Reading through the Bible-Discipling in Love

Perhaps no verse is so taken out of context and misapplied as Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” If you keep reading, in verse 6 Jesus says, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine….” In verse 15 He adds, “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” To obey those verses, you must make some fairly astute judgments! You must judge that a person is a dog or a swine or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
However, in 1 Corinthians 5:12, Paul tells the church that they are responsible to judge those within the church. Practicing biblical church discipline does not violate Jesus’ command, “Judge not.”
The purposes for church discipline:
• 1. Toward God, church discipline vindicates publicly His honor and holiness.
• 2. Toward the church itself, church discipline restores purity and deters others from sinning.
• 3. Toward the world, church discipline displays God’s standards of holiness and draws a line between the church and the world.
• 4. Toward the offender, church discipline conveys biblical love and seeks to restore the sinner.
The problems that require church discipline:
The person must be a professing believer.
The person must associate with this church.
The person must be knowingly and rebelliously disobedient.
The person must be disobeying the clear commands of Scripture.
• You don’t discipline someone for areas on which the Bible has no clear commandments. Drinking alcoholic beverages is not grounds for discipline; drunkenness is. Watching movies is not grounds for discipline; watching pornographic movies is. Scripture contains many lists of sins (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 4:25-5:6; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; 2 Tim. 3:2-5; etc.). We may summarize these as:
• Violations of God’s moral commandments (1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:9-10; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-5).
• Unresolved relational sins, such as gossip, slander, anger, and abusive speech (Matt. 18:15-20; Eph. 4:25-31; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:8).
• Divisiveness in the church (Rom. 16:17-18; Titus 3:10; 3 John 9-10).
• False teaching on major doctrines (Gal. 1:8-9; 1 Tim. 1:20; 6:3-5; 2 John 9-11).
• Disorderly conduct and refusal to work (2 Thess. 3:6-15; 1 Tim. 5:8).
The procedure for church discipline:
The Scriptures give the following steps:
1. A private meeting (Matt. 18:15).
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.” Usually it is better to go in person (rather than talk over the phone), unless there are concerns for physical safety or propriety. Do not put yourself in a potentially compromising situation with the opposite sex.
Your objective is not to “set him straight” or to “get things off your chest” by letting him know how wrong he is. Your aim is to get him to listen so as to win him back to the Lord.
The best way of convincing someone of his sin is to take him to Scripture. Your opinion really doesn’t matter. God’s Word is the authority.
2. A private conference with witnesses with the goal of bringing the sinner to repentance and restoration.
3. A public announcement to the church.
4. Public exclusion from the church.
5. Public restoration when there is genuine repentance.
If the person expresses genuine repentance, then the church should be informed and the person should be forgiven and accepted back into the fellowship (2 Cor. 2:8). Of course, there should be a time of proving before a repentant person is put into positions of ministry or leadership. Also, the restoration process should include some training or discipling to help the person grow and avoid the sin in the future.
Dear God, Thank You for Your Word in always pointing others to Your Word as the Truth to guide their lives.