Church Discipline

Alright, go ahead and grab a seat. Today we are going to spend a majority of our time in , and as you open your Bibles let me ask you, “What gospel do you believe?”

This is a very important question for our sermon today because how you answer it, will directly impact how you understand church discipline and its role in our life together as a church.

Church discipline is one of the most controversial and under practiced aspects of church life, and its absence has led to meaningless membership and allowed for the nominal Christianity that runs rampant today.

On the other had, church discipline has been used abusively to shame and hurt genuine Christians who struggle with sin.

This is why practicing church discipline has led many churches to be labeled as “religious” or legalistic. People look at churches that practice biblical church discipline as judgmental and unloving, but is that actually the case?

The great reformer John Calvin believed that church discipline was so essential to what it means to be a church that without it, the church as God designed it would cease to exist.

In our day, John MacArthur says that practicing biblical church discipline is the single greatest contributing factor for the impact, growth, fruitfulness and stability of the church.

If church discipline is so essential, how is it that we have largely lost this practice in modern evangelicalism, and most importantly, what does the Bible say church discipline is so that we can faithfully obey the Scriptures?

The Foundation of Discipline

We will start with the first question. Why has church discipline fallen out of regular practice in churches today?

The answer is because we have watered down the gospel to such a degree that we no longer believe it has the power to change lives.

It is just some sort of easy believism where you pray a pray, believe in Jesus and you’re set for eternity.

In modern, American Christianity, the gospel goes something like this.

God is holy. We are unholy because all of us have sinned and separated ourselves from God.

But God sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise again so that we might be forgiven.

We could never save ourselves by obeying enough or being good enough, but if we put our faith in Christ we will be saved.

Therefore, come to Christ and put your faith in him, and God will take you exactly as you are and love you unconditionally as his son or daughter.

So what do you think? That sounds pretty accurate right? It emphasizes that Christ is the Savior of the world.

It teaches that true forgiveness of sin can only be found in him and points to the Christian’s adoption into God’s family.

Everything this version of the gospel says is absolutely true, but there is more to say. If we leave our understanding of the gospel to this simple definition, then we are left with cheap grace.

In it there is no call to take up our cross and follow Jesus or to die to ourselves. Only that we can be forgiven. But once forgiven, this gospel allows a person to go on about their life believing they are loved by God because they punched their one way ticket to heaven.

If we are going to live lives changed by Jesus, we need a gospel that gives more than cheap grace. We need a gospel that doesn’t just focus on Christ as Savior, but also proclaims that Jesus is Savior and the King of his people.

We need a gospel that doesn’t just forgive us of our sins, but one that completely transforms us from the heart to free us from the slavery of sin.

We need a gospel that doesn’t just forgive us, but actually changes us so that we can die to our sin and worship God alone.

We need a gospel that says, “God is holy. And all of us have sinned and separated ourselves from God. But God being rich in mercy sent his Son to die on the cross under his wrath and to rise again so that we can be forgiven and follow the Son as Savior and King.

Anyone who repents of their sin and believes in Christ can have eternal life. A life that doesn’t start one day in heaven, but is enjoyed today as we are freed from sin to worship God.

We aren’t saved by our works and thank God for that because none of us could ever do enough to earn God’s forgiveness. But, just because we aren’t justified by our works doesn’t mean that our faith can exist without works.

Through faith, God gives us new hearts that hate sin and love him instead. By the power of the Spirit we are declared holy and empowered to walk in obedience.

God saved us not just for our sake, but so that his Name would be glorified and all people would worship him and give the glory due his name.

Therefore, Christians are God’s ambassadors who represent him on the earth by reflecting his own holy character as they proclaim this gospel to the world showing everyone that loving God is far more rewarding than loving our sin.

This is the gospel that calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus. This is the gospel that changes lives.

The good desire for churches to reach the lost has led many to follow after a bad temptation. We have watered down the gospel into something much more palatable.

Its a lot easier to talk about God’s grace, unconditional love, and faith. It’s a whole lot harder to talk about his holiness, Christ’s Lordship, Spirit-empowered repentance, and the church’s call to reflect God’s perfect holiness in their own lives.

All of these things place demands on anyone that would follow Christ and when a church preaches a gospel that makes no demands on the life of a Christian, the church’s holiness suffers, and therefore God’s own name suffers.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

God’s primary desire for his church is that his church be holy. That the people he saved and redeemed from sin would actually live like it.

This is exactly what Christ is working for. It is why he has given his church fellowship with one another, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, pastors and leaders. He is seeking to disciple his people and build them up to be holy like he is holy.

The reason Christ died was to make for himself a holy people.

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

And the purpose Christ is making his people holy is so that more people might glorify God. Look back at what Peter said in

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Our holiness as a church is imperative in fulfilling our mission as a church. If we are ever going to make disciples and win more to Christ, then we must show that the gospel we preach is as powerful as we claim it is.

And this happens as we die to our sin to live for Christ daily growing to be more like Jesus.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The gospel is the foundation that gives us the framework for how to go about practicing church discipline in a biblical way.

Through the gospel, each and every Christian is adopted as God’s son or daughter called to be Christ’s ambassador to represent him on earth by proclaiming the gospel so that more might be saved.

But no one is able to claim to represent Christ by themselves. According to and as we will see today , we need the church, that is the body of believers, to affirm our faith and oversee our discipleship.

In other words, it is all the church’s responsibility to make sure that those that claim to represent Jesus actually do.

And we do this through the ordinances. We baptize believers who are then welcomed into church membership to fellowship with Christ and his people and to grow in their discipleship. Then we take Lord’s Supper together as we renew our commitment to Christ, his people and his kingdom.

But what if someone stops living for Christ. What if someone claims to represent Jesus as a Christian, but brings shame and disrepute to his name through their lifestyle and sin? What if someone begins living in such a way that it is difficult for the church to affirm their faith and raises questions whether or not they are truly a brother or sister in the faith?

The biblical gospel says that when God saves us by his grace, he gives us a new heart that desires to live for him instead of our sin. Yes, we will all struggle with sin until Christ returns, and by God’s grace we will put our sin to death more and more by the power of the Holy Spirit. But what are we to make of people who claim to be Christians but show no interest in repentance? Who Claim to love Jesus but time and time again choose to love their sin and refuse to give it up?

This is where the difficult practice of church discipline comes into play in the life of the church.

Now immediately, some will bristle at this idea as judgmental or oppressive because of some past experience where church discipline was not carried out in a biblical manner and others will question its validity at all in a church that preaches a gospel of grace.

My hope today, is to study what the Bible says about practicing church discipline so that we will be better equipped to confront and forgive sin within our body as well as save our brothers and sisters who may be tempted and led astray by their sin so that Christ can redeem sinners and glorify his name through his people.

In studying what the Bible says about church discipline, we will be better equipped to confront and forgive sin within our body as well as save our brothers and sisters who may be tempted and led astray by their sin so that Christ can redeem sinners and glorify his name through his people.

The Foundation of Discipline

1 Love for God

2 Love for the Individual in Sin

3 Love for Other Members of the Congregation

4 Love for the Lost

5 Love for God

Perhaps the simplest definition of church discipline is correcting sin in the church.

Immediately when people hear the words, “church discipline,” they immediately think of excommunication, which means removing a member from the church. However, when we understand church discipline through the lens of the gospel, it is so much more than excommunication because to be discipled is, among other things, to be disciplined.

Discipline is a word that gets a bad rep because we generally associate it with punishment. As when you were disciplined by your parents you were spanked or grounded.

But discipline is something that is meant to mold us into something better.

For example, if you are disciplined in your diet and exercise, you will be healthier.

Likewise, if someone exhibits self-control and does not given in to every whim of anger or passion we say that they are a disciplined person.

But to have a biblical understanding of church discipline, we must go through the gospel to get there.

Church discipline biblically applied is something that is both formative and corrective.

Formative discipline helps to form the disciple through instruction. This is where we learn from God’s Word and grow in Christ by learning how to follow Jesus more faithfully whether that means gathering with the saints to worship or learning how to read our Bible or pray.

Corrective discipline helps to form the disciple by correcting sin. It is being shown how our lives are out of step with the gospel encouraging us to repent and follow Christ faithfully once again.

For our time together this morning, we are going to focus on what the Bible says about corrective discipline because this is the form of discipline that has fallen out of common practice in the church today, plus instructive discipline is something that happens naturally as we gather to study and apply God’s Word together whether on Sundays, through small groups, or over coffee or lunches.

Corrective church discipline fundamentally is about making sure that Jesus’ representatives on earth actually represent the Lord and not someone else.

But church discipline is not only

And while people generally see church discipline as something that is rooted in judgmental attitudes of legalism, the Bible’s picture of church discipline is one that is firmly rooted in love.

Love for God

It shows love for Christ because through it churches seek to uphold Christ’s name as holy before a watching world and lead the people of God into obedience.

As we noted earlier, when we sin, we fail to represent God’s own nature and character to the world.

Our sin says that God is not as holy or good as he says he is and that sin is actually more dis

Love for the Individual in Sin

Love for the Church

After all, Jesus said in that if we love him, we will keep his commandments.

Obedience to God is more than just doing what God says. It is a tangible way in which we show that worshiping God is better than living for our sin. It says that we desire God and his will more than anything else.

Love for the Lost

So when we seek to correct one another and call each other to repentance, we are encouraging one another to love God so that together our church can worship him alone.

Practicing church discipline also shows love to the individual trapped in sin.

As we will see, church discipline aims to warn our brother or sister of the danger of their sin and seeks their repentance so that they will hopefully leave their works of death behind them to once again follow the Lord.

Church discipline also shows love for the church body.

When the church takes sin seriously, it guards weaker brothers and sisters from their own temptation.

If the church fails to correct someone living in sin and defaming the name of Christ through their life, a less mature believer might be tempted to see their own sin as an acceptable way of life.

Instead of seeing it as something that they are called to put to death by the Spirit, they will be led to hold on to their sin only to struggle in the bondage of slavery that Christ died to free them from.

Finally, practicing church discipline shows love for the lost of this world.

Again, when the church takes sin so seriously that they see Christ call to put it behind them, it shows the world the transforming power of the gospel to make dead men alive.

It shows the world clearly the holiness of God by his people growing in holiness themselves.

Church discipline is how we proclaim to the world, God demands holiness from his people, and if you want to be holy and accepted by God, then you must repent and believe the gospel because it alone has the power to change you from the inside out to worship God.

So for church discipline to be practiced biblically, it must first be done out of a motivation driven my a love for God, the sinner, the church, and the lost.

Conversely, failing to practice church discipline subtly says that we actually know how to love better than God himself does.

tells us that God only disciplines the ones he loves and that if God did not discipline us to grow us in Christ, he would not be a loving father.

And According to the reason that God disciplines us is always for our good so that we can grow in holiness.

Ultimately, every church should practice church discipline because

Its biblical.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

It is an implication of the gospel that transforms sinners into worshipers

The promise that God gives us is

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

It promotes the health and holiness of the church and bolsters our witness to the gospel

And it also warns sinners of an even greater judgement that is coming for all that do not repent and put their faith in Christ.

Most importantly though, church discipline protects the name and reputation of Christ on the earth. Fundamentally, church discipline is about making sure that Jesus’ representatives actually represent him and not someone else so that more people would believe in the gospel.

The Aim of Discipline

Now before we get to the how to, we must determine the purpose of church discipline.

If the gospel is very foundation for practicing church discipline, what then is our aim? What should we be trying to accomplish in obeying the Bible’s commands about church discipline?

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

The word for gained in Greek speaks of accumulating wealth. Therefore, when Jesus says that if our brother listens to us when we correct him, we gain a valuable treasure in our brother’s restoration.

The goal of church discipline then is not to throw people out of the church. Its not to embarrass people caught in sin. Its not an opportunity for leaders in the church to be self-righteous, play God, or exercise authority in an unbiblical manner.

