Hebrews 12:8:
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

The word used here for an illegitimate son, is not a word that I use in my vocabulary simply because it is not a word that is highly accepted in the normal everyday conversation of Christians.  However it carries a very pointed meaning!

Now how does this verse correlate to the title of my blog posting today?  I am very confused by what the Ultra Free Grace movement teaches. They say that once you are saved that you can never sin again or do anything wrong.  When examining this verse the word chastisement jumps out at me, this word just means correction or instruction.  Now the first thing that the UFG people would say is that there is really noting to this and that it would just be the Holy Spirit directing you to see that you need to grow in that area.

But I disagree.  Notice Hebrews 12:11:
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.

In this verse the writer of Hebrews tells us that when the Lord chastens us that it is not very pleasant! The word grievous means sorrowful, that doesn’t sound like this is a very pleasant experience!  Now he goes on and gives us the reason for this chastening, he says that it is to help us to see the error of our ways and to change!

Again listen to the writer of the book of Hebrews in 12:5:
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:

He says that when we are chasten that it shouldn’t make us angry or cause us to quit but it should humbles us to do something about it!  Now there is one more important thing to notice here, when we look at our original verse we see that if the Lord does not chasten you when you sin or do wrong then it could be that you are not one of His children.  Plain and simple you are not saved!

Consider this last verse, Hebrews 12:7:
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Notice he says that any earthly Father would chasten his child who did wrong, so if that is the case then why wouldn’t the Lord chasten His children?

One last thought, if I couldn’t sin or do wrong after I am saved, then why would the Lord need to chasten me?  My premise is that UFG people use free grace as an avenue for them to justify living however they want, with no remorse.  And if you question them in any way with scriptures like I have just given you then you are labeled a legalist who is just trying to bring them back under the law!

If you can sin willfully as a Christian and there is no chastening in your life then you are either unsaved, or you are so far backslidden that you have become numb to the things of God!

Till Next Week,
Pastor Roger Penny

My post for this week has to do with these verses in Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.

So the first thing that stands out is the fact that if we want the Lord to direct our lives we must be saved! Of course Solomon knew that to be saved a person must trust in the Lord with all of their hearts, not their minds. To not be saved is a heart issue not a mind issue.  You can know all about the Lord but if you never invite Him into your heart then you are not saved! When we trust only in our knowledge to get us to heaven then Solomon says that we are leaning on our own understanding and there is no way that our own understanding will get us there.

So after the issue of your salvation is taken care of, then comes the question as to how the Lord will help us navigate through this life?  Well Solomon also answers this question in verse 6. He says that if you want the Lords help then we must acknowledge Him in ALL our ways!  That just simply means that we must involve Him in ALL of our lives. If we involve Him in all of our lives then the rest of this verse will come to pass.

Notice the last part of verse 6, He SHALL, it didn’t say He might if He feels like it or He might if we ask just right. It says that He will, if we will!  If we are willing to ask Him to save us and then we are willing to include Him in ALL of our life then He will do the rest of this verse.  He will direct our PATHS!

Isn’t it interesting that He didn’t say that he would direct our PATH, singular!  What He did say was that He would direct our PATHS, plural!  This is not a one time proposal, this is a promise that if you and I will ask the Lord to save us and then we will include Him in all of our lives, then His promise to us is that He would direct all of our paths as long as we continue to do include Him in our lives!

What a promise!

Do you need some direction in your life today?  If you do then these verse gives us the formula as to how we can receive that direction today!

Until next week
Roger Penny
Philippians 1:6