1990 issue 1 - biblical church discipline and the purity of the church - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1990 Issue 1 - Biblical Church Discipline and the Purity of the Church - Counsel of Chalcedon

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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


2/4

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


3/4

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


4/4

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

1990 issue 1 - biblical church discipline and the purity of the church - counsel of chalcedon

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