The Necessity of Practicing Church Discipline

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 - Riley Boggs

This morning we come to what I think is a hard text. It’s not a hard text because it’s hard to understand. It’s not that there is confusing language, or the situation doesn’t make sense, or there’s hard theological truths that have to be explained. It’s none of that. Actually, I think this text is incredibly straightforward. There’s hardly any confusing language, the situation is explained well, and there’s not hard theological truths that come into play really.

No, the reason this text is hard because it’s about something that not a lot of people have seen done well. This text is about church discipline. If you don’t know what church discipline is, don’t worry because we are going to spend an extensive amount of time working through because of the text this morning. But very simply, church discipline is the process whereby someone is living in unrepentant sin, the church goes to them and tells them they must repent, they refuse, and then after multiple attempts, time, and prayer, this person is removed from the church. 

Some of you heard that last line and might have cringed a bit. It might sound harsh, extreme, unnecessary. Well that is why I think this text is so difficult, because of that perception of it. But here’s what I want us to see through this text this morning. That is wrong perception. Our gut reaction to hearing church discipline shouldn’t be that it is this harsh thing that should never be done. Instead we should see it as a necessary thing, that we never want to do, but will confidently do if the situation calls for it.

So let’s look at the text this morning. I am going to try my best to explain everything that is happening here in this text, and it’ll sort of apply itself as we work through it. Let’s start by simply looking at the context.

Context

Paul starts in verse saying that there has been a report about sexual immorality in their church that was made it all the way to Paul. And he says it’s the kind of sexual immorality that even those who outright love sin and hate God don’t tolerate. Apparently, a man, who is a part of this church. is engaging in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother. As horrible as this is, Paul’s primary concern in this text is not with this man’s actions, because clearly what he is doing is wrong. Paul’s primary concern is with how the church is handling the situation.

In verse 2 Paul says that they are arrogant about the situation. Apparently, the church has taken a posture of pride about the situation. Though even the Pagans find this kind of this wrong, the church has begun to brag about their tolerance. They are boasting about it. They are wearing like a badge of honor that their church tolerates this kind of thing.

And so Paul says, in verse 2, “Ought you not rather to mourn?” In other words, why in the world are you arrogant about this? Shouldn’t this break your heart? Shouldn’t this cause you pain to see someone in your midst fall into such deplorable sin? But no, apparently not. The Corinthians are not bothered by it.

Like I mentioned, Paul obviously disapproves of what the man is doing, but he seems to be more frustrated with how the church is refusing to do what they know they must do. What is that? Look at the end of verse 2. Paul says, “Let him who has done this be removed from among you.” Paul wants the church to remove this man from the church. They can’t keep on tolerating and celebrating this, they need to put an end to it. They need to remove him from the church.

Church Discipline

Nowhere in this text will you find the words “church discipline”. But, what Paul is calling for here is that. Paul is telling the church that they need to remove the man from membership, which is what we formally call practicing church discipline.

Okay so what is church discipline? Let’s take a brief aside and look at this, and then see how Paul describes it here in this text. We’ll start by looking at a passage in the book of Matthew. So if you would, turn with me to Matthew 18:15-20. In this text Jesus gives directions for how to go about church discipline. He gives exact directions as to what to do and how to do it. 

So starting in verse 15 Jesus says, “15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[f] in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Alright, so what is he saying here? He says that if your brother, that is someone who professed faith in Christ and is following him, sins against you, go and talk to him alone. There’s no need at this point to bring anyone else. Then, if he refuses to repent of his sin, you should take one or two others with you and go back to him. If he still refuses to repent, then you should tell it to the whole church, and the whole church should plead with him to repent. If he still refuses, you should treat him as an unbeliever. He shouldn’t be seen as one who is among you anymore and should be removed from the church until, by God’s grace, he repents and can be restored to back to the church.

Now there’s a few things I want to note about this. First, church discipline isn’t a fun thing. Paul says that they should mourn while they do this. Churches shouldn’t be eager to do this, and they ought to pray that it never has to happen. But also, they must be willing to do it when the situations arises. When someone who is a part of the church and professes to know Christ, but refuses to obey Him, even when people show him his sin and agree to walk with him through it, then they are showing themselves to either not know Christ at all, or be in a period of disobedience. And in both cases, church discipline is what needs to take place.

The second thing I want to note is the way in which Jesus designed church discipline to minimize the amount of embarrassment for the person in sin. If someone in the church is living in sin, and someone goes to them and they repent of it, there is no need for anyone else to know. There doesn’t need to be more embarrassment, that person has repented. That is how Jesus designed it. But, if there is a refusal to repent, then the embarrassment grows a bit. Now there are multiple people who are aware of the sin, and the hope is that the person will turn from their sin there. Again, no one else needs to know if they repent. But if they don’t, then it ramps up even more. Now the whole church is made aware in hopes that the person will see what they need to do and allow the church to walk with them in repentance. Beyond this, if they don’t repent, then they are removed from the church.

I want to make note of this because it shows the kindness of God to give the church a way to handle sin that minimizes embarrassment and promotes forgiveness and restoration. I also wanted to point this out because it seems like Paul skips the first 2 steps in this case. He doesn’t go to him himself, he doesn’t encourage just a couple to go to him, and he doesn’t even tell the church as a whole to go to him. He immediately says, you need to remove him. Is Paul going about this wrong, skipping the proper steps?

