What Is Biblical Discipline?

When people hear the word ‘discipline’ in a familial context, a certain kind of pain and suffering often percolates up in the soul. For example, when a child is disciplined, it typically involves some form of punishment, whether emotional or physical. In either case, said discipline implies discomfort. I think most of us would agree that when we hear of a child being disciplined by their parent, it makes us cringe a little on the inside, even when we know it’s for the benefit of the child.

The Bible speaks of discipline in a much grander and profitable way. Discipline in the Bible always presents itself with a clear line of sight to the intended outcome. In other words, unlike our fleshly tendency to think primarily about the pain and suffering associated with discipline, in the Bible it is always presented as a vehicle and/or catalyst to spiritual growth.



While it’s obvious that God will discipline His children, and it will undoubtedly be painful in some way or another, the focus ought to be on “why”, not necessarily “what”. Though the “what” is important (that’s the cringeworthy aspect which seizes our attention) it’s secondary to the “why”. Furthermore, we can’t always identify what exactly we’ve done (as in cause and effect) that would warrant suffering, even though the suffering is real. This gives biblical discipline an additional, yet critically important, element. For example, the audience in the Book of Hebrews was disciplined; yet, that discipline came in the form of external attacks on the church. You might argue, “How can that be construed as discipline when it seems to have been unrelated to anything the church had done wrong? In fact, it seems they were being chastised for being righteous in Christ!”



I purposely highlighted v10b-11 because that’s the “why” regarding discipline in this passage. Don’t miss it! Instead of God saying, “Oh, you poor babies, everything will be just fine, just hang in there, my dear children,” He says, in not so many words, “Receive these attacks as My way of sanctifying you, of putting you through the crucible to refine you, to make you holy, and ultimately bring glory to Me.” If we hyperfocus on the pain and suffering, we miss the big picture – discipline is required. Peter said it well:


Biblical discipline isn’t something we ought to recoil from. Is it cringeworthy? You bet, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). But again, that’s not the point here. The point is that God’s discipline is for sanctification’s sake, so that His children become disciplined (like athletes) in His ways. That’s what holiness is, fundamentally, after all – we are set aside for God’s purposes. We are born crooked and perverse, in need of straightening out. Think about it, when is being forced to change our ways ever comfortable? Even if God were to ask nicely, most of us are far too lazy and/or arrogant to budge. So, in His divine wisdom, God uses whatever means necessary to change us, including our enemies!

If you’re a parent, you know how frustrating it can be to inform a child of what’s truly best for them only to have them ignore you. Afterwards, you have to watch them crash and burn, then try your best not to taunt them with, “I told you so”. A good parental heart desires what is best for their children, that is for them to see the “why” instead of just the “what”. It’s a difficult job because parents are flawed, “For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them” (Hebrews 12:10a), which is why we are warned not to discipline to the point of exasperating our children.



You see, biblical discipline implies the cultivation of a person’s being, which is a far loftier goal than what the unidimensional perspective of ‘punishment’ might suggest. Godly discipline is designed to iron out the wrinkles in a person. The painful aspects are merely the means God uses to achieve His end goal. It’s about building godly virtue in an otherwise wicked creature. Heat and pressure are necessary in this process (this is why there are so many analogies to metallurgy in the Bible).


Discipline and training are nigh synonymous in the Bible.

If a believer were a piece of wrinkled cloth, the Word of God would be the flat iron. Jesus famously said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). He prayed to our Father in Heaven that the Word be used to straighten our paths. This straightening exercise involves acute and temporary pain similar to a dislocated limb being put back into place. Once the joint is functioning as it ought to – to God’s glory – it’s as the writer of Hebrews said, “so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:13).

We are disciplined by God (the “what”) so that we become disciplined in His ways (the “why”). To understand the value of discipline, we must be trained to focus on the “why”, not just the “what” (this occurs more and more as we mature in the faith). “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). As we mature, we begin thanking God for all suffering because we know that He’s ordained it for our own good. Even if we can’t trace it back to something we’ve specifically done to ‘deserve’ it, we may rest assured that if we are called to endure it, it must be good.


Love in Christ,

Ed Collins