Discipline as the occasion for presenting the Gospel

In my discipline conversations with Elisabeth (which have been remarkably frequent this week), I try to follow a pattern that accentuates the Gospel: that what is required of her is right, and that it is beyond her own power to perform, and that Jesus alone can give her the ability to do what is right. So in our conversation, we talk about the infraction, why it was wrong, what would have been right to do, and then we pray together to ask Christ to help us (not just the 3 year old!) to be and do what He requires.

That pattern was called into question this week as I listened to John Piper on How to Submit to the Righteousness of God. He posed the important question:

Are children getting the impression that Christianity is mainly a list of do’s and don’ts or mainly the story of how God justifies the ungodly through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

That question had me hooked. Then he followed with two more:

Are we helping the children see saving faith both as the way we have Christ’s righteousness as the basis of our acceptance with God, and as the way we have Christ’s power to become like him in daily life? Are we keeping both those things together but in the right order: faith in Christ as the link first to his perfection and pardon, and second as to his purifying power – the one for justification (his perfection and pardon), and the other for sanctification (his purifying power)?

Those questions helped me to see that in every discipline encounter, I have the opportunity to press both the promises of justification and those of power for obedience. If I press only that Christ can enable us to be and do what He requires, then I miss half (at least!) of the glory of the good news. Not only does He give us power, but He forgives all our sins, and more than that makes us righteous with His own righteousness so that we can be the friends, and not foes, of God!

O what a privilege it is to be a parent, and to be able to present to our children daily the promises of justification and power! May Christ Himself make me more faithful in joyfully presenting these promises every day.