The
writer of Hebrews shared that if his readers “endure
chastening, God deals with” them “as with sons”,
and he questioned “what son is he whom the father
chastens not?” In
chapter twelve and verse eight of Hebrews the writer declared
“without chastisement” his
readers were “not sons” where we read:
But if you
be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you
bastards, and not sons.
The
verse begins, “But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers,...”. The
writer began with the word, “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was previously stated “if
you be” or “whether you are”
“without chastisement”
which means “separate and apart from nurturing, instruction and
whole training and education”, “whereof”
or “that and which” “all are partakers”
which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of them are
participants, associates, fellows and partners”. Those who believe
in Jesus and become His family are “trained and educated” in
God's ways and are “partakers and associates” as “sons of God”.
The
verse continues, “... then are you bastards, and not
sons.”. The writer added the
words, “then are you bastards” or
“so therefore and wherefore the readers are “illegitimate or one
born outside of lawful wedlock”, “and not sons”
which means “and not descendants or the posterity” of God. If we
are not “chastised”
by God, we are known as “illegitimate” and not “participants”
in His family.
When
we think through these words in Hebrews, we notice how important it
is to be “chastised” by the Lord. All believers in Jesus
Christ will be “educated and trained” by Him, and if there is
none of this occurring, perhaps the person is “illegitimate” not
a “child” of God. Jesus Christ came to die and then rise
from the grave for the sins of the world, and everyone who believes
this has entry into the family of God. Lest we be known as “ones
born outside of God's lawful wedlock”, let us believe in the only
begotten Son of God and trust in the “training and instruction”
He gives.
Next
time the writer refers to how“we
have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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