Seeing that We are Under the Discipline of the Holy Spirit for our Transformation

For whom the Lord loves He disciplines (Heb. 12:6)

In our prayerful study of the book of Genesis we can see that in the life and experience of Jacob he had a lot of God’s dealings.

Jacob was a supplanter, trying to get what he wants by tricking others into doing things they later regretted, but God was working behind the scenes by sovereignly arranging the circumstances of his life to deal with him, break him, and transform him into a prince of God. The more Jacob supplanted and tried to cheat others, the more God dealt with him.

God didn’t deal with him because He wanted to “punish him” but because God loved Jacob and wanted to transform him into God’s Israel, the prince of God. Eventually, after many years of sufferings, dealings, and breaking, and through God’s direct dealing with Jacob, he was transformed and mature to become Israel (Gen. 35:10), one who could express God and represent God.

In our Christian life we need to see that God loves us and, because we’re His sons whom He loves, He disciplines us. Today we are under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and the source of God’s dealing with us is His love and for His purpose.

God is working in our environment to sovereignly arrange it so that all things, persons, and situations would work for good, for our transformation (Rom. 8:28). We need to learn to accept God’s dealings and not murmur or complain.

God doesn’t hate us, neither is he out there to punish us; He loves us, and because He loves us He deals with us and disciplines us in this age so that we may be transformed and matured to be His expression and representation on earth.

On the one hand the Holy Spirit works within us to constitute us with God’s element and fill us with Christ. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit works in our environment to tear down our old creation so that the element of the new creation would be built up in us.

Through the Spirit’s inward working and outward discipline, the old creation is torn down, the outer man is broken, and Christ is being constituted into us. Hallelujah for God’s working in us and around us for His purpose to be fulfilled!

Seeing God’s Dealings in the Life and Experience of Jacob

Abraham was called and justified by God, Isaac enjoyed God as grace and everything, but Jacob didn’t have much enjoyment; rather, he had a lot of dealings.

He was a supplanter from the beginning, even from his mother’s womb, trying to get out first (Gen. 25:22-26). He tricked his brother Esau into selling him the birthright, and later he stole the blessing that his brother was supposed to have. He did many things to trick others, cheat them, get what he wants, and supplant others.

The more Jacob supplanted others, the more God dealt with him. God wasn’t after Jacob to punish him; rather, God wanted to deal with Jacob to transform him and mature him to be Israel, one who can express and represent God.

God sovereignly arranged the environment and circumstances pertaining to Jacob’s life. Jacob thought that it was him who was scheming and planning and supplanting, but it was actually God who was dealing with him.

Jacob suffered much – he suffered from every angle, in every corner, and in every aspect. He had to run away for his life for fear of his own brother who wanted to kill him. He was cheated by his uncle into marrying both his daughters. His wives were fighting for him. Two of his sons killed an entire city. He was afraid for his life, running from his brother and from Laban, and he had no peace.

As he was going through all these things he might have thought that it was his brother who was rude to him, his uncle was cheating him, his wives were giving him grief, and his children were causing trouble. But actually it was God who was dealing with him in every way and in every aspect.

God arranged all things, people, and circumstances around Jacob with the purpose of dealing with him and transforming him. Every day he was under God’s dealing, and every person he met was for his dealing.

Eventually, under God’s sovereignty, Jacob was transformed and matured to become Israel, one who can express God and represent God. God’s dealings with Jacob were not to punish him but to transform him and mature him to become Israel, a prince of God.

Realizing that We are Under the Discipline of the Holy Spirit Today

Jacob’s history is a picture of how we today as believers in Christ are under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. As he was going through things, Jacob experienced dealings and breaking, but at the end of his life he admitted: God was shepherding him all the days of his life (Gen. 47:9, 48:15-16).

