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Joe Morecraft continues his
Aspects ofBiblical Church Government
with Part VII,
iblical hurch Discipline and
the Purity of the
hurch
I
the New
Testament church, every
believer in Jesus Christ joined
i m ~
self and his family to a local
congregation under the shepherding over
sight of elders, Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17;
I Thess. 5:12. These elders would lead
them into
the
truths
of
the Bible so
as
to
be established in grace, Heb. 13:9,
that they might grow in grace and
in
the knowledge
of
the Lord, II Pet. 3:18.
In that local congregation, the elders
and
all faithful members would work
and pray toward the end that that church
would be as pure as it can be on earth
in
both what it believed (doctrine) and
in
how
it behaved (practice), Acts 19:8-
2;Rom. 16:17-20, to the glory of the
Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus
Christ. This must be true of
us
today,
for a strong church is a church that
looks like the church the way the apos
tles left it. One of the vows a person
must take
to
join the Reformed Presby
terian Church in the United States
is:
Do you submit yourself to the govern
ment and discipline of the church, and
promise to strive for its purity and
peace?
The Purity of the Church is the
goal toward which a church
is
constant
ly striving, a goal
of
faithful orthodoxy
of doctrine, Eph. 4:13-15; II Tim. 3:16-
17; I Tim. 3:15; Acts 2:42; and
of
faithful orthodoxy of life, I Pet. 1:16;
2:1-9; Heb. 3:12-13, motivated by an
intense love for God in Christ, II Cor.
5:14. To be orthodox is to be right, to
be biblical, to be in strict conformity to
the word of God
in
what we believe
(theology) and in how we behave
(ethics). Orthodoxy
of
doctrine refers to
unity in
the
Truth in a congregation. It
speaks
of
a common commitment
to
and shared (correct) understanding of he
revealed truths
of
the Bible, because of
which the elders diligently endeavor to
bring every aspect
of
the church's life
and thinking into accord with these
truths and this biblical worldview, I
Cor. 1:10.
It
has been demonstrated
convincingly and historically that the
system
of
doctrine
of
the Westminster
Confession
of
Faith, Larger Catechism
and Shorter Catechism is the system of
doctrine and the worldview of the Bible.
Therefore,
to
be orthodox in doctrine,
the elders
of
a church must be faithful
to a vow that commits them to the
propagation, application and defense
of
that system
of
doctrine, or to that
of
such similar confessions as the Heidel
berg Catechism, the Belgic Confession,
the Canons
of
Dordt, etc. (All
of
these
grew out of the Spirit-produced Pro
testant Reformation
of
the Sixteenth
Century.)
Orthodoxy of life refers to the right
ness and biblicalness
of
the church's
life, privately and publicly, individually
and corporately. Orthodoxy of thought
without orthodoxy of life and heart is
an ugly and repulsive thing, because
faith without works
is
dead, James
2:26; I Cor. 8:
lf
Truth is always ac
cording to godliness, Tit. 1:1. There
fore, i a church is to strive toward puri
ty of life, it, including every member
family, must delight in the Law of the
Lord, meditating in it day and night,
allowing itself to be shaped and re
shaped by the whole Word
of
God, and
teaching its children
t
observe what
ever Christ has commanded us, Psalm
: Dent 6:1ff; Mat. 28:19f. Such a
church will strive after PEACE, i.e. the
restoration
of
God's order for life and
relationships revealed in the Bible, and
HOLINESS, i.e., the love for and con
formity to biblical law.for Jesus' sake,
without which no one will ever see the
Lord, Heb. 12:14. The entire church
will work at being characterized by real,
self-giving, Christ-like love, and all the
fruit
of the Spirit, I Cor. 3; Gal.
5:22f; I John 4:12f.
The question often arises: Why
should we have this concern for the puri
ty
of
the church, since there will never
be a perfect church this side of heaven?
