Correction

Despising Reproof

 

KJV Dictionary Definition of Correction

To correct is to set right, set straight, see right. Literally, set right, or made straight.To make right; to rectify; to bring to the standard of truth. “Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest” (Proverbs 29). To correct is to remove whatever is wrong; to counteract whatever could cause injury. Correction is the act of bringing back, from error or deviation, to a just standard, as to truth. In 2 Timothy 3:16 ~ “The bible tells us that, all scripture is profitable for correction and instruction in righteousness.” Why? because God wants us to be “thoroughly furnished in all good works.”

Refusing Correction Brings Both Spiritual and Physical Death

 Any follower of Jesus Christ; who despise correction; they are haters of the truth. Anyone who does not love the truth cannot and does not “love the source of truth. God is truth and God is the source of truth;” the bible said, “The truth of the LORD endures for ever!” Jesus is truth and God’s words is truth and it is God’s words that tells us to love correction “not man’s word.” Clearly then, any aversion to the truth or correction thereof is a man or woman who really are haters of God’s laws, God’s commands and as such walk in rebellion and disobedience to them. The sad thing about refusing correction is that it brings both spiritual and physical death. “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

To refuse correction or reproof is to refuse to submit or obey and instead walk in pride and rebellion against God. This abhorrence to correction which is a besetting sin, starts in pride; opens the door to offence, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, slander, accusation, and sowing discord causing division to name a few of the other besetting sin it encapsulate. Most people hate to be corrected and will always regard the correcter as an enemy. In fact, correction almost and always is greeted with hostility and in many cases results in extreme anger towards the one who does the correcting. The most alarming thing about this besetting sin is that it causes hatred and can lead to murder.  In the book of Genesis chapter four the bible discloses the following how refusing reproof eventually lead to murder. Genesis chapter four is the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel who each brought their offering to God. Cain became angry that his offering was not accepted and although God corrected and explained to him, by saying,  “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” ( Genesis 4:7). Instead of receiving God’s correction Cain rose up against his brother Abel who did the offering God’s way and not his and instead of taking God’s counsel; he poured out hatred towards his brother and so he killed him.

Those of us who refuse correction one way; still must and will be corrected in another way by someone else. The young men who refused and resents their parents correction eventually end up in jail called a correctional facility. Whenever we refuse correction there is a blindness that follows. The word of God shows us how important and very vital it is for us to accepts the truth of correction. A person who refused to be corrected is a person who will not submit and such a person walks in pride and disobedience. Refusing correction is a direct rebellion against God and those God placed in authority.

Consider this passage of scripture taken from Hebrews 12:5-11 “…Have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as His children? He said,“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.”As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?  If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children at all.  Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in His holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” Those who despise the truth of correction love their sins and they do not want to part with it. “They did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). “He that hates correction/reproof shall perish in his sins, since he would not be parted from them.”

How Can Someone Who Does Not Like Truth Love God? ~ Roy Davison

 Jesus is the truth.  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). How can someone who does not like the truth, love the Son of God? When Pilate stood before Christ and asked about His kingdom, Jesus explained: “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate responded, “What is truth?” (John 18:37, 38).They who are “of the truth” listen to the truth because they love the truth. God’s word is the truth. “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). “The word of truth” is the gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13). “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). How can someone who does not like the truth, value the word of God?

Someone who does not like the truth, prefers something false. When someone rejects the truth, the only alternative is to accept something false. People refuse to believe the truth because they enjoy unrighteousness. They reject the truth because they prefer falsehood and they hate correction.  Sometimes people who do not love God like to listen to God’s word with no intention of obeying it. God told Ezekiel: “So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them (Ezekiel 33:31, 32). They pretend that they loved God.People deny the truth because they want to escape from the truth.  “Love of the truth” is essential. All who reject the truth will be lost. The unrighteous suppress the truth and hates correction; they do not want to hear it. In the book of Acts  6 & 7 the bible shows how people instead of receiving the truth of correction so that they could repent; they stoned Steven to death, for telling them what they did wrong. They closed their hears to the correction and they stoned him to death to silenced him 

Someone who loves the truth, relies on God’s word for instruction. Paul warns: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). The saved believe and obey the truth. The church of Christ is the pillar of the truth.“I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Timothy was given a solemn charge: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).God’s word convicts men of sin, and changes lives when heard by people who love God, love is correction and loves the truth. 

Our Attitude To Corrections ~ Zac Poonen

One way in which God breaks our strength and pride is by correcting us through our leaders. Almost all believers find it very difficult to receive correction. It’s not easy for even a two-year-old child to receive correction – especially if it’s given publicly. When was the last time you joyfully accepted public correction? Have you accepted it even once in your life? If not, then it’s not surprising that you lack spiritual authority. When someone, who is over you in the Lord, corrects you, it doesn’t matter if he did it in a harsh way. You must still humble yourself under the hand of God Who allowed your leader to correct you – even if you didn’t deserve the correction and even if it wasn’t your fault. Jesus was publicly humiliated and falsely accused by His enemies of many things. But He never complained. And He has given us an example to follow. Even if God allows an enemy to criticize you, just ask yourself whether there’s any truth in his criticism. That’s all that matters. He’s actually giving you a free check-up! Don’t bother about how he did the “scanning” or what the motive behind the scanning was! Such matters are unimportant. All you need to ask yourself is whether the “scan” revealed some unChristlikeness in your life. Our enemies often tell us more truths about ourselves than our friends do. So we should not write off all criticism as false. If I’ve got a black stain on my face and an enemy points it out to me, I should be thankful to him, because he has shown me something that I couldn’t have seen myself. I can then go and wash off that stain! It doesn’t matter even if he said it to me with an evil motive or to humiliate me. He still helped me to cleanse myself!

