Bible Study with Fred, Proverbs 20, verse 30, part one, the Bible corrects us

 

Proverbs 20:30 ¶ The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.

Christians often need chastisement and correction to overcome their stubbornness. I know that to get me to the point where I was able to receive anything God had for me I had to be dragged down the street and slammed off both curbs, fighting and shouting all the way.

You’ve heard of being beaten black and blue, well, here’s what it’s talking about. God does have to chastise us at times because we are so naturally rebellious. Physical discipline can change a man’s mind about the evil he constantly plots and it can drive it not only from his flesh but his mind, as well.

Sadly;

Proverbs 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

God pointed this out to His people long before Christ’s first advent. Even though Eliphaz wrongly stated that Job was being punished for something in his suffering and God later called him on that error, the statement below is itself true;

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

And earlier in Proverbs it was stated;

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

To the Jewish Christians of the early church it was written;

Hebrews 12:4 ¶ Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

The Hebrews were told when the Law was given;

Deuteronomy 8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.

But what about Christians, you say? How does this apply to us? In reference to the early Christians during the time of the apostles misusing the Lord’s Supper Paul says;

1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

But don’t make the mistake of Job’s friends and assign every trouble and tribulation to the cause of chastisement. We will have trouble in this world. I believe you’ll know when you’re being corrected and disciplined by the Lord. Christians who have a close walk with Christ tend to get caught rather quickly when they deliberately mess up, when they sin willingly. God takes the lid off their error quicker rather than later. In fact, from reading the Bible I get the impression that the longer God takes to correct you that two reasons can be concluded; one, that He is giving you plenty of time to repent and turn back or, two, you aren’t saved and your sin will find you out in time.

The most amazing way he corrects the Christian, though, is through His words in the Bible.

2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Remembering the power of the Bible has, the Holy Spirit tells us and the Hebrews as history nears its end;

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

I have pointed out many times that simple Bible reading can change you. This is the best way of correction. It is certainly less painful than the “blueness of a wound” and “stripes”. As the Reformers pointed out, simply by reading the Bible each day in as large a dose as you can take will permit God to remove specific sins from your heart like a surgeon with a scalpel removes a tumor.

This is a lesson that has been forgotten by many Christians today as Bible literacy and reading have gone down. Even Fundamentalists who say they believe the Bible literally is true don’t really believe its power. There are those who will say to you, well, you have to obey it. That’s not even what I’m talking about. That’s a totally separate issue, say, reading the Ten Commandments and seeking to obey them. In fact, whenever we try to comply with God apart from the power of His word on our lives that obedience is usually just superficial, based on your will and good intentions.

One of our country’s most esteemed founders put it like this, as he tried to do right;

Ben Franklin says in his autobiography as reported starting on page 43 in the book about the American Revolution Angel in the Whirlwind by Benson Bobrick that he had conceived the;

“arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any fault at any time, and to conquer all that either natural inclinations, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found that I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my attention was taken up, and employed on guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping, and that contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct.”

 

So, he drew up a list of 13 standards he was going to go by with accompanying instructions, the last of which was humility where he would imitate Jesus and Socrates. (Notice modern Bible versions have Paul wanting you to imitate him, not follow him in 1 Corinthians 4:16.) However, among those standards Chastity had no instructions after it. So, Dr. Franklin was never chaste and spent much of his free time in brothels, fathered an illegitimate child in his many scandalous affairs even in old age, and told his son that he was fortunate not to have caught a disease. So much for your own attempts to do right, huh? Of course, Ben Franklin wasn’t a saved man and you say, but I have the power of God in me. Yes you do.