Church discipline.

We are talking about attempts to restore straying sinners at the local church level.

Remember!

- only those who persevere to the end are saved.
- it is the life and ministry of the local church which God uses to keep us   persevering.
- when the local church implements divine ordinances, they are to be   received as from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
- keep all this in mind - and the work will get done - in the right manner.

• What corrective discipline actually involves.
  • The Scriptures reveal 3 ways of reclaiming wandering sheep :-
  • Admonition.
    • when the issue is a private dispute, admonition is to be used by every church member. The action to be taken is set out in Matt l8 vs 5-l7.
    • when the issue is spiritual deterioration, admonition is to be left to the spiritually mature in general (Gal 6 vs 1), and the oversight in particular (1 Thess 5 vs 12-13). It is a principal part of their work to engage in authoritative correction, without 'witch-hunts', bullying, or treating every case in the same way.
  • Suspension.
    • the passage to study is 2 Thess 3 vs 6-15. These people could still be considered as brothers in the Lord (vs 6,15), but their lives obviously did not match the Gospel (vs 7-8, 10-12, 14).
    • the church is told what to do in vs 6,.14-l5. Today we suspend people from all active participation in church life, and from normal social contact.
    • the purpose is to restore them, by making them ashamed (vs 14). But if they will not be restored, the principles of Matt 18 vs 17 apply.
  • Excommunication or expulsion.
    • we need to carefully study 1 Cor 5 vs 1-13. Excommunication is clearly the act of the gathered local church (see also 2 Cor 2 vs 6), and its precise meaning and import is defined in vs 2, 5, 7, 11, 13.
    • vs 5 in particular shows how serious it is - yet its purpose is still restorative. It is as if the person concerned had never been a member of Christ's church. Such expulsion is called for by gross sin, doctrinal error which is serious, or contumacy which is not repented of. Matt 18 vs 15-17, 1 Cor Ch 5, 1 Tim l vs l9-20, Titus 3 vs 10.
• The manner or spirit in which this work is to be done.
  • We must be clear as to the precise areas in which corrective discipline can operate. The church does not make its own laws, but applies Christ's. The sin to be disciplined must be an outward sin, indisputably forbidden by God's Word (immorality; heresy; contumacy). When we are clear here, church discipline becomes .'plain and easy'
  • We must be clear as to precisely what spirit the Scriptures demand of us. Our purpose is to restore. Nothing Else. This we are to do with meekness (Gal 6 vs 1): seeking the other's good (2 Cor 10 vs 8): not treating all alike (Jude 1 vs 22): restoring immediately those who hear and repent (Matt l8 vs l5-17, 2 Cor 2 vs 6-8
• What we may expect as we do this work.
  • misunderstanding - a broken heart. - opposition. - joy
• Where to get the will-power from, to do this work.
  • Concern for the glory of God should give it. So should concern for the purity of the church and concern for men and women's souls.
  • But if these things will not move us, we should consider our future accountability - Rom 14 vs 12, Heb l3 vs l7. We need to live and to labour that we may be accepted of HIM!! .