The immediate response to such a ques
tion
is
another question. Why should a
Christian strive after holiness, when
there will never
be
a perfect person this
side
of
heaven? The answer
to
both
questions is obvious: the individual
and the church strive after purity of
thought and life because the individual
and the church are commanded to do so
by the Lord Jesus Christ, who bought
them both as his own personal property
with his own blood, Acts 20:28f; I
Cor. 6: 19-20; and
out
of love, faith and
gratitutde the Christian individual and
the Christian church seek to please Him
by obeying and worshipping
Him
re
penting when he fails and continuing to
persevere by the Spirit's help in the
way
of
holiness to
tJ:le
end, Mat. 5:48,
knowing that one day, after death, total
perfection will be his, Eph. 5:27.
Jesus calls his church(es)
to
the duty
of working to make sure that that
church, and those churches, are also
pure and faithful in the carrying out of
the Great Commission, Mat. 28: 8[
There we are told to make the world's
nations Christ's disciples, to bring
thQse
discipled, with their families,
Acts 2:39, into the church through bap
tism, and to teach them to believe and
observe the whole counsel of God, Acts
20:27. Since only the pure and un
defiled Word
of
God is the power
of
God unto salvation to all who believe,
therefore the church and its leaders must
exercise great care, dedication, vigi
lance, and dependence upon God to as
sure that that word, all of that word, and
only that word, is taught to its mem
bers, and presented to the world. False
words must be avoided at all cost,
Rom. 16; 17-20, for they always lead
away from the one Christ who saves, I
Jn. 2:2. Great care must be exercised in
watching over the disciples and their
seed, that their walk day by day is in
the light
of
God's word, avoiding the
snares of Satan.
ow s the Purity of the
Church in Its Doctrine and Life
t
be Maintained That
is
a vitally
important question that is rarely asked;
but the life of the church in America de
pends upon our response to it. How
does the Bible answer it?
Three means appear in the Bible
The Counsel
of
Chalcedon Jan.-Feb 1990 page 5
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whereby a church might preserve
and
ad-
vaqce its purity of doctrine and
r a c t i c e
As
we use
these
three
means, depending
upon the Spirit of Christ
to
enipower
therri, the purity of . he ChCh .wi11 be
maintained
and
advanced. Theyate: [1]
he careful admission
of
people into
the church's membership and
to
the
Lord's Table; [2] the pracdce
of
loving
church discipline
in
the congregation;
and [3] the careful, faithfui peaching
and
teachlng
of the
whole
Word
of God,
(With which
we
will deal
at
a later
time).
(Eph.
5-6)
The r ~ t i c e or Loving
Church l)iscipline
Elders have a special responsibility
here, Acts:20:28. They must exercise
gteat
care and vigilance in
this
atea,
.praying that God would give them dis
.cerruri'ent, courage
and
wisdom, James
Discipline and Discipleship are the
same thing.
It
is the training of a be
liever to live an increasingly faithful
- lifeof devotion
to
Jesus Christ in all
he is and does, Mat. 28:18f. Christian
. 1:5, so as net
to
expeCt too little
or
de
mand
too
much from those who would
come under their shepherding oversignt
and join the congregation corluniited
to
their charge.
They
must
make the r e ~
quirements for church membership, and
admittance to the Lord's Table, fully in
accordance with the requirements
of
the
Bible, guarding their membership to
The Bible is a God-breathed, infallible,
all-sufficient, all-profitable book, that
has been given, not only to lead and to
teach us, but to orre t us when we
ate
wrong, that
we i g h t b e ~ f u l l y
equipped.
for every good work, II
Tim.
3:
16-17. .
The
Careful Admission of
People into the Membership
of
the h ~ c h
The one requirement for church e m ~
bership is a . crecijble profession
o
faith
in
Jesus Christ, Mat. 16:16-
18; Acts 2:41; Mat. 28:19. A credible
profession is a profession of faith in
Christ that is believable
to
the elders
of
the church,
that
is illustrated
in
the life
of
the
one
professing Christ, as one
who is seeking
to
follow Christ
day by
day. A credible profession is one that
is able to aff mn the vows of church
membership of the Rl'CUS, for ex
ample:
1. Do
you
believe
that
you are a sin
ner, justly deserving God's displeasure,
and
without
hope
, except for his s o v ~
ereign mercy?
