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- Preaching the Living WORD through the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4:2
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THE DOCTRINE OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE - 2 (6/24/12) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. PURPOSES IN CHURCH
DISCIPLINE II. PERSPECTIVES IN CHURCH DISCIPLINE III. PROCEDURES IN CHURCH DISCIPLINE (Mat
18:15-18) A. The Goal of Church
Discipline (Gal 6:1) 1. Before
any procedures or steps are taken in church discipline, the attitudes of
those in charge as well as all believers must be kept in check. According to
Gal 6:1, the goal is the restoration (present indicative - katartizō
- mend, mature, and equip) of the sinning believer with the Lord. It is
to be carried out in a spirit of gentleness and humility. 2. In addition to restoration, there is to
be a great willingness to forgive and affirm love toward the sinning brother
once he has confessed his sin and repented (2Co 2:7-8). B. Various Steps Toward Church
Discipline (Mat 18:15-17) 1. Go
Privately (15) a) What is
noticed from Jesus’ explanation of church discipline is that there are
varying steps taken toward restoration rather than abrupt, hasty, and
judicial punishment. If at any point in these steps there is confession and
repentance, restoration is accomplished and discipline turns to discipleship. b) In respect to the offended brother, the
step is to prayerfully approach the offender privately (only the two
involved). The word “private” is mo,nos and
means “alone” or “without accompaniment.” 2. Take
Along Another witness(es) (16) a) If that
attempt fails and the sin is severe enough (not referring to minor sins), the
next step would be for the offended party to take “one or two” witnesses
along and meet again with the offending brother. b) This is done to “confirm” (hi,stemi - stand)
the facts and give an objective viewpoint toward reconciliation of both
parties. c) The implication still applies that if
there is confession and repentance, restoration has been achieved and no
further steps are required. 3. Take
Before the Church (17a) a) If the
facts are confirmed and that attempt fails, then the matter is to be brought
before the church and the church is to put pressure on the offending party to
achieve restoration and reconciliation. b) The pressure that the church would put on
the sinning brother is described elsewhere as “silence and rebuke sharply”
(Tit 1:11, 13), “warn (twice) (Tit 3:10), rebuke publically (1Ti 5:20). 4. Ostracize
or Excommunicate (17b,c) a) When all
attempts have failed by the believing community and the church, the final
step is excommunication. Excommunication is defined by Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary 11th edition as: exclusion from fellowship in a
group or community or an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the
rights of church membership. b) In essence this means that the sinning
believer is to be ostracized from the church and the believing community. c) Jesus stated that the sinning brother was
to be treated as if he were a “Gentile or tax collector.” Since Jesus was
speaking to Jewish believers, a “Gentile or tax collector” would be someone
outside the Synagogue without the rights and privileges of that assembly. d) Thus an unrepentant believer is kept from
the church in order to bring him to repentance, to prevent his sinful
influence from spreading, and to prevent a bad testimony upon God and His
church. Other expressions for excommunication used in the Scriptures are “do
not associate with” (1Co 5:11; 2Th 3:14), “expel them” (1Co 5:13 cp. De
17:7), and even “hand over to Satan” (1Co 5:5). e) However, it must be understood that the
sinning brother is not to be considered an enemy but admonished as a brother
(2Th 3:15) in order to be restored to the fellowship of the Lord and the
church. C. Church’s Authority 1. The
following verse, Mat 18:18 (cp. 1Co 6:1-4), shows that God has given such
authority to the church along with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, in order
to keep His church pure. 2. Authority is not given to the church to
be the “church police” but a mandated privilege and a duty to carry out God’s
will for His people. IV. PERSONS OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE A. Sinning Brother (Mat
18:15-18) 1. This
refers to a believer who commits a grave offense towards another believer and
remains impenitent and rebellious. 2. There must be recognition and repentance
of the sin before restoration. B. Overtaken Brother (Gal 6:1) 1. This is a
believer who was not looking to sin, but was not watching out for a sin
either, and the sin eventually overtook him. 2. The goal of the “spiritual” (i.e.
leadership, church) is to be restoration with humility and gentleness. C. Immoral Brother (1Co 5:1-2) 1. This
would apply to any “immoral” sin (porneia - fornication, adultery, or
immorality in general, Eng. pornography), though this particular sin was
rare even among the pagans (vs.1). 2. Paul was just as grieved with the church
allowing this sin to go on as he was with the immoral brother (2). D. Unruly Brother (2Th 3:6,
10-15) 1. The text
speaks of one who was “undisciplined” (ataktōs - strictly, of
soldiers who will not obey orders disorderly; hence unruly, undisciplined, Fri),
but the context refers specifically to being idle and neglecting financial
responsibilities. 2. The word, “undisciplined,” would
secondarily apply to any believer who is disorderly and rejects the
instruction of God’s Word (13). 3. They were not to associate with the
sinning brother though he was to be treated as a brother and not an enemy
(15). E. Sinning Elder (1Ti 5:19-20) 1. Those in
church leadership do not have a license to sin, and are to be rebuked
publicly. (20). 2. However, to avoid self-serving and
misguided attacks, there must be two or three witness (19). F. False Teachers (Tit
1:10-16) 1. False
teachers who make inroads in the church are to be rebuked severely and
silenced (cf. 1Ti 1:20; 2Ti 2:17-18 cp. 1Co 15:12). 2. Nevertheless, Paul showed considerable
patience for believers (Gal 3:1) who were misled doctrinally. He patiently
taught the Corinthians about resurrection. 3. Both Jesus and Paul spoke strongly
against false teachers (Gal 5:12 cp. Mat 23:27). G. Divisive People (Tit
3:10-11; Rom 16:17-18) 1. A
“factious” (haireti,kos - loyalty to a unbiblical views, or one who causes divisions) person may be one who causes serious doctrinal
divisions within the church or a person who causes divisions in general
rather than focusing on edification of the body. 2. Such a person can cause devastating
effects in the church and is to be dealt with severely (1Co 1-4 cp. Pro
6:16-19). V. OBSERVATIONS AND
APPLICATIONS A. Church Discipline
Applies to the Church not the World - These principles do not apply to
the world outside the church. However, these principles can guide the
believer’s prevailing spiritual attitudes in his interaction with the world’s
situations. B. Don’t Sin! If you are Sinning, Stop! - Don’t sin, because sin is a serious
violation to God. If you are sinning, stop it immediately because of your
fellowship with the Lord and the possible consequences of sin. If necessary
seek spiritual help in overcoming sin and temptation. C. Walk in a Spirit of Grace and
Forgiveness - God holds believers and the church accountable to walk in
holiness. God also holds believers and the church accountable to walk in a
spirit of grace and forgiveness with respect to those who are overtaken in
sin. |
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