The purpose of church discipline is always to bring people back into right relationship with God and his people in the church.

It is always aimed towards the sinner’s restoration. In confronting and correcting one another, we are trying to restore our brother or sister to holiness, not getting on to them for their sin.

Therefore, in every situation we are engaged in discipline whether that is one on one or the whole church is involved, our aim is always repentance and restoration. Not condemnation.

In fact, the motivation that drives biblical church discipline is always, always love.

A love for God and his holiness

A love for God and his holiness, a love for the sinner and their freedom from sin, a love for the church and the protection of weaker brothers and sisters, and a love for the lost who need to see that the gospel truly has the power to save through the holy lives of God’s people.

A love for the sinner and their freedom from sin so that they can experience the joy of life with Christ

A love for the church and the protection of weaker brothers and sisters who are shown that serious truly is as deadly as the Bible says it is and not something to be trifled with

And a love for the lost who need to see that the gospel truly has the power to save through the holy lives of God’s people.

Not only that, but their is a second aim in practicing church discipline and that is guarding the purity of the church. Earlier in this series we said that the church is only made up of believers. These believers are baptized to show their commitment to Christ and are gathered into a local body of believers who affirms and oversees their discipleship.

Then these believers take the Lord’s Supper together where they corporately renew their commitment to Christ and one another as his people.

Formal church discipline resulting in excommunication, or the removal of an individual from the church’s membership, is the appropriate course of action when a church member’s failure to represent Jesus faithfully becomes so characteristic and habitual that the rest of the church can no longer affirm that they are in fact saved.

This allows the church to pursue the sinners repentance, and if they refuse to repent, to remove them from the fellowship so that God’s people, as his representatives on earth, are truly made up of people who have been born again.

If Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the fence around the sheep, then Church Discipline is the gate that allows us to remove goats (that is false Christians) and wolves (false teachers) from the flock so that we might maintain our holy witness before the world that Jesus saves.

Think of it like this. If Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the fence around the sheep marking off the church from the world, then Church Discipline is the gate that allows us to remove goats (that is false Christians) and wolves (false teachers) from the flock so that we might maintain our holy witness before the world that Jesus saves.

So to summarize, the basis of our practicing church discipline must always by the belief that the gospel truly does change lives. That when Jesus promised to free us from the bondage of sin, that those who truly believe in Christ are filled with the Spirit to put that sin to death.

Then we looked at how our goal for practicing church discipline is always the restoration of the sinner. To come alongside them in love to restore them to right relationship with God and the church.

In doing so, we guard the purity of the church and the Name of Christ as we draw a clear line between those who are a part of the people of God and those who are not.

With those foundational elements in place, how then should we actually go about practicing church discipline.

The Practice of Discipline

The text that gives us the fullest explanation of how we are to practice church discipline comes from Christ himself in

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

Here Jesus lays out a 4 step process for how we are to go about correcting sin in one another’s lives.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

But before we dive into what that process is, I want to make you aware of two critical aspects of this passage’s context that speaks to the heart and motivation we are to have when engaging one another over our sin.

First, this passage immediately follows Jesus’ parable of the Lost Sheep from Matthew 18:11-14.

You’ll remember in that parable there is a man with 100 sheep and one of the sheep wanders off. This shepherd then leaves the 99 sheep to go find the one that went astray and when he finds it he rejoices over it more than the 99 that never went astray.

Then Jesus says that this story expresses the will of the Father.

Basically, God desires to find and restore sinners. He does not want them to perish for their sin, and this reminds us that Jesus’ ultimate purpose for church discipline is to restore lost sheep. Not punish them.

Then immediately following his instructions on church discipline in Peter hears Jesus’ instructions that at each point are aimed at hopefully restoring the sinning brother or sister, and Peter comes and asks Jesus the question you and I are too embarrassed to ask ourselves.