This was one big difference between Peter and Judas Iscariot. When Peter told the Lord foolishly to avoid going to the cross, the Lord rebuked him sternly saying, “Get behind me, Satan”. That was the strongest rebuke that Jesus ever gave any man. Even the Pharisees were only called “vipers”. But Peter was called “Satan”. Jesus’ strongest rebukes were reserved for those who were closest to Him. He rebukes most those whom He loves the most (Rev.3:19). Soon after that, when many disciples were getting offended with the Lord’s teaching and leaving Him, the Lord asked His disciples if they too wanted to go away. It was Peter who then replied saying, “Lord to whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:60, 66-68). What were the words of eternal life that Peter had heard? “Get behind me Satan”! Do we see words of correction as words meant to lead us to eternal life? That’s how Peter saw correction and that’s what made him the man he became. There was yet another occasion when Peter accepted correction from the Lord. Peter had told the Lord at the last supper that even if all the other disciples denied the Lord, he wouldn’t. The Lord immediately replied that Peter would deny Him thrice within the next 12 hours. But Peter didn’t get offended with that reply. It was such a man that the Lord finally took up and made His chief apostle and spokesman on the day of Pentecost. Because Peter humbled himself under correction, God exalted him. Having learnt from his own experience, Peter now exhorts all of us in 1 Peter.5:5,6 to humble ourselves always. We’ll never lose anything by humbling ourselves. One day God will exalt us.

In contrast to Peter’s attitude to correction, look at Judas Iscariot’s attitude to correction. When a woman anointed Jesus with an expensive perfume, Judas said it was a waste to spend money like that, when it could have been given to the poor (John 12:5; Matt.26:10-13). Jesus corrected Judas very gently and asked him to leave the woman alone, because she had done a good work. But Judas was offended. In the very next verse (Matt.26:14), we read that Judas went immediately to the chief priests and agreed to betray Jesus. The timing of this is very significant. Judas was hurt, because Jesus had corrected him publicly. All that Jesus had told Judas was that his assessment of the woman’s action was not correct. But that was enough to upset him. When you’re not broken, one small thing will be enough to offend you. But look at the eternal consequences of Judas’ reaction. And look at the eternal results of Peter’s reaction. Both of them were tested by correction – one failed, while the other passed. Today, we’re being tested in the same way. If public correction offends us, it only proves that we’re seeking the honour of men. If so, it’s good to know it now, so that we can cleanse ourselves from such honour-seeking. God may have allowed such a situation to show us how much we are slaves to man’s opinions. Now we can cleanse ourselves and be free. So, let’s have Peter’s attitude to correction at all times – whether the Lord corrects us directly by His Spirit or through someone else. This is the pathway of eternal life for all of us. If we humble ourselves, we’ll receive grace from God and He will exalt us at the right time.

 

How Well Do You Take Correction ~ Carter Conlon 

  • Many are on a pursuit of God but on our own terms. This is what happened to many people who profess to know Christ in every generation. When correction comes we wants it on our own terms. We can become so sure that what we are doing is right; that even when a donkey is speaking to us like Balam we argues with the donkey not even realizing ‘wait a minute’ donkey does not talk.
  • What am I saying, that when we refuse correction – God can send something supernatural our way and we do not see it or hear it. We see this with Balam. It was indeed supernatural for a donkey to talk; yet Balam argues with the donkey.  He end up arguing with what is a sign from God Himself; trying to move you from one place into another.  
  • We all must take a page from Peter’s book when Paul this new comer corrected him with what he was doing in the book of Acts. Peter could have said to Paul, I am Peter, Jesus disciples, I knew Jesus personally, I walk on the water with Him, I was invited up into the Mount of Transfiguration with Him. Peter could have even said, who are you Paul; were you not the one who were killing Christians. He could have even stopped Paul by calling Paul out on the things he used to do. He could have said you cannot talk to me you who use to kill Christians but instead Peter humbled himself and took the correction. Peter could have been highly offended and one could say rightly so but there are no evidence in scripture that he got offended but rather it shows that he took the correction from Paul with humility. 

Scriptures About Correction

  • Proverbs 12:1 “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”
  • 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”Proverbs 15:32  “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.”
  • Hebrews 12:5-11 “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? …
  • Proverbs 8:33 “Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.”
  • Proverbs 6:23 “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.”
  • Proverbs 9:7-9 “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.”
  • James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
  • Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
  • Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
  • John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
  • ine or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
  • Revelation 3:19 “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”
  • Job 5:17 ““Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.”
  • Proverbs 10:17 “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.”
  • Proverbs 3:12 ” For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”
  • Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
  • Psalm 94:12 “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law.”
  • Hebrews 12:1-29″Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. …” Therefore correction must always be received in the utmost humility not hostility.
  • Proverbs 15:5  “A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”
  • 1 Corinthians 4:14 “I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.”
  • Titus 3:10″ As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him.” Many does not want correction and instead of heeding it they stir up division but the bible said after they have been warned once or twice have nothing more to do with such person.  

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