2. Do you believe
that
Jesus Christ
is the Son of God
and
Savior of
ners,
and do
you rest
upon
him
alone
for salvation?
3. Depending upon the Holy Spirit
to give you strength,
do
you promise to
live as becomes a follower
of
Christ?
4 . Do you
promise
to ~ u p p o r t the
church
in
its work and worship to the
best
of
your ability?
5. Do you
submit
yourself .
to
the
government
and
discipline of the
church, and
promise
to strive for its
purity
and
peace?
keep out professed unbelievers, hypo
crites, and those who, because of their
life and beliefs, cannot give a credible
profession. On the other hand, they
must be sure
that
their requi,remEmts are
such
that they
can include
and
weloome
inio
the church the spiritually immature
and
the weaker brothers, who
are
truly
converted, but in whom the marks of
grace are barely traceable.
Such considerations.as the following
shouid be central with the elders in
gard
to
those who would join the.
church committed to theif charge: , Has
there been and
does
there re.maiil in his
life an open profession of Christ before
rnen? (Rom. 10:9; Mat. 10:32) Has
he shown signs
of
true repentance, in
hat;ing sin
and
turning from it, aml of
love for God
and
His Son? I s ~ L 55:6-
8; I Jn.
3 : 6 ~ 9
Does he
s e ~ m
to have a
hunger for the
Word of
God? Does he
havea measure of soundness in what he
believes? (Jn. , 14:23; 16:13f; Psa.
119:81-88,
9 7 ~ 1 0 4
Is
there
some
v i ~
dence of holiness and the fruit of. the
Spirit in his b e h ~ v i o r ? .
(G31.
5:2223; I
Jn. 2:3-6) Is there
a
desire in him to be
long to God's believing congregation
ail
to enjoy the fellowship of God's
people? (I In; 2 ; 9 . ~ 1 ; 3:1415; 3:16-
18) Does he knowthe value of prayer,
worship
and
Bible study? (Eph. 2:18;
Gal
. 4:6)
Is
he trying to be a good
Christian
in
his . fainily and work?
The Counsel
o
Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 26
.Discipleship
or
clllistian Discipline is
comprised
of
hree
components: In
struction,
which is preventive dis
cipline; Chastisement, . which is
c o r ~
rective discipline; and Counseling,
which is restorative discipline. Preven
t i v ~ discipline1sthe exericiseof authori
ty given the church by Christ to .in
struct
and
guide its members in the way
of God,
Dt.
29;29, and to promote its
p ~ t y
and
peace, Mat 16:19. It in
voh:'es the active, vigorous, and consis
tent preaehing
and
teaching
of
the Word
of
GQd,
catechizing, traj.ning
anQ
instruc
ting young
cmd
.otd
in
the
tnJe revealed
religion.
t
s
the protecting
and
u r t u r ~
ing ministry
of
the church. It is the
teaching
of
the disciples
and
their a m i ~
lies
to
observe all that Christ has c o m ~
manded
us. R e ~ t o r a t i v e discipline is ab
solutely essential
to
the purity of the
church.
It
is not only be practiced
by the ministers and the .elders, but by
all the mell}Qel S of the ch1,11 ch, .who, be
cause they are filled with faith, goOd
ness,
and
wisdom from the Word,
are
competent to counsel, Rom. 1 5 : 1 3 ~
14, where admonish is better
t r a n s ~
lated counsel. The best and most bib
lical books on counseling are by
Jay
Adams, espeCially,
The
Christian Court
selor s Manual, and
More
than Redemp-
tion
Corrective diseipline is needed in the
congregation, because all congregations
are comprised
of
believing sinners.
