1) God disciplines those He loves (Heb 12:5-11), and a father disciplines the son that he loves (Prov 3:11-12).
2) How does a church discipline its stubborn members? The Lord Jesus instructs the church to treat as a pagan or an outsider someone who does not repent despite repeated rebukes. This means isolation and no fellowship. The isolation is the discipline. If the members love the brother who is unrepentant, they will not fellowship with him until he truly repents.
3) In 1 Corinthians 5:1–5, Paul instructs the church to remove a man guilty of blatant sexual immorality, delivering him “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.” Later, in 2 Corinthians 2:6–8, Paul urges the church to forgive and comfort the man, reaffirming their love for him—showing that the discipline led to repentance and restoration. This illustrates the redemptive purpose of church discipline.
4) If the church does not practice church discipline in isolating the unrepentant, such a church is not practicing love.
Hi Pastor Ed Pilapil Jr. I have a question to clarify with. In John 2:9 "Whoever says he is in the light and HATES HIS BROTHERS is still in darkness." Is John referring in this particular passage “hating his brother” as a person only or both, as a person and as well as the sin in him? If he meant “as a person only” then this would have no problem for the forthcoming verse in I John 2:15 it says “Do not love the world or anything in the world… 16 for everything in the world (meaning all the sins that the world does) - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world.” Another view is: In the context of Matthew 18:17 it says, “treat him as a pagan.” To treat someone as a pagan, we do not show love for that person. His refusal to listen and abide to the church’s counsel regarding sin put him in this situation. So, if we treat him as an outsider, this is not showing love, right? How do we now reconcile this passage with that of I John 2:9? Salamat po.
I hope I answered your question. Exercising church discipline should be an act of love, not hate. We must guard our hearts when the church practices church discipline.
There should be no hate in the heart of a believer in enforcing church discipline by refusing fellowship.
1) God disciplines those He loves (Heb 12:5-11), and a father disciplines the son that he loves (Prov 3:11-12).
2) How does a church discipline its stubborn members? The Lord Jesus instructs the church to treat as a pagan or an outsider someone who does not repent despite repeated rebukes. This means isolation and no fellowship. The isolation is the discipline. If the members love the brother who is unrepentant, they will not fellowship with him until he truly repents.
3) In 1 Corinthians 5:1–5, Paul instructs the church to remove a man guilty of blatant sexual immorality, delivering him “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved.” Later, in 2 Corinthians 2:6–8, Paul urges the church to forgive and comfort the man, reaffirming their love for him—showing that the discipline led to repentance and restoration. This illustrates the redemptive purpose of church discipline.
4) If the church does not practice church discipline in isolating the unrepentant, such a church is not practicing love.
In I John 2:9 "Whoever says he is in the light and HATES HIS BROTHERS is still in darkness."
Hi Pastor Ed Pilapil Jr. I have a question to clarify with. In John 2:9 "Whoever says he is in the light and HATES HIS BROTHERS is still in darkness." Is John referring in this particular passage “hating his brother” as a person only or both, as a person and as well as the sin in him? If he meant “as a person only” then this would have no problem for the forthcoming verse in I John 2:15 it says “Do not love the world or anything in the world… 16 for everything in the world (meaning all the sins that the world does) - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- comes not from the Father but from the world.” Another view is: In the context of Matthew 18:17 it says, “treat him as a pagan.” To treat someone as a pagan, we do not show love for that person. His refusal to listen and abide to the church’s counsel regarding sin put him in this situation. So, if we treat him as an outsider, this is not showing love, right? How do we now reconcile this passage with that of I John 2:9? Salamat po.
I hope I answered your question. Exercising church discipline should be an act of love, not hate. We must guard our hearts when the church practices church discipline.
Clear po Pastor Ed. So, that means it is based on the individual that exercise church discipline not on the other person.