Thread: Question: "What does the Bible say about church discipline / excommunication
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Question: "What does the Bible say about church discipline / excommunication
Posted : 28 Jan, 2012 12:09 PM
Answer: Excommunication is the formal removal of an individual from church membership and the informal separation from that individual. Matthew 18:15-20 gives the procedure and authority for a church to do this. It instructs us that one individual (usually the offended party) is to go to the offending individual. If he/she does not repent, then two or three go to confirm the situation and the refusal to repent. If there is still no repentance, it is taken before the church. This process is never �desirable,� just as a father never delights in having to discipline his children. Often, though, it is necessary. The purpose is not to be mean-spirited or to display a �holier than thou� attitude. Rather, the goal is the restoration of the individual to full fellowship with both God and other believers. It is to be done in love toward the individual, in obedience and honor to God, and in godly fear for the sake of others in the church.
The Bible gives an example of the necessity of excommunication in a local church�the church at the city of Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). In this passage, the apostle Paul also gives some purposes behind the biblical use of excommunication. One reason (not directly found in the passage) is for the sake of the testimony of Christ Jesus (and His church) before unbelievers. When David sinned with Bathsheba, one of the consequences of his sin was that the name of the one true God was blasphemed by God's enemies (2 Samuel 12:14). A second reason is that sin is like a cancer; if allowed to exist, it spreads to those nearby in the same way that �a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough� (1 Corinthians 5:6-7). Also, Paul explains that Jesus saved us so that we might be set apart from sin, that we might be �unleavened� or free from that which causes spiritual decay (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). Christ's desire for His bride, the church, is that she might be pure and undefiled (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Excommunication is also for the long-term welfare of the one being disciplined by the church. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:5, states that excommunication is a way of delivering the unrepentant sinner �over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.� This means that excommunication can somehow involve God�s using Satan (or one of his demons) as a disciplinary tool to work in the sinner's life physically to bring about true repentance in his/her heart.
Hopefully the disciplinary action of the church is successful in bringing about godly sorrow and true repentance. When this occurs, the individual can be restored to fellowship. The man involved in the 1 Corinthians 5 passage repented, and Paul encouraged the church to restore him to fellowship with the church (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). Unfortunately, disciplinary action, even when done in love and in the correct manner, is not always successful in bringing about such restoration. But even when church discipline fails to achieve its goal of bringing repentance, it is still needed to accomplish the other good purposes mentioned above.
We have all likely witnessed the behavior of a young boy who has been allowed to do as he pleases with no consistent discipline. It is not a pretty sight. Nor is such parenting loving, for it dooms the child to a dismal future. Such behavior will keep the child from forming meaningful relationships and performing well in any kind of setting. Similarly, discipline in the church, while never enjoyable or easy, is not only necessary, but loving as well. Moreover, it is commanded by God.
Recommended Resource: Handbook on Church Discipline by Jay Adams.
Question: "What does the Bible say about church discipline / excommunication
Posted : 28 Jan, 2012 12:57 PM
AWESOME TOPIC, ANGEL!:applause::applause:... many Chistians don't like beind disciplined by God or the church or anyone for that matter, but it is so biblical. God is a God of order and discipline, and for this casue everything regarding scripture is in it and how the church is to take diciplinary action toward other Christians in the body of Christ according to what is already written.
Not only did Paul instruct the church at Corinth to put the person out of the church becasue of his sin, but Paul akso exhorts Tmoithy and Titus to apply church discipline throughout his writings to those in the church who were acting out in unacceptable behavior becoming to Christians and the faith, to even make note of their names until he returned.
I Timothy 1:18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
Titus 3:10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach�and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
12 One of Crete�s own prophets has said it: �Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.� This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
WONDERFUL TOPIC for such a time as this in the body of Christ!:angel::hearts:
Question: "What does the Bible say about church discipline / excommunication
Posted : 28 Jan, 2012 01:03 PM
If you noticed this church discipline also applies to the spiritual leaders of the church as well, Prophets, Preachers, Evangelists, Teachers, and Deacons... nt just for the members, but as in your post church discipline is for eveyone who confesses and profeses the anme of Jesus Christ in the body of Christ who are in sin/sins.
Question: "What does the Bible say about church discipline / excommunication
Posted : 28 Jan, 2012 03:56 PM
Good Question, it is not hard for any man to know the truth because it is not so much dependent upon man and his ability, but on the willingness and ability of the one true God, to reveal the truth to mankind.