The
Bible is a God-breathed, infallible,
al}-sqfficient, . all-profitable
b o o ~
that
has been given,
not
only to le3.d and to
teach us,. but to correct us when we
are wrong, . that we might. be
.
fully
eqttipped for every gOod work, II Tim.
1 6 ~ 1 7 . When a church rnember.wan
ders futo sinful paths, inadvertently
or
deliberately, he needs loving correction
and
restoration, much as an erring child
in a home needs correction, even
c h a s ~
tisement, to learn that the way of the
transgressor is hard
,Church discipline is necessary for
the.reclainUng
and
gaining
of
offending
(sinning) brethren; for deterring others
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from like offenses; for purging out
of
that leaven which might infect the
whole Jwnp; for vindicating the honor
of
Christ, and the holy profession
of
the gospel; and for preventing the wrath
of
God, which might justly fall upon
the church,
i
they would suffer his
covenant, and the seals thereof,
to
be
profaned
by
notorious and obstinate
offenders. -- For the bet ter attaining of
these ends, the officers
of
the church are
to proce
ed
by admonition, suspension
from the sacraments of the Lord's Sup
per for a season, and by excommunica
tion from the church, according to
the
nature of the crime, and demerit
of
the
person. (Westminster Confession of
Faith, XXX)
The
Book
of
Church Order
of
the
Presbyterian Church in America states:
The power which Christ has given
the
Church is for building up, and not for
destruction. It is
to
be exercised as un
der a dispensation
of
mercy
and
not
of
wrath. As in the preaching
of
the
Word
the wicked are doctrinally separated
from the good, so by discipline the
Church authoritatively separates the
holy and the profane. In this
it
acts the
part of a tender mother, correcting her
children for their good, that every one
of them may
be
presented faultless in
the day of the Lord Jesus. Discipline is
systematic training under the authority
of
God's Scripture. No communing
or
non-communing member
of
the Church
should be allowed to stray from the
Scripture's discipline. -- Scriptural
law
is the basis of all discipline; because
it
is
the revelation of God's Holy
will.
As is so clearly stated in the Confes
sion, and the Bible, the purposes of
cor-
rective discipline are: [1 the spiritual
good of the offender; [2) the vindication
of the honor
of
Christ; [3) the rebuke
of
the offenses; [4) the removal of the scan
dal and the protection
of
the name
of
the church; [5] the promotion
of
the
purity
and
peace
of the
church, I Cor. 5;
I Tim. 5:20; Mat. 7:6; I Tim. 1:20;
Jude 23; I Cor. 11:27.
The Bible involves every church
member in the wmx
of
disciplining
or
discipling one another, Heb. 2:12;
10:24. Matthew especially involves
ea
ch member, for
it
sets forth the pro
cedure by which we encourage
one
another in the faith and by which we
apply corrective discipline to wayward
members in order
to
restore them.
This
Cherokee Presbyterian Church, Woodstock, Georgia
biblical procedure of church discipline
revealed in Matthew 18:15-20 places
the primary, frontline responsibility
for
the watchful
care nd
discipling
of
bers on the church members them
selves,
and
not primarily, much less ex
clusively, on the Session. A church
which has members who have the com
passion
and
courage
to
practice church
discipline hwnbly, consistently and sen
sitively is
a
strong and healthy church.
Here is the procedure ofMatthew 18:15-
20:
First the person who is offended
and concerned because
of
some blatant
sin in another church member is to ap
proach the offender in love about his
sin, and the problems arising from it,
in an effort
to
set things straight,
and to
save the brother from further
hurt and
shame.
Second, i
this fails,
he
is
to
take
witnesses with him either to witness
the offender's refusal
to
repent,
or
to
back up the plea of the offended person
that the offender make things right with
God and with his brothers and sisters,
James 5:19,20.
Third i
this fails, the matter is
to
be brought before the ruler-representa
tives of the Church, the Session of el
ders, to offer a solution through prayer,
love, counseling, and the searching of
the Scriptures.
