Guarding the Gospel

Article “Church Discipline: Guarding the Gospel” by Forrest McPhail – original source – https://rootedthinking.com/2022/06/23/church-discipline-guarding-the-gospe/

Forrest has served as a missionary in Buddhist Cambodia in Southeast Asia for the last twenty years. He presently serves as the Asia/Australia/Oceania regional director for Gospel Fellowship Association missions. He enjoys writing and teaching on missions and the Buddhist worldview. He and his wife, Jennifer, have 4 children.

Ever heard of church discipline? Have you experienced church discipline or seen it practiced in a local church?

Shortly after publishing Pioneer Missions, I had opportunity to discuss the book with a number of cross-cultural missionaries from around the world who read it, including Korean, American, British, and Canadian workers. One part of the book that provoked much discussion was what I said about church discipline. In the book, I urge church planting missionaries to understand the importance of church discipline in guarding the Gospel. One missionary, upon reading how this is emphasized in the New Testament, expressed dismay that he had never seen it practiced in his large urban sending church.

In the last couple of weeks, I have had two cross-cultural missionaries speak with me about church discipline. Our team here in Cambodia has also been re-hashing this teaching. Two Cambodians believers living overseas (Canada and USA) have written me seeking counsel about it. Both Cambodians wanted to know how to deal with someone regularly attending their churches that profess Jesus Christ as Savior but continue to live in sexual immorality. In both cases, the immoral person knew they could not become members without repentance, so they chose not to become members. How would you counsel, from Scripture, concerned believers as well as those still in sin?

We Know Certain Things to be True:

  • When Jesus saves a person from their sins, He begins the work of changing them and making them more like Him. He gives them His Spirit (Eph 1:13-14). They have been “born again” (Jn 3:1-7) and have become/are becoming “new creatures/creations” (2 Cor 5:17) by God’s grace.
  • God demands that certain sins be repented of immediately if a person professes to know Christ: idolatry (worship of other gods), sexual immorality, drunkenness, greed/swindling/theft, reviling, and refusal to live in unity because of jealousy, envy, and covetousness (1 Cor 5-6; Gal 5:19-21). These sins are listed in regard to repentance multiple times in the New Testament.
  • If a person refuses to repent, then their profession in faith in Christ is to be tested by church discipline. If they are God’s child, the Lord will chasten him/her until he/she repents and accepts new life in Christ (1 Cor 5:4-5).
  •  If the person living in sin is unrepentant under discipline, it is to be concluded that they are not of Christ. Words mean nothing. The assumption is that they will not “be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor 5:4-5).
  • It is supposed to be clear who is “in” Christian fellowship, and who is “out”. Those who are members, those “among us” (1 Cor 5:13) and “of us” (1 Jn 2:19)  enjoy spiritual fellowship with us as acknowledged believers in Jesus. These take the Lord’s Table with us, pray with us, etc. Some, even though they profess to be followers of Jesus, are to be excluded from this fellowship because of their rebellion against the Lord.

To Judge or not to Judge?

Only God can see the heart (1 Sam 16:7). We must not judge others in a self-righteous way (Mt 7:1-5). Yet, as we saw above, God Himself teaches His people to look at the lifestyles of those who profess to know Him and make judgments about them. We are to determine whether or not a person’s life shows that they are a Christian. If someone stubbornly continues in the types of sin mentioned above, their lives broadcast a vivid contradiction to their profession. People that remain like this must not be allowed to stay in fellowship with God’s people. 

It is easy to understand why these passages of Scripture are so unpopular, swept under the rug as though they don’t exist. All of us who are in Christ know we are but saved sinners. We all continue to fight our sinful flesh and the influence of the world. Most of us want to err on the side of mercy and compassion. Some seem to think that church discipline would turn people away from salvation in Christ.

Why is Church Discipline so Important to God?

