Today we don’t live under the old covenant with its ceremonial and civil laws, but we can still expect to be disciplined by the Lord so that we will keep seeking his presence.
Hebrews 12:1–29 and James 1:1–12 are clear that the various trials and difficulties which we experience in this world are there to test our faith. God brings challenges across our paths in order that we might seek comfort and help from the Lord. He disciplines us through trials in order to grow and strengthen our faith.
At a corporate level, the normal means by which the Lord disciplines us today is through the preaching of his Word. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin (John 16:8) and helps us to see where we’ve strayed from God’s truth (John 16:13). God has also appointed elders who are there to watch over our doctrine and life (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2), encouraging us to live in the light of God’s truth.
Sometimes, the Lord may also bring sickness and death upon our path as a result of corporate sin. That’s what we see happening in 1 Corinthians 11:1–34 when God’s people are unmindful and disobedient in their celebration of the Lord’s Supper and the whole church suffers as a result.
1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.