Early Training in Godliness Lasts a Lifetime and Beyond, Part 2

We are speaking about the godly family. In Acts 2:39 Peter said of the promise of salvation through Christ, “The promise is for you and your children.” Yes, there are exceptions. In Romans 9:13, the Lord says, “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.” But the Bible also speaks much of household salvation. For example, we read about Lydia and her household being saved and baptized (Acts 16:14–15). And in the same chapter, the Philippian jailer was told by Paul, “You will be saved and your family” (Acts 16:32).

In Isaiah 59:21 we read, “‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,’ says the Lord.” What is the chief end of human existence? It is to glorify God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 1). This applies to our families also—our children and their children and their children.

How do we know that we are true children of God? God shows his love to us through teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training us in righteousness (obedience) with painful discipline to make us holy, for without holiness, we cannot see God.

In Proverbs 3:11–12 we read, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline.” Discipline means teaching of the word of God, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness with punishment for severe disobedience. We are not to despise the Lord’s discipline by treating the word of God as filth. The writer continues, “and do not resent his rebuke.” Rebukes come to us through parents, pastors, and others. Why? “because the Lord disciplines [punishes] those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

Do not despise preaching of the gospel. Do not despise the Lord’s discipline coming through parents. We are not to worship our children. We are to worship God alone. We are to teach them, rebuke them, correct them, and train them in doing the will of God, and we punish them to enforce the teaching. “The Lord disciplines those he loves.” We must not despise the Lord’s discipline that comes to us through parents, pastors, and others.

Early Training in Godliness

In 2 Timothy 3:15–17 Paul wrote to Timothy, “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for [eternal] salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-spoken and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped [qualified] for every good work.” Good work means doing God’s will. Elsewhere Paul wrote, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has foreordained that we should do them” (Eph. 2:10). We are to be rich in good works (1 Tim. 6:18).

From our children’s infancy, we are to teach them the Scriptures. We are to rebuke them, correct them, train them in righteousness, and also punish them for willful disobedience. Paul writes, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). What is righteousness? Righteousness means doing what is right, and what is right is God’s will as found in the Bible. This is not speaking about mere intellectual knowledge, but learning to do the will of God, that you and your children and your descendants may be blessed. As we already read, “‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the Lord” (Isa. 59:21). God makes his covenant with us and with our children and their descendants.

Discipline of children proves the parents’ and the Lord’s love for those children and their delight in them. The Lord himself disciplines his people with the rod, even to the point of destroying them, so that they may be heaven. God’s discipline of his children proves that they are not wicked.

In Proverbs 20:30 we read, “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.” Parents, do you exercise the rod ministry? I was brought up with a rod ministry. Godly parenting is not just teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, but it also includes the rod ministry. “Blows and wounds” and “beatings” are divine medicines to cleanse the heart of evil. Too much money makes us worship our children. The rod ministry is God’s way of sanctification to make us holy. And it is effective. When I was growing up, no child in our home dared to oppose our parents.

Parents are charged to encourage godliness in their children. In Hebrews 12:14 we read, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Unholy people will not see the Lord as their Savior; they will only see him as Judge.

It takes six weeks of training, of doing God’s will, to become a habit, according to Professor Jay Adams, who taught us at Westminster Seminary.  Training children in godliness is the job of their parents. Disobedience to parents must not be tolerated by the parents. And the Scripture gives a wonderful promise to parents: “Train a child in the way he should go,” that is, in the way of the word of God, in the way of the Ten Commandments, God’s moral commandments, “and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Prov. 22:6). In fact, such a person will then also train others in the way of the God’s word.

We are to train our children to obey parents immediately, exactly, and joyfully. Perhaps up until now you worshiped your children. You can change today. Train them in the way of the word, in the straight and narrow way of righteousness. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). We are to train our children to follow Jesus, who is the way.

Training in godliness begins in infancy, and such early training lasts a lifetime. Look at Timothy. Lois trained Eunice, and then Lois and Eunice both trained Timothy, who became a godly person. My parents trained me in immediate, exact, and joyful obedience, and I trained others. Lois and Eunice did not worship Timothy. They trained him in obedience, in holiness. So Paul wrote to Timothy:

• 2 Timothy 3:15: “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures.”
• 2 Timothy 1:5–6: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you” that is, Holy Spirit, “through the laying on of my hands.”

Obedience to God Alone

We are to obey the word of God by the Spirit. Paul exhorts us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16) and to be filled continuously with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

Jesus obeyed the Holy Spirit all his life, and we are to do the same.  In Romans 8:11–14, Paul begins, “If the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead lives in you.” If you are a Christian, the infinite, eternal Holy Spirit lives in you to guide you in the word of God and to give you power to obey the word of God.

