On Being Reformed - Commitment #6: “Participate in and Submit to the Process of Corrective Church Discipline When Necessary.”

Throughout this series, we have seen that Christ calls His Church to pursue holiness together. We have also seen that we are not to be isolated, individualistic Christians, but rather members of one body who are called to gather, fellowship, and care for one another. But now we need to address just what happens if a member strays from our Membership Covenant or begins to wander into sin. What does genuine biblical love look like when this happens?

And as we look to Scripture for our guidance, we see very clearly that we are not called to ignore it. Nor does it tell us to gossip about it. But Christ commands His Church to lovingly pursue and correct one another so that the wandering believer might be restored. Which brings us to our next Knox Membership Covenant commitment: “Participate in and Submit to the Process of Corrective Church Discipline When Necessary.”

And we anchor this commitment in Matthew 18:15-16, but I also want to look at verse 17, where Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector(someone the church can no longer recognize as walking as a fellow believer).”

The process Christ gives begins with what we might call ordinary, everyday mutual accountability between believers. Christ Himself has entrusted this responsibility to His churches, calling every church member to lovingly encourage, warn, and restore fellow believers whenever sin appears. Only when those private efforts are rejected does the matter become what we commonly call formal church discipline, involving the whole church under the leadership of its elders. 

Far too often, in the world around us today, we are told and taught that it is loving to accept a person just as they are, which inevitably leads people to turn a blind eye to sin in the name of love. However, where the world defines love as ignoring sin, Scripture shows the opposite. We find Christ’s definition of love as a restoration from sin and a call to confront those living in sin. Love warns. Love confronts. Love restores. Ignoring sin in a person’s life is anything but love.

Another worldly and unbiblical reaction we often see within the church, this one regarding church discipline, is that many Christians are willing to submit to it only if they are never confronted with their own sin. Too often, people gladly participate in the life of a church until they receive loving correction, at which point they leave rather than repent. Sadly, many churches have responded by avoiding discipline altogether, fearing it would drive people away.

Yet this is not what Christ has commanded His Church to be. Scripture teaches that God's loving discipline is one of the marks of His true children. God's Word actually rebukes the rejection of His fatherly discipline so strongly that it declares those who remain without it to be illegitimate children and not His sons or daughters (Heb. 12:5-11). A church that neglects discipline neglects one of Christ's appointed means of sanctifying His people.

Hebrews 12 also reminds us not to regard the Lord's discipline lightly, for He disciplines those whom He loves; it is for our good and to produce holiness and the fruit of righteousness. Likewise, in Matthew 18:20, Jesus assures His people that as they faithfully carry out this loving process of correction and restoration according to His commands, He Himself is present among them. Church discipline is therefore one of the primary means God graciously uses within His Church to refine His children and conform them to the image of Christ.

This is why it is so devastating both to the church and to the individual Christian whenever believers run from church discipline, since it is one of the means God uses to refine us and make us holy. This is why every church member must both participate in lovingly holding one another accountable and willingly receive correction whenever his or her own sin is exposed. Instead of running from it or immediately being defensive when it happens, we need to learn to embrace it for what it is. A loving act by our church and fellow members, as they display the love of God towards us, as they seek to purify us and restore us from our sin.

Receiving correction requires genuine humility. Pride resists correction, but humility recognizes that every one of us is still being sanctified by God. Proverbs teaches that the wise love reproof, while fools despise correction (Prov. 12:1; 15:31-32). As members of Christ's Church, we should gladly receive loving correction because our greatest desire is to become more like Christ. 

And this is exactly what we committed ourselves to when we entered into our Membership Covenant. We pledged not only to participate in church discipline when necessary, but also to receive it ourselves. True submission is demonstrated not when we agree with what the church asks of us, but when we willingly obey even when correction is difficult, because we have covenanted together to do so. Church discipline begins with each and every member, not merely the elders. Matthew 18 makes this clear by placing the first steps in the hands of ordinary believers. While Scripture gives no detailed procedure for every situation, Christ's command is simple: "If your brother sins against you, go...”.

This responsibility is reinforced throughout the New Testament. Paul writes, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness" (Gal. 6:1). The author of Hebrews commands believers to "exhort one another every day so that none may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). James likewise tells us that, “if anyone wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, that person has been used by God to save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). These commands are not addressed only to elders, but to the church as a whole. Every member is called to encourage, warn, restore, exhort, and bear one another's burdens. A healthy church displays Christ's love by willingly speaking the truth, not merely offering encouragement, but lovingly restoring one another whenever sin appears. 

However, if a member still refuses to repent after the first two steps of Matthew 18, the matter moves to formal church discipline involving the whole church. Under the leadership of the elders, the congregation continues pursuing the individual with the hope of restoration. Scripture does not prescribe a detailed procedure for every situation, which is why some aspects may differ from case to case, but the whole church is called to participate. 

We see this very principle carried out in 1 Corinthians 5. There, Paul rebukes the church in Corinth for tolerating open, unrepentant sin among one of their members. Rather than ignoring it, Paul commands the church to remove the unrepentant man from their fellowship. Notice that Paul addresses the congregation as a whole, indicating that the responsibility ultimately rests with the gathered church. Under the ordinary leadership Christ has given His Church, the elders shepherd and oversee this process, but the congregation itself bears responsibility for carrying it out. The elders also have an important responsibility in this process: to guard doctrine, oversee discipline, shepherd wisely, and protect the flock. However, since our next commitment concerns submitting to the elders, we will consider their role there. 

But Scripture doesn't leave the story at formal church discipline. It also shows us the joyful outcome whenever God grants repentance to a member living in sin. In 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, Paul encourages the church to forgive, comfort, and reaffirm their love for the repentant believer, lest he be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. This reminds us that church discipline is never an end in itself. The ultimate goal is not removal from the church, but joyful restoration to fellowship with Christ and His people. 

As we've seen so far, God commands us not only to lovingly correct one another but also to humbly receive correction ourselves. And this is because church discipline is one of God's gracious means of producing holiness in His people, for the good of both the individual and the church. Since every one of us will need loving correction at times, we must not let pride drive us to resist or hide from it, but instead receive it with humility, knowing that God uses it for our good. 

Church discipline protects the sinner from continuing in unrepentant sin, upholds Christ's reputation before the world, and preserves the purity of Christ's church, as we seek to obey Him in all things. The world often accuses Christians of hypocrisy when our profession of faith is contradicted by the way we live. Although such accusations are not always fair, many would be silenced if Christ's churches consistently pursued holiness and faithfully practised biblical church discipline. 

Ultimately, church discipline reminds us that Christ loves His Church too much to leave her in sin. Just as a loving father disciplines his children because he desires their good, Christ lovingly disciplines His bride because He intends to present her to Himself "in splendour, without spot or wrinkle" (Eph. 5:25-27). Every act of faithful correction, every humble act of repentance, and every joyful restoration displays Christ's love for His people and His commitment to sanctifying His Church. 

I pray for our church and its members that we learn to accept church discipline with love and humility. I pray for the courage of each one of us, that we can boldly hold each other accountable to restore each other out of sin. And I pray, most of all, that we learn to pursue holiness together and encourage each other in the way that God has commanded us to.

Soli Deo Gloria

Pastor Steven Larson