  1. Church discipline clarifies the Gospel. The Gospel message is one of repentance and faith. There is no such thing as faith that is not repentant. And repentance is not merely a mental exercise in the realm of knowledge—it results in a changed life. If the message that we preach does not proclaim repentance and the reality of new life in Jesus, only addressing forgiveness of sins and promise of heaven, then we preach a false gospel. Church discipline undergirds the doctrine of repentance and shows that repentance includes a desire to obey God.
  • Church discipline clarifies what it means to be “the Church.” The Body of Christ and its local expressions in congregations are for believers in Jesus. It is a fellowship of believers that exhorts each another to love and good works (Heb 10:24) , continuing in the apostles’ doctrine prayer, genuine life- on-life fellowship, and the Lord’s table (Acts 2:42), and pursuing new life in Christ to His glory (see all Epistles).
  • Church discipline clarifies that local congregations exist for God and His glory above all else (1 Cor 10:31). By obeying Christ and exercising church discipline, we keep God on the throne, not our own ideas or agendas, not unbelievers and their perceived needs. To fail to use church discipline as needed is to remove God’s blessing on a church. It is disobedience. It is a distortion of the Gospel before unbelievers. It betrays a view of the local church that dishonors God.

Patience, love, kindness, and discretion are all needed in good measure when considering church discipline. There is no room for self-righteous attitudes, impatience, or anger.

Practical Ends of Church Discipline

Two practical purposes of church discipline are: 1) to save the soul of the one in need of discipline, that their faith in Christ would be real (1 Cor 5:5); 2) to remove the evil influence of those unrepentant from within the congregation (1 Cor 5:6-13).

Church discipline is vital to making disciples and being the Church.

Many who profess Christianity who have no desire to repent and obey Jesus. They simply don’t yet understand the Gospel until they are faced with church discipline–only then do they see that faith includes repentance.

If we truly love God, the Gospel, God’s people, and the unsaved, then we will most certainly lovingly pursue a sinning brother, all the way to the point of church discipline— if need be.[1]

[1] McPhail, Forrest. Pioneer Missions: Meet the Challenges, Share the Blessings (Kindle Location 579).

Quotes to Ponder (115)

“The content of the Christian faith does not continually change. “…that which is true is not new, and that which is new is not true.” – Robert Schindler (March 1887, Sword and Trowel)

“One person who might think poorly of her witness is a woman whose words were instrumental in my own salvation. I do not know her name and doubt I could recognize her. One day, as I moved into an apartment, she was moving out next door. I carried one box of books to her car. After thanking me, she asked whether I was looking for a church to attend. My body language made it clear that I did not appreciate the question. So she quickly stammered, “If you are ever looking for a church, I would recommend this particular church a few blocks away.” With that, she drove off and I never saw her again. I have often imagined her kicking herself for her weak attempt to witness. But a few months later, when the Holy Spirit had prepared a way for the Lord into my heart, I remembered her words, went to that church, and hearing the gospel there, I believed and was saved.” – Rick Phillips, Pastor and Author

“Staying how to ‘watch church’ is like staying home from a friend’s wedding to watch the ceremony virtually. And keep your wedding gift with you. Your presence and solidarity and love and hugs and eye contact and singing are needed. It’s not just about passively receiving something. It’s about being an embodied part of the celebration. The whole event is diminished by your absence. And you have a gift to give.” – Dane Ortlund

“In a universe governed by God there are no chance events. Indeed, there is no such thing as chance. Chance does not exist. It is merely a word we use to describe mathematical possibilities. But chance itself has no power because it has no being. Chance is not an entity that can influence reality. Chance is not a thing. It is nothing.” – R.C. Sproul

“The notion that God in His sovereignty created a being free from His decrees is absolute nonsense. He can no more cede part of His sovereignty than He can cede part of His holiness, righteousness, wisdom or power. Sovereignty isn’t just a thing He does; it is who He is. If there is a being who can thwart God, that can prevent Him from doing what He has determined to do, then that being is God,and must be worshiped. Not God. But this is all folly, a pathetic attempt to whittle the living God down to a more domesticated and manageable size.” – Dan Phillips

“The whole basis for our relationship with God is rooted and grounded in grace, in that which is not earned.” —R.C. Sproul

“I really think that’s the central unique factor of Reformed theology; it is that it’s relentlessly committed to maintain the purity of the doctrine of God through every other element of our theology.” – R.C. Sproul

“If there really was a worldwide flood, what would the evidence be? Billions of dead things buried in rock players laid down by water, all over the earth. What do we find? Billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water, all over the earth.” – Ken Ham

“He who has the sore toes goes.” – Anonymous, see Matt. 18:15-20

“Whenever we ask God for something, He either gives us what we ask Him for, or He gives us something BETTER!!” – Geoff Thomas

