Part 3
Intro.
1. Corrective church discipline is a necessary part of helping sinning Christians repent & be saved – 1 Ths. 5:14; 2 Ths. 3:6, 15.
2. Its purpose is basically two-fold: Save the lost & protect the saved.
3. It has a collective element & an individual element. Both must be respected & obeyed / carried out in order for it the discipline to be effective.
I. WHO IS SUBJECT TO CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE?
A. Every Christian Who Walks Disorderly – 2 Ths. 3:6.
1. ataktos – “out of ranks (often so of soldiers)…deviating from the prescribed order or rule.
-3:6 – Apostolic tradition (teaching from them, doctrine – 2:15).
2. Overtaken in sin & refuse to repent - Gal. 6:1; Jas. 5:19; Matt. 18:17.
3. False teachers – Rom. 16:17-18.
4. Factious – Titus 3:10-11.
II. PRIVATELY KNOWN SIN – Matt. 18:15-20 (Jas. 5:19-20; Gal. 6:1).
A. Sin Between / Against Brethren – 18:15.
B. Individual’s Duty:
1. 18:15 – Go alone & try to resolve - to gain brother (Matt. 5:23-25).
2. 18:16 – Take one or two others with you to address & resolve.
C. Church’s Duty – 18:17.
1. Tell the church so all can try to win the soul.
2. If refused – Apply the final action of discipline (withdraw, mark).
III. PUBLICLY KNOWN SIN.
A. Moral Sins – 1 Cor. 5:1-5.
1. Common knowledge – 5:1 (“reported”).
2. No one, two or three, then church procedure here – 5:3, 4-5.
B. Doctrinal Errors – Rom. 16:17-18.
1. Mark (skopeo) – “note” (NKJV); “to look at, observe, contemplate; to mark” (Thayer, 579) “to fix one’s eyes upon, direct one’s attention to, any one” (Online Bible Greek Lexicon).
2. Avoid (ekklino) – “to turn (one’s self) away, to turn away from, keep aloof from one’s society” (Online Bible Greek Lexicon).
C. Divisive (factious) Behavior – Titus 3:10-11.
-(paraiteomai) – “Refuse” (ASV); “decline…to shun, avoid” (OBGL).
D. Every Christian Who Walks Disorderly – 2 Ths. 3:6, 14-15.
1. Withdraw (stello) – “to remove one’s self, withdraw one’s self, to depart; to abstain from familiar intercourse with one” (OBGL).
2. Note (semeioo) – “to mark, to note, distinguish by marking; to mark or note for one’s self” (OBGL).
E. New Testament Examples:
1. 1 Cor. 5:3-5 – In congregational gathering – deliver to Satan.
2. Gal. 2:11-14 – Immediate, public resistance of the sin. (By the individual saint without congregational action! cf. 1 Tim. 5:20)
3. 1 Tim. 1:19-20 – Delivered to Satan (charges & persons stated publicly). - cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-18; 4:14-15
IV. CONGREGATIONAL ACTION.
A. Publicly Identify the Disorderly Christian, Noting His Sin –1 Cor. 5:4-5.
1. The “marking” or “noting” of the Christian who is walking in sin, as well as the false teacher whose doctrine is divisive, deceitful & destructive to faith (1 Tim. 1:20).
V. INDIVIDUAL ACTION.
A. Remove Social Interaction:
1. “Keep no company with” – 1 Cor. 5:11.
2. “Put away from yourselves that wicked person” – 1 Cor. 5:13.
3. “Withdraw yourselves” – 2 Ths. 3:6, 14.
B. Continue to Warn the Erring Christian – 2 Ths. 3:15.
-Have no fellowship with, but reprove – cf. 2 Tim. 3:5 (Eph. 5:11; 2 Jno. 10-11).
VI. WHEN CORRECTIVE DISCIPLINE IS NOT APPLIED.
A. Without Congregational Action, Sin Infiltrates the Church – 1 Cor. 5:6-7 (2).
B. Without Individual Action, no Pressure is Brought to Bear on the Sinner (emboldened to remain as he is) – 2 Cor. 2:6-7.
-Remove something important & valuable to cause sorrow & repentance!
Conclusion
1. When we apply corrective discipline in the way God wants us to, souls will be saved & protected (“peaceable fruit of righteousness” - Heb. 12:11).
2. When we don’t, we fail to obey God, thus sinning against Him! (2 Cor. 2:9)