Hearing Jesus say that the goal for church discipline is always forgiveness and grace because that is the very heart of the Father, Peter asks Jesus, “Ok. That sounds good Jesus, but how many times do we actually have to forgive a brother or sister who sins against us? The plan you laid out is good and all, but don’t people use up all their tickets at a certain point? How many times do we have to forgive them before we can just be done with them?”

And Peter even puts a number on it. He says “As many as seven times?”

Now Peter used this number intentionally. Rabbis in Jesus’ day often said that you only had to forgive someone for something three times. After that you could write them off.

Peter more than doubles that number so he is actually trying to learn from Jesus and be more generous than the religious hypocrites of the day.

But Jesus answers him and says, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Now Jesus is not saying, “No, Peter. 7 is far to few. You have to up it. You need to forgive them 77 times, but then on the 78th time, you can light them up.”

Now Jesus is not saying, “No, Peter. 7 is far to few. You have to up it. You need to forgive them 77 times, but then on the 78th time, you can let them have it.”

By saying not seven times but seventy-seven times, Jesus is saying “As many as it takes.”

Peter, you are called to forgive as much as necessary because that is the Father’s heart towards you.

Again, this shows us that the aim of church discipline is not punitive, but is rooted in God’s own heart to show grace and forgiveness to sinners so that they can be freed from sin and live for him.

And as we talk through this process that Jesus lays out for church discipline, you need to keep this context in mind because by forgetting it, many churches have fallen into the trap of judgmental religious legalism that is more concerned with following rules and checking boxes than living out the gospel.

For our church to practice church discipline biblically, we must approach one another in love with the hope that God saves sinners and he is using us to redeem our brothers and sisters in the church.

So lets look at the process that Jesus has laid out for us to guard our gospel witness as a church.

First, he says we are to go to them alone.

First, when we are sinned against, he says we are to go to the person who sinned against us alone.

Step 1: Go to Them Alone

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

There are several important points from this verse that I want to highlight for you.

First of all, you’ll notice that the discipline process begins well before someone is actually formally excommunicated. The hope is actually that the sinning brother or sister would repent well before that drastic of a step needs to be taken.

You’ll also see that Jesus says the church discipline process is your responsibility.

He doesn’t say, if your brother sins against you go and get the pastors or the deacons and let them handle it.

Jesus says you are to go to your brother or sister personally. Discipline is the whole body’s responsibility.

The purity of the church is every Christian’s concern because it is our corporate witness to the gospel that is threatened.

When we become aware of a sin in a brother or sister’s life, we need to humbly and lovingly confront it.

Now, does that mean we all need to be on high alert like some kind of spiritual referee, always calling fouls and blowing the whistle?

I don’t think so. Peter says in that we should love one another in such a way that our love covers a multitude of sins.

There are some things that we should just let go under the assumption that a particular sin was not characteristic of that brother or sister.

Our concern here is anyone for whom a particular sin is becoming characteristic of their life in such a way that they are beginning to appear to be trapped in their sin.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Notice Paul says if anyone is caught in any transgression. The word caught means “to catch off guard.” Now we know that sin is willfully chosen, but what this tells us is that a brother or sister can be so caught off guard by their sin time and again, that it is actually becoming a pattern of their life.

So as we see a brother or sister sliding into dangerous sin, we who are spiritual, which just means we who are walking in step with God’s Word, are to confront them before they are hardened by their sin, and seek to restore them in a spirit of gentleness.

Now let’s talk about that spirit of gentleness line because this is key if we are truly going to hold one another accountable in love instead of confronting one another in such a way that breeds strife and division.

This means that we are to come to them humbly and graciously for their good. The first and most common mistake people make when rebuking their brother or sister for their sin is that they do it not out of a spirit of gentleness, but out of a spirit that is really just annoyed by their sin.

Have you ever had that in your marriage when your spouse is sinning against you so you snap back at them using the Word of God as a blunt instrument to inflict some damage? Have you ever wondered why that rarely fixes anything?

Its like we are surprised when our spouse responds less than kind when we come at them saying, “Can you just be patient? You are being a real jerk and that’s not very loving!” Did we really expect them to fall down weeping saying, “Oh you are so right. I was so blind. I repent. Please forgive me.”

