Principles for ecclesiastical discipline

This is the second part of a series of articles on the difficult subject of ecclesiastical discipline, based primarily on the work of Jonathan Leeman and his book Discipline in the Church: How does the church protect the name of Jesus?(New Life). [Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4]

The local church has the power to declare to the nations who belongs to Jesus and who is a citizen of heaven and who is not. The church cannot make Christians, but we can declare who Christians are. Once the correct confession has been made, baptize the people and invite them to the Lord’s table; In other words, we are not just a building or a volunteer organization, we are God’s people on earth. We represent the kingdom of heaven on earth. This means that we have more authority than any other power on earth. This is what happens at Niddrie Community Church. In Niddria, we represent the king here on our piece of land.

This means that we.
As individual Christians.
Do not say whether our conversion is authentic or not.
The local church says so.
Becoming a member of a local church is.
Therefore.
That you are a faithful disciple of Jesus.
So the Christian submits to this local body.
But what exactly does that mean? It certainly means more than just doing what the elders say; it means subduing one another.
Caring for one another.
Caring for one another.
Sharing life together.
We see it clearly in Acts 2: 44-45.
Where all believers were together and had everything in common; they sold goods and goods to give to those in need; they submitted to the church and lived together.
That’s how the church should work.

The question remains: is ecclesiastical discipline really necessary?Isn’t that a little exaggerated and too hard?

The problem of ecclesiastical discipline is like the problem of dishes, we can agree that we have to wash the dirty dishes, but we do not like to be the ones who wash, here is the problem. We are all sinners and we all know it, so do we feel a little uncomfortable exposing someone else’s sin in front of the church?And we should, it’s okay. In fact, most of the discipline of the church must end with a personal conversation among believers: confronted sin, confessed sin, and forgiveness granted. Reconciliation restores the problem and we move on. Ecclesiastical discipline, in this case, is a fallen brother who helps another fallen brother return to the path of Christian discipleship after deviation. The discipline of the Church, at its most basic level, is to help one another when we sin.

1. Ecclesiastical discipline is biblical

2. La discipline of the Church is an implication of the gospel.

3. Ecclesiastical discipline promotes the health of the Church.

4. La discipline of the Church clarifies and shows the Church’s testimony to nations.

5. La discipline of the Church warns sinners of even greater judgment.

6. More importantly, ecclesiastical discipline protects the name and reputation of Jesus Christ on earth.

1. La discipline of the Church shows love for the individual to be alerted and brought to repentance.

2. La discipline of the church shows love for the church so that the weakest sheep can be protected.

3. La ecclesiastical discipline shows love for the world that cares for us so that it can see the transformative power of Christ.

4. La ecclesiastical discipline shows love for Christ so that churches can preserve and obey his holy name.

1. La is intended to expose: sin, like cancer, likes to hide. Discipline exposes cancer so it can be removed quickly (see 1 Corinthians 5. 2).

2. La is intended to warn: A church does not impose God’s punishment through discipline. On the contrary, he plays a small play describing the great judgment to come (v. 5). Discipline is a compassionate alert.

3. La discipline is to save: Churches apply discipline when they see a member take the path of death and none of their calls and nods brings the person back. It is the last resort to bring a person to repentance (v. 5).

4. Discipline is to protect: Just as cancer spreads from cell to cell, sin spreads rapidly from person to person (vv. 6 and 7). Yeast is a small piece of bread dough that is left in a batch after baking. It was left to ferment so it could be used in the next batch to help the bread rise. Basically, the fermentation process is the decomposition process. It is a dangerous process and it can go wrong. If it rots too much, it can ruin the next batch. The church needed to get rid of the spiritual leaven that was infecting its church. Not just from man, but from his own sinful pride and arrogance. This is what it says in verse 7. The pride and arrogance of the church were both a sin and a sexual sin. We all know the saying that one bad apple can ruin the whole basket. This is true for the church. We must be quick to condemn sin and challenge it because it infects the body. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says: “Do not be deceived: bad conversation spoils good customs. The church is the new remnant that needs to move toward purity. If we don’t remove the weeds from our garden, what happens? Sooner or later the weeds will blow you away. It will be a disaster. You have been renewed by Jesus, so be sure to get rid of anything that could contaminate and corrupt you as a church. We cannot tolerate sin among us, we cannot tolerate spiritual pride and arrogance.

5. La discipline aims to present a good testimony of Christ: It is strange to say this, but ecclesiastical discipline is, in fact, good for non-Christians, because it helps to preserve the distinctive appeal of God’s people (see v. 1 Churches, remember, they must be salt and light: “for if salt is tasteless,” Jesus said, “there is no point in being discarded , trampled by men” (Matthew 5. 13).

What is the ultimate purpose of ecclesiastical discipline?Spiritual restoration and salvation. The purpose of punishment is to try to get man back to his senses. When a man surrenders, he returns to himself and saves himself. The prodigal son returns to himself in the dump. Gangrene is an aggressive disease that must be treated aggressively and decisively; spiritual sin must be treated in the same way.

Yes, when we see a gap between a person’s Christ’s confession and his behavior, we must first confront him in private, here is the first misconception about ecclesiastical discipline, isn’t it true that they are always big problems and it is done in public?Wouldn’t they become a lot of trouble? And they would not end at the feet of the elders if we practiced Matthew 18 more often. Many of us are happy with superficial friendships in which we do not face unrepentant sin in the lives of others. we do this because we lack courage or conviction. When someone is speaking, for example, and we know it is not true, we either let them go or set them on fire more instead of exhorting them.

