Church Organization – The Discipline of the Church

Jesus knew there was going to be conflict and sin among the members of the Church he was building, so he described the way to resolve conflict and discipline sin in Matthew 18:

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:15-20)

Personal conflict was to be resolved personally, privately, if possible, the goal being to win them over, not defeat them. If, however, this private confrontation does not resolve the conflict, two or three witnesses should be brought to the table to evaluate for sin. Failing this to resolve the conflict, the dispute must be brought to the church, presumably the leaders of the church, and judgment must be made. If the offender refuses to listen to this judgment there must be discipline, what Jesus refers to as treating them as pagans or tax collectors, that is, as unbelievers who do not belong to the divine assembly, the church. Jesus vests the judgment of the church with divine authority. One person cannot make this judgment. Two or more must agree.

We see Paul applying this process in 1 Corinthians 5:

¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. ² And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? ³ For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. ⁴ So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, ⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Paul joins as one witness with the Corinthians, who as assembled have the authority of Jesus present to expel this man from the assembly (hand him over to Satan, remove him from the protective cover of the church). The goal is that, if he is truly a believer, the discipline will lead him to repentance and the affirmation of his salvation.

Some discipline does not arise from conflict, but from outright catching of someone in sin (like the man in 1 Corinthians 5):

¹Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1,2)

Church discipline must always be done in love, with humility and gentleness, knowing that we ourselves can be “caught” in a sin or tempted.

Church discipline is the church’s act of confronting someone’s sin and calling them to repent, which, if the person doesn’t repent, will culminate in excluding a professing Christian from membership in the church and participation in the Lord’s Supper because of serious unrepentant sin.

In a broader sense, discipline is everything the church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin. Preaching, teaching, prayer, corporate worship, accountability relationships, and godly oversight by pastors and elders are all forms of discipline.

Sometimes people distinguish between these two types of discipline by calling the former “corrective discipline” and the latter “formative discipline.”

Corrective: The New Testament commands and depicts corrective discipline in passages like Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 2 Corinthians 2:6, and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15.

Formative: The New Testament speaks about formative discipline in countless passages about pursuing holiness and building one another up in the faith, such as Ephesians 4:11-32 and Philippians 2:1-18. In fact, we could consider the New Testament epistles as presenting examples of formative discipline, since the apostles wrote the churches to help form them in what to believe and how to live.