“For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom the father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all sons have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore we have had the fathers of our flesh as discipliners and we respected them; shall we not much more be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined for a few days as it seemed good to them; but He, for what is profitable that we might partake of His holiness. Now no discipline at the present time seems to be a matter of joy, but of grief; but afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised by it. (Heb. 12:6-11, Recovery Version Bible)

Because the Lord loves us, He disciplines us; we are God’s sons – we are not adopted but sons, and He disciplines us that we might partake of His holiness and have the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Whomever the Lord loves He disciplines.

Rom. 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Today we are under the discipline of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit is arranging all people, things, and happenings through which we are being disciplined. The Lord causes all things, people, and situations to work together for good, for our transformation (Rom. 8:28).

The more we love the Lord, the more He disciplines us, and we love Him even more. As long as we love the Lord, he will use everything to discipline us, deal with us, and break us so that we may be transformed for His purpose.

On the one hand, the Spirit works within us to cause us to realize our sonship; on the other hand, all things work together for good in our environment so that we may be transformed.

All the persons God put with us and all the situations we’re in are arranged by the Spirit of God to match the work of the Holy Spirit within us that we may be conformed to the image of the Firstborn Son of God.

The work of the Spirit within us is to constitute a new being within us, that is, to work Christ into our being as our new and real person, and the work of the Spirit around us is to tear down every aspect of our old being through our environment.

May we realize that all things in our natural life must be torn down so that our being may be reconstituted by the Holy Spirit with the divine life! May we learn that we as God’s children NEED the discipline of the Holy Spirit, and may we learn to accept all kinds of circumstances without complaining, blaming, grudging, or criticizing.

In the general Christianity the talents and abilities of the natural man are appreciated and promoted “for God’s glory”, but in the church life we need to realize that God deals with us as with sons to tear down the old creation and bring forth the new creation.

Through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, God completely tears down the old creation so that the element of the new creation may be built up in us. We need to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, exercising our spirit and allowing the Lord as the Spirit to invade our mind to renew it, breaking down all that needs to be broken down and make His home in our mind.

As our natural life is dealt with through the discipline of the Holy Spirit, Christ is constituted into us: He is formed in us (Gal. 4:19) and He is at home in our heart (Eph. 3:17). At any moment we are dealt with and we are OPEN to the Lord, the discipline of the Holy Spirit can issue in the constitution of Christ.

On the one hand there’s the discipline of the Spirit and on the other hand there’s a fresh constitution of Christ. For this, everything and everyone in our environment are instruments of sovereignty used by God for our transformation.

May we say AMEN! to His arrangement and in everything give thanks! In good things or bad things, the Lord is using everyone and everything for our transformation! We shouldn’t rely or trust on things or people; everything and everyone is used by God for our transformation.

Lord Jesus, we love You! Thank You for arranging all things, persons, and circumstances to work out for our transformation! May we realize that You are disciplining us because of Your love toward us and for Your purpose! Lord, keep us open to You in all the dealings and the breaking. Tear down the old creation in us so that the element of the new creation may be built up. O Lord Jesus, we trust in You, we look to You, and we set our eyes only on You. Keep our whole being open to the discipline of the Spirit which matches the inward working of the Spirit!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of Genesis (msgs. 70-71), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Genesis (3), week 2 / msg 2, Chosen, Dealt with, and Broken.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # God’s intention is to have us / All conformed to His dear Son; / Thus a work of transformation / By the Spirit must be done. / Lord, transform us to Thine image / In emotion, mind, and will; / Saturate us with Thy Spirit, / All our being wholly fill. (Hymns #750)
  # Give yourself to love the Lord. / No other way is so rich, / And so full, oh so full, of enjoyment. / Each morning we must rise up and say to Him, / “Lord Jesus, I love You.” (Song on Loving the Lord)
  # Lord, keep my heart open and soft toward You. / Lord, draw my eyes to see nothing else but You. / Whatever may happen, / I know You want to gain my heart. / Though I may not understand, / Just keep dispensing into my every part. (Song on Being Open to the Lord)