The point is, if we ever come to anyone who is caught in sin from a heart that is more concerned about how that sin is affecting us than how they are enslaved to it in that moment, we will never see our brother or sisters repentance and freedom that Christ purchased for them.

And Paul says the reason how we can approach them in a spirit of gentleness. He says that we are to keep watch on ourselves lest we too be tempted.

What that means is that when we go to confront a fellow Christian in their sin, we need to remember that were it not for the grace of God we could be right where they are. In fact, it is likely as we live together as a church, that we will be in their position and we will need them to come and lovingly restore us.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Going back to , when Jesus says If your brother sins against you, he is using the generic catch all Greek word for sin.

So what sins need to be corrected under this process? All of them. That is why the text is so general. And that even includes sins that aren’t directly committed against you.

Of course we should approach a Christian directly if they sin against us. If a brother or sister gets angry and punches you in the face, you should go to them to point out their sin and encourage them to confess and repent.

But we also need to confront each other on sins that are indirectly committed against us.

You might ask, if its indirect, how is it then committed against me? Any believer living in sin and disobedience, brings reproach on the name of Christ and since we are ambassadors of his name, then it is indirectly committed against the entire church as well.

Also, think about it like this. If the only sin that was able to be disciplined was sin directly committed against members of the church, then a Christian could be sinning against unbelievers bringing reproach to the name of Christ in front of the lost, but no one would be able to confront them.

Biblical church discipline is not driven by a list of sins which qualify for discipline. That would be legalistic and miss the point of church discipline as an expression of the gospel. True church discipline is concerned with most importantly that we faithfully represent Christ before a watching world as an expression of the gospel. That is the point of baptism, church membership, and the Lord’s Supper.

As Paul said in A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Therefore, if you know about sin in a fellow believers life, you must go to that brother or sister and lovingly confront them in a spirit of gentleness so that they might repent, be freed from their sin, and faithfully represent Christ once again.

And Jesus says, if they listen to you, you gain back your brother or sister. You should forgive them, as many times as it takes.

However, if they are confronted with their sin and refuse to repent, you move to the next step in the process.

Step 2: Take 1 or 2 Witness

But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Here we begin to see an important principle that should inform all our practice of church discipline. It appears that moving from a one on one meeting, to a small group meeting, to the whole church implies that the process of church discipline should be limited to as few of people as possible.

The point is not to use church discipline as a vehicle for gossip or to shame a fellow believer. It is to restore them to Christ and his people.

So if we go to our brother or sister one on one and they refuse to listen and repent of their sin, we are told to take one or two witnesses to urge them to repent.

Now these witnesses are not witnesses who originally saw the sin or knew about it, although that is helpful. Rather, these are witnesses of the confrontation who can come back and confirm what everyone had said, that there was sin committed, and that the sinning party refused to repent.

Again, this isn’t meant to be a situation where you gang up on the sinning brother or sister. You are still to come to them in a spirit of gentleness from a heart that says, “We know your trapped in this sin, and it is not good for you. Please repent and be reconciled to Christ and his people.”

If they repent, we are to forgive and restore them. If they still refuse, now there is the confirmation of 2-3 total people that agree that someone is being hard hearted towards their sin, and discipline can move on to further action.

Now up until this point, Jesus has been describing what might be called informal discipline. What I mean by that is that there should be a relationship within our fellowship where we are able to correct and encourage one another towards Christlikeness.

This is 99% of how church discipline should happen in every church.

This kind of discipline should be going on all the time with all kinds of sins. Not because we are religiously judging other people, but because we love them and want them to walk in the newness of life instead of living in their works of death.

Every single one of us needs this kind of discipline from the body regularly so that we do not become enslaved to our sin. It is kindness to be confronted with our sin and encouraged to repent, because our sin aims to destroy us. The wages of sin is death.

We would be so blessed to be a fellowship that is constantly encouraging one another in Christ.

But sadly, if someone refuses to repent after a group of brothers and sisters come to them, then the church must move to more formal discipline in an effort to protect the gospel and hopefully save our brother or sister from sin.