We have no obligation to the devil. The thief [the devil] comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus Christ came to give us eternal life (John 10:10). We must not obey the devil; we must obey the Lord Jesus Christ. James 4:7 tells us to submit to God, meaning to obey God, and resist the devil, as Jesus resisted the devil in the temptation scene (Matt. 4). Then comes the promise: “and he will flee from you.”

The devil wants to destroy us; Jesus came to give us life. The Christian life is one of continuous obedience to the Spirit who guides us in the word. We have no obligation to sin. Our obligation is to the Holy Spirit. We must obey him. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus said his disciples were to teach others “to obey whatsoever things I have commanded you. And behold, I will be with you always, even to the end of the ages.”

This means we have to have power, and he gives us power. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). God threw me out to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel and gave me power. Paul says, “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Col. 1:29).  Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot live a holy life. But by the Holy Spirit, we can kill sin and obey God. Where is the Holy Spirit? He lives in us who are Christians. Who are we? In ourselves, we are nothing. We are clay. We are flowers that fade. The Bibles says our years are seventy or, at most, eighty, and then we die and go to heaven.

Honoring Parents

Children who are trained in godliness will honor and care for their parents when they are old. In Proverbs 23:22 we read, “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” “Listen” means “honor,” “obey.” Do you obey your father? All wicked children despise their parents. That is the way it is. (PGM) But godly children must continue to honor their fathers and mothers when they are old. They must honor them by taking good care of them. Do not despise them. After all, they took care of you when you were nothing. You emerged from the womb naked, and they gave you milk. Parents and grandparents helped you. Do not forget them when they are old.

In 1 Timothy 5:4 we read, “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their [Christianity] into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents.” And in 1 Timothy 5:8 Paul writes, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family,” which includes parents and grandparents, “he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Children and grandchildren are responsible for the care of their parents and grandparents when they are old, when they cannot live independently.

The Valuable Rod Ministry

The ministry of the rod saves us from hell. In Proverbs 23:13–14 we read, “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death,” that is, from hell. In our home, my parents did not worship their children; they worshiped God. Again, I exhort you: Do not worship children. Worship God. And wicked behavior can be corrected by gracious use of the rod.

God himself uses the rod, as we read in 1 Corinthians 11:30–32. Paul begins, “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have [died] fallen asleep.” When we celebrate holy communion, God gives us a choice. We can examine ourselves and repent; thank God for this choice! But if we do not, he will use the rod of discipline as a father. So Paul writes, “Many of you are weak and sick and a number have died.” This happened to the Corinthian believers because they did not examine themselves and repent, and prove their repentance by their deeds. Paul continues, “But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” He kills us to take us to heaven. What was the sin of these people? The poor people came late, and thus did not get any food to eat. This is what we see in Acts 6:1. Greek-speaking Jewish widows were not given food.

In Proverbs 29:15 we read, “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” “Left to himself” means that child receives no teaching of the word, no rebuke, no correction, no training in righteousness, no rod ministry.

But look at Proverbs 29:17: “Discipline your son [and daughter], and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.” We have many godly sons and daughters in this church. The rod ministry drives out sin and drives in wisdom (the fear of the Lord, obedience). We read that in Proverbs 22:15. Parents should use the rod ministry to drive out evil and to drive in wisdom. The rod of correction imparts wisdom to your children, and they will give you peace and bring delight to your soul. That is a promise from God. Your children will bring delight to your soul if you meet the conditions.

Psalm 94:12 says, “Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law.” God himself disciplines us, teaches us, punishes us, and we are blessed, which means we are saved forevermore. So we can also say, “Blessed is the man you discipline, and cursed is the man you do not discipline.”

In Psalm 118:18 the psalmist says, “The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death,” to hell. Our God will do whatever it takes to bring us to heaven. In Hebrews 12 we read,

And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:  “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Heb. 12:5–11).

A parent hates his children if he does not teach them, rebuke them, correct them, and train them in righteousness with the rod ministry. God’s discipline, though painful, focuses our mind on God and his love, and causes us to listen to him and obey him. When we do so, we will reap a harvest of righteousness and peace. We will learn to hear and do his will. Jesus learned obedience from the things he suffered and he became the author of salvation to all who obey him (Heb. 5:8–9).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the holy Scriptures applied by the Holy Spirit through parents and pastors will lead us to eternal salvation. So love your children and teach them holy Scriptures that they may be saved.

A new heaven and new earth is awaiting us, where we may dwell forever with God, and where there is no more sin, no more death, and no more aging, but only righteousness. Consider what John says:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:1–4)

May God use parents, pastors, teachers, and others to teach us Scripture, to rebuke us, to correct us, and to train us in righteousness. May they use the rod to drive away sin and drive in wisdom, the fear of God, that we may reap a harvest of righteousness and peace, and be holy, that we may see God and be saved forever.