Joe Morecraft continues his

Aspects of Biblical Church Government

with Part VII,
Biblical Church Discipline and
the Purity of the Church
I
n 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-
12; 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 the
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, if 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 to observe what-
ever Christ has commanded us, Psalm
1: 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. 13; 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. 28:18[
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.
Row is the Purity of the
Church in Its Doctrine and Life
to 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 25
whereby a church might preserve and ad-
vaqce its purity of doctrine and
As we use these three means, depending
upon the Spirit of .Christ to enipower
therri, the purity of . the ChCh . wi11 be
maintained and advanced. They ate: [1]
The careful admission of'people into
the church's membership and to the
Lord's Table; [2] the pracdceof 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 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
- life of 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
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 correct us when we
ate wrong, that we equipped.
for every good work, II Tim. 3: 16-17. .
The Careful Admission of
People into the Membership
of the
The one requirement for church
bership is a . crecijble profession of
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
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 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? 55:6-
8; I Jn. Does he to have a
hunger for the Word of God? Does he
have a measure of soundness in what he
believes? (Jn. , 14:23; 16:13f; Psa.
119:81-88, Is there some
dence of holiness and the fruit of. the
Spirit in his . (G31. 5:2223; I
Jn. 2:3-6) Is there a desire in him to be
long to God's believing congregation
ail4 to enjoy the fellowship of God's
people? (I In; 3:1415; 3:16-
18) Does he know the 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 of Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 26
. Discipleship or clllistian Discipline is
comprised of three components: In-
struction, which is preventive dis-
cipline; Chastisement, . which is
rective discipline; and Counseling,
which is restorative discipline. Preven-
discipline 1sthe exericise of 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
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. It is the protecting and
ing ministry of the church. It is the
teaching of the disciples and their
lies to observe all that Christ has
manded us. 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.
14, where "admonish" is better
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 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.
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
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
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, if they would suffer his
covenant, and the seals thereof, to be
profaned by notorious and obstinate
offenders. -- For the better attaining of
these ends, the officers of the church are
to proceed 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
each 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 and discipling of m ~
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 of Matthew 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, if 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, if 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, if this fails, and the of-
fender hardens in his sinful ways, the
Session is to cut him off from the fel-
lowship 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 restored 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 cooperated in practicing church
discipline.
There are several ways the Session
may correct and discipline 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 are 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 of Chalcedon Jan.-Feb., 1990 page 27
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; ll Thes. 3:6,14
4. Persistent sins against revealed
truth--I Tim. 1:19-20; Tit. 3:10;
llJn.lO.
increased, 2: 17.
The Authority for Corrective
Church Discipline
In 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. If
they are allowed to remain unchecked,
they will eventua:Ily destroy the fel-
lowship completely, Heb. 12:14-17; I
Cor. 5:6,7.
In 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? It 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 this 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
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
their proceedings, when conducted'agree-
bly to SCripture, are ratified in heaven.
Presbyterians mainiain that these keys
The Counsel of Chalcedon page 28
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:I1
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, An Exposi-
. tion of the Westminster Confession of
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 of God'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