This is where we are to...

Step 3: Tell it to the Church

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.

Remember the purpose of church discipline. It is to restore the erring brother or sister and protect the reputation of Christ.

At this point, we’ve gone to this brother or sister one on one and they refused to listen. Then we went with a group to try to win back the person, but still they refused to listen. Now all of us together will pursue their restoration.

And if we remember that the principal of biblical discipline is to keep the circle of people involved as small as possible, it shows us that Jesus’ purpose is not to embarrass or shame the individual in sin by revealing their sin to the whole congregation.

The reason it rises to this level is because the person has demonstrated such a hard heart, that hopefully all the congregation urging them to repent will finally lead to their confession and forgiveness to again be reconciled to Christ and his people.

It is at this point where the elders of the church become involved. Now you might say, Jesus doesn’t say anything about elders. What makes you say that?

The reason is one of practicality. The elders are the ones called by God to oversee the welfare of the entire congregation. Therefore, they need time to gather the facts and determine if it is the appropriate time to take the sin before the church in an effort to protect all the sheep, including the one wandering away.

Notice that the elders are not the active agents. We are arbiters. Our role in church discipline cases is not to make a determination to excommunicate someone. It is our job to gather the facts in order to give a recommendation to the church they that we all together must then carry out.

After telling it to the church, all the congregation is then to reach out and encourage the person to repent of their sin. How long should the church keep encouraging someone to repent?

The answer is that depends. There is no set time limit so we must use wisdom and ask the Spirit to give us direction.

Perhaps the answer is that we are called to encourage them until it is clear that this persons heart is getting harder and harder and they absolutely refuse to stop sinning to such a degree that it is clear we can no longer affirm their salvation which leads to the final step in the process.

Step 4: Remove them from Membership

And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.

If the sinning person still refuses to repent even after being warned by the whole church, then Jesus says we are to treat them as a Gentile or a tax collector.

Jesus’ words do not mean we should treat them badly or deal with them in anger.

The Gospels clearly show that Christ loved Gentiles and tax collectors.

What Jesus is instructing is that we treat this professing brother or sister as someone who is outside the fellowship of believers. In other words, outside the people of God.

Gentiles are pagan believers. These are people who don’t worship God. Tax Collectors were people who betrayed their Jewish brothers and sisters to partner with the Roman government. They were people who betrayed God’s covenant community.

So what Jesus is advocating is that we clearly say, “Your sin and refusal to repent is characteristic of someone who does not know the gospel. The way you live does not represent Christ faithfully to a lost world and because of that, we no longer believe you are actually a Christian.”

That is all excommunication is. It is not being cruel to the person. It is simply a statement from the church saying we can not longer call you a brother or sister in good faith.

And in doing so, we remove them from membership and bar them from taking the Lord’s Supper because in taking the meal together, we are reaffirming are commitment to Christ and our unity with God’s people. A person who we cannot affirm their faith in Christ is unable to do either of these things when taking the Lord’s Supper.

This is one of the reasons why we fence the table by saying All believers who are baptized and members in good standing of gospel preaching churches. If we simply said all baptized believers could take the Lord’s Supper, someone that is under church discipline and deceived about their salvation would still be able to take.

It would neuter the power discipline is meant to play in the life of the church.

And you might ask, by what authority do we have to make that kind of judgement about someone’s heart? That seems cruel and unloving. I thought we were saved by grace. How then can we be removed from a church because of our works?

Again the answer lies in our gospel framework. The gospel doesn’t only forgive us. It also changes us. We should look more and more like Christ as we grow in our faith.

When we remove someone from church membership for disciplinary reasons, we are not proclaiming their final fate as forever damned.

Rather, we are showing them a real a stunning picture of what could be.

Excommunication shows the unrepentant sinner that by all the evidence of their life, they are outside the people of God on this side of judgement which may indicate where they will find themselves when Christ returns.

It is a warning that says, we do not believe you are one of God’s Sons or daughters and unless you repent, you will be condemned at the final judgment.

