CHURCH DISCIPLINE PRINCIPLES

SCRIPTURE:

The Biblical Authority for church discipline: Josh. 7; Matt. 18:15-20; Acts 5:1-14; Rom. 16:17-18; 1 Cor. 5:11-13; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 5:11; 2 Thess. 3:14; Titus 3:10-11;

SEPARATION:

1. from personal sin or from breaking one’s conscience     2. from a “brother” in sin (after Mt. 18):

3. from a local church in sin:                                           4. from a denomination or “Christian” org in sin:

SINS:

We discipline for unrepentant sins clearly stated so in the Bible: e.g., Ex. 20:1-17; Mk. 7:21-22; Rom. 1:28-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7; 1 Tim. 1:8-11; false doctrine, Legalism, Phariseeism, Antinomianism, walking disorderly, grumbling, rebellion, insubordination, self-willed, slander, factiousness, etc.

STEPS:

Normal Steps:

1) judge yourself (1 Cor. 11:31)                2) one on one                3) two or three witnesses

4) tell the church; Phase one – tell the leaders Acts 15:2; Phase two – tell the true Christians Acts 15:22;

5) deliver such a one to Satan – 1 Cor. 5:5; break fellowship – 1 Cor. 5:11-13

Exceptional Cases:

Special note: Certain sins are so obvious, willful, planned and/or so destructive to the body of Christ that we are commanded in the Bible to deal with them swiftly and severely. The following are some examples:

1.       Achan (Josh. 7). Secret sin which has to be revealed unwillingly demands instant judgment.

2.       Divisiveness (Titus 3:10). One who sows discord is to be dealt with immediately.

3.       Serious theological false teaching

4.       Annanias & Saphira (Acts 5:1-11). Willful, planned lying to the church leaders.

5.       Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-25). Infiltrating the church for financial gain

6.       Sexual Immorality (1 Cor. 5:3) Paul said, “I have judged already.” No meetings: deliver to Satan.

7.       A pattern of sin which demonstrates false conversion and impenitence (Num. 15:30, 31; Heb. 10:26)

We are to disassociate from all who say they are brothers yet display a consistent pattern of sin (1 Jn. 3:6-10).

STEWARDSHIP:

The shepherds in a church are delegated the responsibility from God to:

1.       Protect the flock from wolves, false teachers and false brothers (Acts 20:28-31)

2.       Purge the flock of the disease of sin and its defilement and consequences (Josh. 7:10-26; 1Cor. 5:6)

3.       Purity. Maintain unity (Eph. 4:3), pure doctrine and holy lifestyle in the flock.

4.       Power. Maintain the power of God in the church by not grieving the Spirit (Josh. 7:13)

SPIRITUAL GOALS:

1.       Communicate our love for the one in sin

2.       Bring the sinning person to genuine repentance: mind, emotion, will, action (2 Cor. 7:11)

3.       Communicate that sinful, rebellious, disunifying actions will not be allowed to continue in the church

4.       Communicate to the careless sinner the seriousness of their sin

5.       Restore the sinning professing Christian to true fellowship with the one they sinned against

6.       Restore peace and power to the church (Josh. 7:13)

STANDARDS OF TRUE REPENTANCE

First, 2 Cor. 7:11 sets out seven characteristics which must be evident in the life of the sinning person before they will be allowed to return to fellowship.

Second, this repentance normally takes a significant period of time to determine. The amount of time will be determined by the leaders.

Third, all churches are supposed to break fellowship with the person in sin. Many do not.

Fourth, all church members are not to socialize with them (1 Cor. 5:5, 9, 11, 12).

Fifth, the attitude of the one under discipline will reveal their repentance (1 Jn. 5:3).

Updated March 2007