Spanking of children

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>
>>Chastening is not atonement. Chastening is not a payment for error,
>>but a correction to prevent further deviation.
>
>I have no dictionary handy here. Could someone who does define how the
>dictionary defines chasten or chastening or chastise?

A while back I did a study on this and looked up the passage in Strongs
and the dictionary.  The general sense of chastening means to purify.

A correct understanding of chastening will open your eyes to how God deals
with his children.

Perhaps you are always obedient to His voice and have no need to be
chastened.  I have experienced a few situations where the Lord has used
circumstances to point out my errors rather painfully.  Being "exercised"
by these I have learned to take a different course in future choices.  I
am now thankful for these chastening experiences though they were difficult
to endure at the time.  The setting of Hebrews gives *much* insight. There 
is also a passage in Revelation 3:19 that deals with the topic of 
chastening.

You will find that in Israel's past they turned to the Lord in times of
hardship and forsook Him when times were easy. Their entire history with
God has been a roller-coaster experience. That is what chastening is for
to try to take the ups and downs our of our walk with God and keep us
>from straying away from His precepts.  If the backslider could recognize
that their condition is a result of their error and not because God doesn't
love them they would be able to return just as the prodigal.  It was the
hardship that got the prodigal's attention and got him thinking that
things would be better at home.

Chastizement also validates God's promise of the judgement to come.  When
children do things worthy of punishment and are not properly chastized it
can give them a mindset that they can get away with an improper lifestyle
without reaping any punishment.

Many times parents will threaten their children and yell at them repeatedly
with ever worsening descriptions of what will be done to them if they
continue their inappropriate behaviour only to let things slide.  These 
children grow up learning that it is ok to challenge authority in any form
and are ill equipped to face the real world.  God's way is submission to
authority.  Jesus submitted Himself to the will of the Spirit and offered
His flesh as a sacrifice for sin.  The bible says that He learned obedience
by the things that He suffered.

If Jesus was required to suffer in the flesh to perfect obedience, what makes
anyone think that we can escape the same treatment.  The bible says that it
pleased God to bruise Him. Let's use some understanding here.  We know that
God does not derive pleasure from hurting people, particularly his own flesh.
There was a purpose in what was done in bruising Christ and we have the 
benefit of that sacrifice today.

A true parent that loves his children will not derive pleasure in their
punishment but realizes that it is for the betterment of that child's
life as well as society in general.  Paul said that the law is for the 
lawless but we are under grace. Grace is not a license to sin.  Paul also
wrote that as a man soweth that shall he also reap. If we walk in the Spirit
we will do the works of the Spirit but if we give in to the carnal man's
desires we will do the works of the flesh.  Even though we are in the 
dispensation of grace God will still destroy those that refuse to be
obedient to His will. Chastizement (purification) brings our will into
sync with His will.  The reason we chastize children is to bring their
will around to sync with our will as a parent.  It is training that will
result in them understanding better how to serve God when they mature.

Really if you will get that book I told you of by Fugate called What The 
Bible Says About Child Training and read it with an open heart you will
get the big picture.  It's really a very important topic.

It is a real blessing that your children have not required corporal
punishment. But some children require it to be saved

In Christ
MGS

--
Mark Strahan	 ac928@rgfn.epcc.edu    GENUINE JESUS' NAME BRAND SALVATION
___________________________________________________________________________
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we *must* be saved.         Acts 4:12