Fourth
i
this
fails,
and
the
of
fender hardens in his sinful ways, the
Session is
to
cut him off from the fel
lows
hip
of the church, and he is to be
treated
by
the church as an apostate and
unbeliever,
who
is outside the warmth
and safety
of
the church, that he might
be forced to live
by
the consequences of
his rebellious decision, be brought to
his senses and
to
repentance, that he
might be
re
stored to Christ and to His
church. The elders also make such a
judgment for
the sake of the purity of
the church and that Christ might be
glorified and
honored
by all men. It
must
be
added
that, while this should be
done in great sorrow, it should npt
be
done
in
despair, because
it
is
done to
the glory of God and for
the
purity of
the Church, in obedience to the Word of
God; and usually, consistent corrective
discipline brings the offender back
home. Notice in Acts 15 how several
churches cooperatedin practicing church
discipline.
There
re
several
way
s the Session
may correct
and di
scipline an obstinate
church member, who has been brought
before it. It
may strongly admonish
him for his sin
and
solemnly urge him
to
repent,
I
Thes. 5:12; Gal.
6:1.
It
may bar him
from
the Lord's Supper for
a season
to
shame him into repentance,
Rom. 11:14, or to move him to an
holy jealousy of those who re walking
with the Lord under His rich blessing,
that he might be provoked
to
return
and
walk with them. If the offender persists
in his sin, he may be excommunicated
from the church
of
Christ
Excommunication is a thoroughly
biblical concept: Gen. 17:14; Numbers
15:30; Mat 18:17; Rom. 16:17; I Cor.
5:1-8:11; II Cor. 2:6-8; II Cor. 6:14-
18;
II
Thess. 3:6,14; I Tim. 1:20;
Tit
3:10. This extreme and f mal form of
church discipline is the withdrawing of
church fellowship from the person who
persistently and obstinately commits
acts which cannot be tolerated in the
church, only after much admonition and
entreaty. Once a person has been ex-
communicated, he is
to
be viewed and
treated
by
the rest
of
the church mem-
The Counsel o Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 27
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bers as an urtbelieverhe must be loved,
prayed for, and evangelized. But
Church members are forbidden to fel
lowship with
him
or to eat meais with
him,
that he might learn how lonely it
is to
be
"without
God in
the world," I
Cor. 5:913.
There
appear
to
be four gerteral areas
of offense deserving excommunication,
in the Bible:
1. Persistent sins against love--Mat.
18:15-17
2. Persistent sins against church
unity--Rom. 16:17; I Cor. 1:10f
3. Persistent sins against biblicallaw-
I Cor. 5:7,11;
l l
Thes. 3:6,14
4. Persistent sins against revealed
truth--I Tim. 1:19-20;
6 : 3 ~ 5 ;
Tit. 3:10;
llJn.lO.
increased,
2:
17.
The
Authority
for
Corrective
Church Discipline
n Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus not only
gives the procedure for church dis
cipline, 18:15-17, and the blessings of
church discipline, 18:10-20, he also
identifies the authority for church dis
cipline, 18:18--"Truly I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall have
been bound in heaveri; and whatever
you loose on earth shall have been
loosed in heaven.'' Jesus also mentions
this authority in Matthew 16: 19--" I
will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven; and whatever you shall bind
ori earth shall have been bound in hea-
May
God help us see that in the faithful practice
of
instructive, corrective, and restorative
discipline in the church there is to be found
existential knowledge of God's grace, mercy
and
presence with his people in Christ.
The reason these persistent sins are
deserving of excommunication is that
they are assaults
on
the very heart and
foundation of church life in ChriSt.
f
they are allowed
to
remain unchecked,
they will eventua:Ily destroy the fel
lowship completely, Heb. 12:14-17; I
Cor. 5:6,7.
n Revelation 2:13-16, (cmp. 2:20-
25), Jesus Christ addressed his church
at
Pergarnus, compliments them for their
faithfulness
in
the face of persecution,
2: 13, rebukes
them
for their toleration
in their membership of those
who
be
lieve and teach doctrines contrary to
Holy Scripture, 2:14,15, and exhorts
them to repent, 2:16, or else He will
come
in judgment
upon that church at
some
particular
point in
their history.
