Continuing the Reformation Means Continuing the Biblical Tradition of Church Discipline

By -
It's very easy to heckle on cultists when they sin but one question that should be asked is, "Do we bother to do church discipline?" This is the truth that faces everyone from pastors to the laity. Whether you like it or not there will always be cases of backsliding believers. Although they may not enjoy their sin but you can't deny there is still sin to deal with.

The Old Testament prophets were part of restoring the backslid believer

A good example is Psalm 51 where King David a man after God's own heart committed adultery with a much younger woman in Bathsheba (1 Samuel 11). The whole book of Ecclesiastes deals with how wise King Solomon acknowledged his foolishness. King Solomon who established a golden age ended up leading from revival to ruin by his polygamous marriages with heathen women and the wrong alliances. We also read of how wise King Jehoshaphat made a foolish alliance with Ahab (2 Chronicles 18).

There's a reason why God sent prophets and why we have pastors. Prophets were not only to warn messages of doom to the damned but also to set backslid believers back on track. Nathan was commissioned by God to set David back on track (2 Samuel 12). In 2 Chronicles 19:2-3 we have the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani (not the same Jehu that overthrew Jezebel) rebuke Jehoshaphat. This was the exercise of church discipline in the Old Testament.

I would like to set apart a paragraph for David and Nathan. The significance of Nathan meeting David is simple. We know David was a man after God's own heart but he was a failure in some way. He failed to raise some of his sons properly such as Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah. We see David had gotten drunk with past victories that it took only one night with Bathsheba to make him stumble. Yet even when David sinned he was still a child of God. God cared too much about David to leave him in unrepentant sin. It took Nathan's rebuke to let David get back on track. What shouldn't be too surprising is that soon enough one of David's sons with Bathsheba was also named after the same prophet.

The Biblical tradition of church discipline in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we have Jesus further giving us the need for church discipline.
Matthew 18:15-17
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

The office of the prophet may no longer be existent but today the responsibility of preaching God's Word is still there. The truth of the matter is that church discipline is something you can't neglect. There's the warning in 1 Corinthians 5:6 and Galatians 5:9 that a little leaven will create a whole lump. It just takes a little yeast to cause the bread to create a lump.

The Apostle Paul gave traditions with the epistle as the source. In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 he tells the people to hold fast to the traditions which were taught by word or by their epistle. He established the authority of their epistle. In contrast to what some may think this is not Paul adding tradition to Scripture. Rather, this is strengthening the fact that church tradition must be governed by the epistles of the New Testament. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 says not following the traditions from the epistles would lead to disorder.

The importance of church discipline is simple as this. There must be harmony. There is the need for fellowship. There is the command not to forsake the assembly and to encourage each other.
Hebrews 10:23-25
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

But what good will fellowship do if there is unconfessed sin in the midst of the assembly? That's why the Christian is given the duty to politely and lovingly rebuke any backslid brethren. Genuine love for your Christian brethren means not leaving them in error but rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). It's all about loving people enough not to leave them in error. All this unconfessed sin can ruin the fellowship. Only when the backslid are restored can there be fellowship.

This is also why the Lord's supper also warns of people who participate in it while they are backslid. 1 Corinthians 11:28-31 warns of the problem of having people who are backslid and they insist on attending the Lord's supper. The Lord's supper may not be the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ in terms of substance but His spiritual presence is still there. It's a serious occasion called to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and why sin can't be taken lightly. This also required people that in 1 Corinthians 11:22 that Paul doesn't praise their wayward behavior knowing where it will lead.

God chastises those He loves

 Although God may not always chastise directly but He uses others to do the chastising. You have noticed how he used the prophets not only to warn the unsaved but to also restore the saved back to fellowship. In the New Testament, we read that God provides people to help in the ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-16
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

He gave first apostles then some prophets during the early days of the New Testament. When both the apostles and prophets ceased in their office the work continues with pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. Today, the apostolic and prophetic signs and wonders may no longer be at work but the pastors, evangelists and teachers still do their work of preaching. You may have no new revelation from God as the Book of Revelation is already completed yet the mission of rebuking in love and church discipline doesn't end. It doesn't mean Nathan is gone that the duty to rebuke backslid believers who have been guilty of sexual sin shouldn't be rebuked.

The truth of the matter is that God chastises those He loves. It may sound painful, it may sound unfair yet God has a reason for chastising those He loves:
Hebrews 12:5-7
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

This is just like the illustration of the father who scolds his son for doing wrong. The father scolds the son not out of defense for the one whom his son hurts but out of concern for the son's well-being. It may look like the father is defending the person whom the son has hurt out of anger. The real picture is that the father wants to tell the son that it's wrong to hurt people just because he was insulted. It's out of concern for the son because such behavior can be very detrimental to one's well-being. He doesn't scold the mocker because the latter isn't his responsibility. He could care less about the mocker and he could care more about his son's wrong behavior. God corrects those He loves because He's too loving to leave them in error. He knows what will happen if He leaves them in error so He does everything to put them in the right path.

Besides, the analogy of God's chastising can also be found in the portrayal of the branches and the vine.
John 15:1-8
I Am the True Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I Am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

The truth is that the false branches are thrown out into the fire. Those who aren't in Christ are cast out. The picture of the branches thrown into the fire don't represent that salvation can be lost or that a Christian can be fruitless. Instead, it's a picture of those who truly abide in Christ (the saved) and those who are fake converts. God knows the true branches. He sees those who are real. He throws away the false branches and continues to prune the true branches. You can see the marvelous work of the Father in doing everything He can to make Christians more fruitful and will do everything to remove what is making them less fruitful.

See also: