As a young teenager, I sensed a divine calling to acknowledge Jesus Christ as my Creator God and Savior. At the time it hadn’t sunk in exactly what that meant and I didn’t fully understand what had happened to me after I made a profession of faith. Several decades later, as I reflect on that youthful experience, what happened and what it meant to be redeemed has become clearer. I now more fully, but not completely, understand how a person is redeemed. Based on one of the most popular verses in the Bible used to call individuals to saving faith, we can learn how a person is converted.
John, in his vision of heaven, used the metaphor of Jesus knocking on a door to describe entrance into heaven. “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:19-20 ESV).
If we take the time to investigate the key verbs in this passage and look at the ancient context of the images John used to describe what it means to come into a personal trusting relationship with Jesus as Savior, then the process of redemption becomes clear.
Jesus gives John a letter to the Laodicean Church
Jesus is speaking to John in a vision given by an angel. This vision takes the form of a revelation or prophecy using vivid images, symbols, and metaphors to communicate what otherwise would be historically impossible to describe in depth. In the context of seven letters to seven Church, John addresses problems facing these churches and recognizes their spiritual strengths as they face persecution.
To the Church in Laodicea, he writes a letter that mostly contains warnings. The attendees of the Laodicean Church are lukewarm in their faith and moral practices. In general, this letter is an indictment against religious people who identify with Jesus as the Christ, believe they are converted, but who have little or no evidence of a conversion to Christ. Their spiritual condition is so abhorrent to God that he’s ready to spit them out of his mouth, that is, to reject their profession of faith as spurious and ineffectual. Yet, he doesn’t reject them.
God includes these unenthusiastic religious Laodiceans in the group of people he loves. He loves them enough to rebuke and discipline them. Verse 19 is a free quotation of Proverbs 3:11-12 (which is also used in Hebrews 12:5-6). “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (ESV).
Proverbs are words of encouragement to a son–a person who is part of a family. God only rebukes and disciplines his children. The person who rejects the Lordship of Christ is not rebuked or disciplined. Instead, he or she is judged for rejecting Jesus as the Creator and Lord. God’s children, on the other hand, are not let go but corrected and trained just like the prodigal son is received by his loving father (Lk 15:11-24).
To be disciplined by God proves sonship (Heb 12:8). God disciplines his children. He doesn’t punish them in the form of judgment (though we deserve such treatment). Rather, he disciplines his followers in what is better described as chastisement. Neither punishment nor chastisement are welcomed ideas, but there is a distinct difference between being punished and being chastised.
The difference between punishment and chastisement
Punishment means undergoing pain or loss as a form of payment for a crime. When Jesus returns he will bring redemption and punishment. The punishment will be the execution of righteous judgment on all who have willingly refused to follow him as Lord. There is no salvation for individuals who reject the call of the Holy Spirit to confess and obey Jesus as Lord (Mk 3:19). This is an eternal sin that isn’t forgivable. Divine punishment is an eternal immutable judgment.
Chastisement is different from punishment. To chastise is to strongly scold or condemn a child for their disobedience. It was a severe act, but it wasn’t a payment for a wrongdoing. It was a firm correction and instruction designed to bring the child back into a good standing with the parent. Discipline is for a beloved child who has gone astray. In Jesus’ letter to the Laodiceans, he refers to them as “Those whom I love.” He loved them enough not to abandon them to their mediocre devotion to him.
The purpose of his chastisement was to turn them from their lukewarm acts of faith to their original (or initial) state of salvation. Jesus still calls people today who initially claimed faith in him to return to the initial faith they once had. The Laodiceans were considered spiritually naked. They lacked Christ’s righteousness. Jesus counsels them to buy from him gold, clothing, and salve. This is a symbolic way of saying that before a holy God they were spiritually bankrupt–lacking in saving faith.
These two verses (vs 19-20) are a call to people who think they are Christians but are actually spiritually void of saving faith. In America, this would identify the spiritual condition of most of the population. If you have heard the gospel message or were brought up in a home that exposed you to the claims of Jesus as the Creator God and Lord but have yet to earnestly follow him, then you’re in the same spiritual state as the members of the Church in Laodicea–spiritually dead.
Can you hear Jesus speaking to you through this warning?
If you can hear what Jesus wrote in this letter then God’s grace in the gospel is being applied to you and you are being offered forgiveness leading to redemption (vs 22). Hear what the Spirit is saying to this church because he is also saying it to you. He has not left you in ignorance or spiritual poverty.
In love, God comes to you and me to chastise us for our lack of faith and obedience to him as Lord. He doesn’t punish us for our wrongdoings. Instead, he directs and counsels us as his beloved children to turn and repent from our apathy toward him and to love him for graciously coming to us with forgiveness. Redemption is turning from a spiritually dead state toward God to a living vibrant faith in Jesus as Lord.
