Friday | 16 October 2026
In the course of their life, a son of God will experience difficulties and distress. At times, this can provoke in them the emotions of sin, including, for example, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and so on. These emotions indicate that the person is living by the principle of the flesh; they are seeking to save their own life, or to preserve what they think is ‘gain’ to them.
At this point, the Holy Spirit brings to their attention their fleshly condition and that they are under judgement for their sin. In the midst of their difficulty, they can, by the Spirit, put off this fleshly motive, which Paul called ‘the body of the sins of the flesh’. Col 2:11. It can be removed, or cut, from them in the fellowship of Christ’s death. Having ceased from pursuing their own gain, by putting off the body of sin, they are able to put on Christ and fulfil the obedience that He learnt for them and belongs to their sanctification as a new‑creation son of God. Eph 4:22‑24. Rom 13:14. Gal 3:27.
The circumcision of Christ is one aspect of the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul identified chastening as another dimension of a believer’s participation in the offering and sufferings of Christ. In contrast to the circumcision of Christ, which involves the cutting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, chastening is the initiative of God the Father to bring a new‑creation son of God to maturity. It has a training, or formative, purpose.
To this end, Paul encouraged his readers, writing, ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives’. Heb 12:5‑6. Pro 3:11‑12. He further explained that without chastening a believer would not come to fruitful maturity as a son of God; they would be illegitimate. Heb 12:7‑8.
Further Study:
Colossians 3
References:
Col 2:11
In Him, you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.
Eph 4:22-24
That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Rom 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.
Gal 3:27
For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.
Heb 12:5-8
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Pro 3:11-12
My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.