Ecclesiastical discipline should only be made public when sin becomes so coherent, common and public that we have no choice but to face it publicly. Only then did the church kidnap the person and deny his testimony of faith. “They say they are Christians, but we, as a church in this place, say that their behavior denies this statement. “

So what sins do we expect to see?Let’s get a lie. Sometimes we leave, maybe to lengthen a story or conveniently forget a detail of a conversation, you feel guilty the moment he leaves your mouth and you say so, but what if you lie many times to continue receiving a government grant?you shouldn’t receive, for example? You made a false statement to the government and, when discovered by a brother, you confronted her, but you still justify and see no reason to change your behavior. It is a normal sin, but this The last behavior would indicate that you are not a Christian or that you certainly do not live as a Christian should live.

One is in a constant struggle between the old and the new, and the other is just the old man who has the best of both worlds. There’s no real problem with your mind and even if you do, you don’t feel the need. If someone is truly born again, he cannot be content with his sin; the Holy Ghost simply does not allow it. Incite, condemn and do so in such a way that it is impossible to sleep or have peace until the matter is resolved. We’re committed to doing the right thing, no matter what.

Therefore, the public discipline of the church must occur if a member of the church continues to live in an openly sinful manner without any signs of repentance and change. There is no evidence of the conviction of the Holy Ghost. You may feel guilty or avergonzado. de fallen, but it’s just sadness depending on the world. He feels bad for a while, but it’ll be over soon. In this case, a continuous pattern of constant disobedience would lead the church to stop believing in that person’s confession. faith. His life contradicts his profession. It is a very dangerous place At this point, we withdraw your spiritual passport and declare that you are no longer a reliable representative of the kingdom of God.

Now everything looks good on paper. We all have our biblical principles online. Then we come across the chaos of real life and the chaos of our fallen world. We must be careful and sensitive to the different pastoral needs and contexts of our members. So what? See the following example.

We must be careful with our expectations as believers. Some people are new converts. Some are mature. Some have mental health problems. We hope that you will be in a constant battle between the old and the new in relation to recurrent sin in our lives. Therefore, in some cases, a lie of a mature believer is more troubling than the heroin addiction of a young believer. Therefore, we cannot have ecclesiastical discipline based solely on a list of less serious sins to more serious sins. Other factors come into play.

That is why there are steps towards ecclesiastical discipline in the Bible. Were they confronted individually, in front of a witness, or did they reach the elders and the church?These steps ensure control and balance and ensure fairness to the extent of our possibilities. We’re not perfect. By the time a matter of ecclesiastical discipline reaches niddrie’s congregation, it simply means that we have exhausted all other measures.

Some considerations

How long have you been Christians?

? What part of the Bible do you understand?

? Do they admit sin?

Do they seem saddened by sin or just annoying because you lifted it up?

? Have you confessed your sin or been discovered?

? Do they seem to be teachable?

? Are they open to correction?

Do they defend or justify their actions or see things as they are?

? Is there a context that makes current sin more likely to occur?

Were they led to sin by others or did they lead others to sin?

1 Corinthians 5:12 – 6. 5 makes it clear that we must judge the conflicts of others. Sometimes public sins occur and we have to do without the first steps. A arrested member is an example, either a public drunkenness or a child out of wedlock. There’s not much to do when this happens suddenly and unexpectedly. We must act quickly as a congregation because of our public testimony. However, we must be careful whether sin has been confessed. We cannot exclude people who repent of having sinned. Church membership is repentance and faith, not repentance, faith, and not committing sins.

We do not discipline people for sieding in the Niddrie Community Church, we discipline them because they generally and systematically do not repent.

Leeman says discipline should be applied when sin is public, serious, and without repentance. We don’t discipline people because they’re proud or greedy. We must see or hear sin. We can’t discipline people for thinking wrong, but if those thoughts become visible, we have to handle them. Love covers a multitude of sins, but it does not cover unrepentant sin. We can’t discipline ourselves indiscriminately. That would get us in trouble. If in doubt, you should always ask a mature Christian or one of the elders. If people do not respond to confrontation or refuse to repent and change, then we are on the path to exclusion.

Repentance is the key to how quickly discipline is overcome. Is the person struggling with his current sin or not?Here comes 1 Thessalonians 5. 14, as does Matthew 18. 9 onwards. Repentant people are jealous of turning away from their sin. They’re willing to do whatever it takes. End relationships, hand over your finances, make a public report. They come to every meeting they make, transform, and study the Bible. They don’t put things off and they can’t find excuses.

Ecclesiastical discipline should be kept as private as possible. You just have to go to church as a last resort, why?To protect the name of Christ and the people in question or any other innocent party. People should always benefit from the doubt. Sometimes people are wrongly accused. This often happens in Niddrie. No can discipline people without evidence and intuition. Lead with questions instead of accusations. Do not suppose that you know the depths of the heart (James 1:19). Leaders must lead the process and instruct the congregation. Sin is deceptive and complex. In Galatians 6, the spirituals are called to restore them gently. Young sheep can be easily deceived either by sin or to accept that it is not so bad. We must teach the sheep the danger of sin to the body in general.

[1] Methadone is a narcotic used primarily to treat heroin addicts

Translation: Eulina and Juan Siqueira. Crítica: Yago Martins. © 2016 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: original MinisterioFiel. com. br: Principles for the exercise of ecclesiastical discipline

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