What
would repentance involve in this
instance?
t
would mean that they
would have
to
cease their toleration
of
those who are fa:Ise teachers and convert
or excommunicate them, thus shutting
their mouths
from
teaching fa:Isehoods.
In doing so they
would
avert divine
judgment and "overcome" in such a way
as
to be highly favored by Jesus Christ
and richly rewarded
by
his gracious hand
so that communion with him is
deepened and assurance
of
salvation
ven, and whatever you shall loose on
earth shall have been loosed
in
heaven."
The Westminster Confession
of
Faith
(chapter XXX) explains
t is
authority
for church discipline, known as "the
keys of the kingdom," given the church
by
Christ:
To
these officers (of the
church, as distinct
from
the
civil
magis
trate) the keys of the kingdom
of
hea
ven are coinmittted, by virture whereof
they have power respectively to retain
and remit sins, to shut that kingdom
against the impenitent, both by the
words and censures (corrective
d i s ~
cipline); and to open
it
unto penitent
sinners, by the ministry
of
the gospel,
and
by
absolution from censures, as
occasion shall require."
Keys
are used as symbols
for
authori
ty in
the Bible,
Mat.
16:19; Rev. 3:7.
The
Keys
of
the Kingdom" refer to the
power and authority Christ has given
the church to exercise government and
discipline within the jurisdiction God
has assigned it, "in virtue
of
which,
those entrusted with : these keys have
power
to 'bind aild
loose/ by
inflicting
and
removing censures (discipline); and
theirproceedings, when conducted'agree
bly to
SCripture, a re rati fied
in
heaven.
Presbyterians mainiain that these keys
The Counsel of Chalcedon
a n ~ - F e b . 1 9 9 0
page 8
were given to Peter, as an apostle and el-
der; and, therefore, that the gift extends
to
all the apostles, and after them, to
a:I
ordinary elders, to the end
of
time. The
same thing that
is
expressed in the
above passage by 'binding' and 'loosing'
is elsewhere expressed by 'remitting'
and 'retaining sins."'--Robert Shaw in
his book
on
the Westminster Conies
skin,
The Reformed Faith.
(The edition
presently
in print
is entitled,
n Exposi-
. tion of the Westminster Confession o
Faith.)
John Ca:Ivin's words on 'this subject
are helpful: "This conunail.d respecting
the remission and retention of sins, and
the promise made to Peter respecting
binding and loosing, ought to be whol
ly referred to the ministry
of
the Word,
which when
our
Lord conunitted to the
apostles, he
at
the same time invested
them with the power of binding . and
loosing.
For
what is the suin
of
the
Gospel,
but
that, being all slaves
of
sin
and death,
we
are loosed and delivered
by the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus, and that those who never receive
or
acknowledge Christ as their Deliverer
and Redeemer, are condemned and sen
tenced to eternal chains."
Institutes,
Bk. IV, xi, l)
May the Head of the Church impress
upoil us the urgency and importance of
faithfulness
in
administering biblical
church discipline. May he open
our
eyes to see the health, beauty and
vitali-
ty
there
is
for a church that faithfully
practices church discipline, in the full-
est
biblical sense of the word. May
God help us see that in the faithful prac
tice
of
instructive, corrective, and restor
ative discipline in the church there is to
be
found existentia:I knowledge
ofGod
's
grace, mercy and presence with his peo
ple
in Christ We
have allowed
persis
tent sins in the areas
of
love, unity,
law, and truth to
go on
long enough.
Our
churches are
full
of the old can
cerous leaven, which brings great dis
honor to our dear Lord and Savior.
May God
give us the grace to purge out
the old leaven, beginning with our
selveS.
n
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