Therefore, to remove someone from membership is not to pronounce their final condemnation but to seek to avert it.

And Jesus gives this authority to the church it what is known as the authority of the keys from . There Jesus gave the apostles the authority to stand in front of someone who professed faith in Christ and affirm that profession as valid saying whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven.

Notice Jesus uses this same language in this passage. Therefore, not only does the church have the authority to determine if someone is bound to Christ as a member of his people, they are also able to determine that someone is loosed from Christ’s people.

And when we loose a professing brother or sister, we are removing them from membership to hand them over to Satan.

; It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The aim here is to put the sinning person out of the church and turn them over to Satan’s domain in the world so they can see how truly unsatisfying their sin is so that it might be destroyed.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

We are not refusing to let them come to church to hear God’s Word preached. We want that so that they might repent. We simply remove them from formal fellowship, and we as a church refuse to have fellowship with them outside of continually urging their repentance.

That’s why Paul says just a few verses later in verses 10-11 that we are not to even eat with someone who claims to be a Christians but is characterized by a life of sin. Eating together is a sign of fellowship which is impossible when someone refuses to repent.

Again, this doesn’t apply to anyone in the world. Paul says that if that were the case we would have to go out of the world. This only applies to someone who professes faith in Christ, but has shown to prove otherwise by their life.

Notice also, Paul does not advise the church to follow in practicing discipline. They are simply told to remove him. Why the difference?

Well in Jesus’ instruction, he is saying that if someone refuses to repent, no matter the sin, that refusal to repent is the proof that they do not know Christ.

In Paul’s situation in Corinth, there appears to be some sins that are so grievous, so repugnant, so high handed, that just committing the sin, calls into doubt any credible profession of faith at all. That the church cannot in good conscience still affirm their salvation at that time and they must be removed immediately to determine repentance after the fact.

This is why the Bible does not give us a list of sins that warrant discipline and what sins do not. Remember our gospel framework. Removing someone from the church is not a way of saying, oh that sin is so bad, you’re kicked out.

Excommunication is driven by a single question. Can we continue to publicly affirm a person’s profession of faith as credible or not?

If the answer is no, then they must be removed for the sake of the gospel and the purity of the church.

Step 5: Restoration

Now the question is, what if someone repents? We’ve alluded to this throughout, but if someone repents at any stage of the process we should forgive them and restore them to the church.

First how do you know that they are repentant. Sometimes that is difficult to tell, but generally, Jesus gave us an answer just before he taught on church discipline in .

And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Jesus uses hyperbole here to say someone that is truly repentant would rather cut off their own hand than give into that sin again. In other words, they are willing to do whatever it takes to put that sin to death.

And if someone is repentant like this, Paul tells us in just how we are to respond.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

This was a case where the whole church knew of the sinning person and apparently this person responded with repentance. So in essence Paul said, “Now that they have repented, don’t hold them at arm’s length or brow beat them. Rather embrace them. Love them. Comfort them. forgive them. And reaffirm your love for them because you have won your brother back.”

When God gives repentance it is a gift of grace. Remember the parable of the lost sheep. When God gathers back one of his children who has wandered off, he rejoices, and we should rejoice in that grace to because that is the grace that God has for all who call on the name of Christ.

Conclusion

Church discipline was given by Christ to protect his name and make his church holy.

As we practice church discipline in this church, may we always do so remembering the gospel. Remembering that God does not desire judgement, but grace and forgiveness for all who repent and trust in Christ.

May we always approaching one another in love and be humble enough to listen to each other knowing that we are all just trying to grow in Christ and share the good news of the gospel together.

Perhaps John Owen said it best in the book we are reading together as a church, Duties of Christian Fellowship when he wrote, “Not that we should pry with curiosity into one another’s failings, much less search maliciously for discoveries which would trouble and dishonour our brothers. Both of these actions are contrary to that love which ‘thinks no evil’ but rather will ‘cover a multitude of sins.’ We should observe one another’s walk out of a sense of the glory of God, of the honour of the gospel, and out of concern for each other’s souls.”

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