There is a big difference between punishment and discipline. God's disciplining of His children is not His punishment upon them. Even when God chastises them, this chastisement is not a punishment, but a discipline. Discipline is with a definite goal, which is that we may partake of His holiness, that we may not live foolishly day by day. After a Christian believes into the Lord Jesus, although he will never lose his salvation, he may receive severe chastisement from God. We should never say that a Christian can do whatever he wants after he is saved. The Bible clearly tells us that after a Christian is saved, even if he is defeated and fallen, he will not perish eternally and will not lose eternal life. However, he will receive God's chastising on earth today.

We should not make the mistake of thinking that because we are eternally saved, we can live loosely on this earth. No one can refute the fact that once a person is saved, he is eternally saved. This is a fact. If a Christian unbridles his lusts, commits sins, falls into defilements, and does not have God's holiness, God will extend His hand and will discipline such a one through his environment, his family, his personal health, and his future plans. He may encounter difficulties in his family. He may experience much illness and misfortune in his environment. The purpose of God in allowing these things to fall upon him is not a matter of punishing him; they are not there to give him a hard time, but to make him partake of God's holiness and to become worthy of the grace of His calling. This is the proper understanding of salvation.

One should not say that if a Christian does not do good, God will deny that he is a child of God and kick him out like a dog. If one would say such a thing, either he is blind to the work of the cross of Christ, or he thinks that the work of Christ is a very light matter.

The Bible shows us that salvation is eternal. At the same time, the Bible also shows us that there are quite serious punishments among the believers. If we fail, there will be much punishment for us. God wants us to partake of His holiness. On this earth He wants us to live like sons of God. He does not want to intimidate us with hell so that we will pursue holiness. To be saved is totally of grace, but God has His way to lead us into His holiness. He causes us to encounter many things in our families, in our bodies, in our career, and in our environment so that we will turn back to Him. This is the purpose of discipline.

Ananias and Sapphira were believers; they were saved. They committed the sin of lying to the Spirit, and they received a very severe discipline (Acts 5:1-10). At one time, I thought that perhaps Ananias and Sapphira were not saved. By reading the Bible carefully, one has to acknowledge that they were saved because they were with the disciples at the time of Pentecost. In addition, they also made an offering. They were only after some vain glory. Their sins were not as severe as one would think. They did not get drunk or commit fornication. The fact that they were taken from the world quickly proves that they were believers. If they were worldly people, they probably would have lived much longer. The fact that they were removed quickly from the world proves that they were our brother and sister.