Why God’s Rebukes Are a Means of Preserving the Elect

One of the great misunderstandings in our day is how the warnings in Scripture are meant to function in the life of the church. These warnings—found not only in the Gospels, but woven throughout the New Testament epistles—are not directed at nameless outsiders. They are addressed to real congregations, to people who sit under the preached Word, partake in the sacraments, and profess faith in Christ.

These warnings are not hypothetical. They are real, and they are spoken to the visible church, where wheat and tares grow side by side, where sheep and goats are often indistinguishable to the human eye.

And here is what many overlook: the Word of God, including its warnings, is a means of grace.

When the elect hear these warnings, they do not scoff or harden—they tremble, they heed, and they endure. Christ's sheep hear His voice, even in rebuke, and they follow. In this way, the warning becomes a tool in the hand of the Good Shepherd, keeping His flock from wandering.

But the same Word that softens also hardens. When the unregenerate hear these warnings, they may bristle, ignore, or resent them. Over time, they may fall away entirely—not because the warning failed, but because it did its work. It revealed that their confidence was never truly in Christ, but in their own performance, their associations, or their emotions.

So we must not treat the warnings of Scripture as though they endanger the assurance of the true believer. On the contrary—they are one of the ways God preserves His people. The same voice that says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” also says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart” (John 10:28; Heb. 3:12).

The warnings are not threats to grace—they are grace, calling the elect to vigilance, and exposing those who never truly trusted in Christ. The sheep keep following because the Shepherd keeps calling—even in His warnings.