint who is a failure just like me; it only proves who you are: a son or daughter of your heavenly Father redeemed by His Son and sanctified by the Spirit. You will soon enjoy “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
For more on this, pick up The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson. Buy it here.
Bavinck, Herman, The Wonderful Works of God.
Furguson, Sinclair, The Reformed View of Sanctification, p. 16
Hymn: “We’ll Sing of the Shepherd that Died” by Thomas Kelly
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