Summary:
Living under grace as believers means we are God’s children. As our heavenly Father, He loves us enough to chasten and correct us as needed. It’s painful while we’re going through it, but it is not punishment; chastening is a sign that we are God’s son or daughter. It’s God’s way of dealing with our sins, but doing so in love. Just like the purification process gold goes through to burn out all impurities, God uses the chastening process to remove everything in us displeasing to Him—including self-dependence. This type of impurity includes all self-centeredness, all self-will, and all tendencies to take the glory and credit for God’s blessings for ourselves, without acknowledging Him. We are unlike the unsaved world that doesn’t know Jesus and therefore doesn’t undergo the chastening process; we therefore can rejoice when we do undergo it.