“Every church website has a navigation button that says, in effect, ‘What we believe.’ Though created in the last millisecond of church history, and not subject to public scrutiny, all these, in principle, are confessions of faith. When a church can cook up a confession of faith and make it public on its website without the comprehensive collaboration of the greatest theological minds, we are intensely vulnerable. In such a momentary and fragmented confessional climate, generational vigilance against the Enemy’s schemes to corrupt the pure doctrine of the gospel is almost destroyed. We institutionalize a single-generation Christianity – at best – and I suspect the Enemy gives us rousing applause for doing it.” – Douglas Bond

“If we only ever sing about our feelings for God, we’ll tend to worship our worship and be passionate about our passion.” – Bob Kauflin

“We need more Church members like Martin Luther who only found 95 things wrong with his Church.” – Anonymous

“The real test of any man’s orthodoxy is what he actually teaches, not the statement of faith he signs.” – Phil Johnson

“No man by nature and left to himself has ever sought God…If you and I can claim as Christian people that we are seeking God, there is only one explanation for it, and that is that God has first sought us…Show me a man who can say honestly that he is seeking after God, and I will show you a man who has been quickened by God’s Spirit, whom God has sought.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“The price of victory is constant vigilance. Yes, there is grace to cover all our sin; but that grace leads us to mortify it, not to tolerate it.” – Sinclair Ferguson

“As a fire is a better source of heat than a stone that has been warmed, because fire is heat, but a stone has only been heated, and as gold is better than something covered in gold, because gold is gold, but something gilded can have its glittering exterior removed, so God’s attributes are not qualities that are different from God; God is his attributes. All things composed are imperfect. Divine simplicity, therefore, protects the pure perfection of God and protects his name, I AM WHO I AM.” – Samuel Renihan

“Look in a biology book and you’ll soon discover Darwinists are experts at drawing things that never existed to support their theory that never took place. You’ll see pages adorned with neat drawings of fish evolving into amphibians, or of reptiles evolving into birds, etc. Yet none of these are backed by observable evidence. The fact is, if you took away their box of crayons, Darwinists wouldn’t have anything to show. The bottom line is this: Put your trust in the Word of God; Word for Word and cover to cover!” – Russ Miller

“The doctrine of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures declares that everything necessary for saving faith and spiritual life is taught in the Bible. There is no warrant or need for the church to base its doctrine or directives on anything else, be it church tradition, the opinions of men, or the wisdom of this world.” – Beeke and Smalley, I. 396

“Christ reigns whenever he subdues the world to Himself by the preaching of His word.” – John Calvin

“The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.” – John Calvin

“For the rule of our faith and religion, we wish to follow the Scripture alone, without mixing with it any other thing which might be fabricated by the interpretation of men apart from the Word of God; and we do not pretend to receive any other doctrine for our spiritual government than that which is taught us by the same Word, without addition or reduction, according to the command of our Lord.” – The Geneva Confession 1536/1537).

“The church is not an institution for perfect people. It is a sanctuary for sinners saved by grace, a nursery for God’s sweet children to be nurtured and grow strong. It is the fold for Christ’s sheep, the home for Christ’s family. The church is the dearest place on earth.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” – Samuel Chadwick

“The Church does not determine what the Bible teaches. The Bible determines what the Church must teach.” – C. H. Spurgeon

“While recognizing the potential errancy of human traditions and the importance of sola Scriptura, heirs of the Reformation demonstrated attentiveness to tradition by, for instance, robustly affirming the trinitarian theology and Christology articulated in the first ecumenical creeds. And even when a particular doctrine or practice was deemed unbiblical (e.g., purgatory, indulgences), the Reformers also maintained the vital importance of demonstrating their rejection in patristic sources. In this way, they confirmed the primacy of Scripture and yet maintained the abiding value of the testimony of the saints.” – “tradition” (in Kapic, ed, Pocket Dictionary of Reformed Tradition)

“For the rule of our faith and religion, we wish to follow the Scripture alone, without mixing with it any other thing which might be fabricated by the interpretation of men apart from the Word of God; and we do not pretend to receive any other doctrine for our spiritual government than that which is taught us by the same Word, without addition or reduction, according to the command of our Lord.” – The Geneva Confession 1536/1537).

“The very word theology is a combination of the Greek word theos, which is translated “God,” and the word logos, which can be translated “word” or “discourse.” Theology is a discourse about God, a word about God, and that means it involves the knowledge of God. Theology is the doctrine of God, and our concern in theology is the true knowledge of God.” – Keith A. Mathison