Suffering and Joy: A Christian Perspective on Discipline

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Firstly, we examined the interpretation of 1 Peter 4:1, where Peter speaks about Christ's suffering and its implications for believers. Some interpret this as a call to resolve not to sin, even if it leads to suffering, as evidence of having ceased from sin. However, I propose that Peter is emphasizing the transformative power of Christ's death. [00:01:01]

Paul says in Romans 6 I'll give you the give the parallel that is so remarkable Romans 6 6 he says we know that our old self was crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin for the one who has died has been set free from sin. [00:03:38]

So Paul is saying that when Christ suffered and died, we Christians by Union with him through faith also suffered and died and that this death with Christ was a decisive death blow to our life of sinning. We are an essentially new person in Christ and the mark of the newness is that we hate our sin and we make war on it. [00:04:35]

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit so Christ's suffering which first Peter 4 1 refers to Christ's suffering in this verse is his death he suffered unto death. [00:05:16]

He that is Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin that's really amazing parallel to Paul and to chapter 4 verse one in First Peter to die to sin and to live to righteousness Christ died for our sins that we might experience his death as our death. [00:06:10]

God brings suffering into the lives of his children, and it is a sign of his love not his wrath it's for our good our joy our Holiness so the writer goes on here's verse 10 of Hebrews 12. he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. [00:10:25]

For the moment all discipline seems painful yes it does rather than pleasant but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it so he contrasts the painful, unpleasant experience of suffering that's the discipline of the father with the peaceful and pleasant fruit of righteousness. [00:11:24]

God loves his children and he knows better than any human physician what measures of displeasure are needed to kill the sins that Rob us of the greatest pleasures, namely the ones in God's presence with Jesus as our greatest treasure. [00:12:11]

The Christian hedonist welcomes God appointed suffering as a means of killing the very thing the sin that robs us of our greatest joy in God. [00:11:58]

One of the reasons God appoints suffering for his children is to wean us off of Reliance upon the world whose Pleasures are deceitful and they rob us of the greatest Pleasures at God's right hand. [00:09:22]

Therefore Christian hedonists should welcome God appointed suffering as a means of killing the very thing sin that robs us of our greatest joy namely sin that's the Paradox and I think that's right I think that's basically right she's on to something there. [00:09:22]

Suffering is indeed appointed by God as a means by which sin is rooted out of our lives and is therefore a means by which I come to enjoy Christ more fully as my Supreme treasure now that's a different issue and Shannon's way of saying it is that this would be a paradox. [00:08:13]

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