No, it’s not that. Church discipline is designed to minimize embarrassment so that the least amount of people necessarily knows about the sin. But, when the sin is public and known already, there is no need to go through these steps. In this case you have a man who is living in public sin, the church is bragging about it publicly, and Paul who isn’t even in Corinth knows about it. There is no need for the first few steps, the church needs to remove him.

That is what he is getting at in verses 3-5. He says though I am not there in Corinth, it is clear what you all need to do based on what has been reported to me. He says this man is proud of his sin, he is not turning from it, and so next time you all gather as church, you need to remove him from the church. Paul says, I have made judgment, as God has enabled the church to do in these matters, and this is what needs to take place.

Two quick notes before I explain why the church needs to do this, or for what purpose. The first note is that this whole process requires what is called Regenerate Church Membership. All that means is that each person who is accepted into the church has professed their faith and demonstrated an understanding of the Gospel. And, if someone is acting in such a way that they do not know Christ, refuse to repent of it, they can no longer be a member. This whole idea demands that the church have a membership. How could a church remove someone if there is nothing to remove them from? How could a church as a whole decide to do such a thing if there is no membership to make a decision? At Covenant our membership process as a whole is our best attempt at replicating what the Bible encourages it to look like, and I think this text is a great example of that.

The second note is that there is judgment involved in this, which can feel a bit wrong. But God has equipped His people to make the judgements when necessary, and we have to obey in making them when necessary. This doesn’t mean we watch everyone as close as possible and soon as they sin, we yell “church discipline, church discipline!” No, it’s not that at all. 1 Peter 4:8 says that love covers a multitude of sins. That is, there are times when someone sins against us in the church in an uncharacteristic way, and so we choose to overlook it. There isn’t a need to address it. But, when there is a sin, and we make the judgement that it is enough that needs to be addressed, we are to go to that person and say, “hey brother, I just want to talk about something I’ve noticed. I’m not here to embarrass you, to shame you, or to hurt you. I am here to urge you to repent of it, let me walk with you through it. Let’s grow in Christ.” Then, we judge whether or not that person has repented and is seeking to grow. If, after a time it is clear they have not repented or attempted to grow, then we make another judgment call, and so on and so forth. These are necessary judgements that the church has been equipped to make.

Why and for what purpose?

Alright, now let’s answer the question of why Paul is telling the church they need to do this, or for what purpose they are doing it?

Look at verse 5 with me. Paul says, “…you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Does that first part seem a bit harsh to you? I mean wow, deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh? No, I don’t think it is harsh, especially when you read the latter half of the verse, which is the purpose for doing this.

One of these two reasons Paul is telling them to do this is because church discipline is the means God has provided for believers to see their need for repentance. We are self-deceivers, and we often don’t see things as we should. And so God has provided a way for the church to help one another see their sin, even feel the effects of their sin, so that they might turn from it. The hope is that when sin gets to the point where one person privately goes to them and there is repentance. That is a beautiful and wonderful thing. But sometimes, we can be so deceived by our sin and entangled in it, that more is required. 

Consider the man in this story. He doesn’t see anything wrong with what he is doing. He’s still a member of the church and nothing has changed. As far as he is concerned all is well. But, what about when the church removes him? Now all of sudden he feels a bit isolated. The people who loved him, cared for him, and wanted what is best for him, have said that he cannot do this anymore. And then he begins to feel the weight of what he is doing. He realizes that everything the church has been saying is true, he can’t do this. And so he repents of his ways, he ends the sinful relationship, and he goes to the church and says, “I am sorry. I was living in sin, I was blinded by it. But because you all did what was necessary, I now see it. And so I repent of what I have done and ask that you would bring me back in.” And then the church welcomes this brother back in with forgiveness and open arms. 

Some of you may be thinking, “but how often does that actually work?” I have 2 examples, one from Scripture and one from my own life. The first one can be seen in the 2 Corinthians 2:5-11. Paul writes, to this same church, “5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. 6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” It seems like from this example the church had disciplined someone else, and they have returned and have asked for forgiveness, and Paul urges them to do it. He tells them to forgive, comfort, and reaffirm their love for him.

The second example I won’t give the whole story, but in short, we were at a church and before we were there, they had disciplined a lady who had married an unbeliever. They went through all the steps, urged her to repent, and she would not, so she was removed. Years later now, Shelby and I are members there, and this lady emails the pastors repenting for what she had done. She explained how she had realized her error and asked to publicly repent to the church. And so, we were there, and she did. The church welcomed her back in like I couldn’t believe, and now she is faithfully walking with Christ and the church.

My only warning is that we write this off because it doesn’t seem to work, or it doesn’t seem affective or something like that. We are called to be obedient in what God has said, and that includes this, no matter what we think will come of it. And, it does work. There are many more examples of it doing what it is intended to do. The point here is that one reason we practice this, when necessary, is so that their sinfulness will be destroyed. They will out of the church and in the world, where the ruler of this age dwells, which is Satan. And in the world, outside of the church, the hope is that they will see their sin, turn from it, and be saved in the day of the Lord. The hope of all Church discipline is restoration and repentance.

Alright, the second reason Paul urges the church to do this can be seen in verses 6-8. Paul says, “6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Here’s what he is getting at. Not only is church discipline the means God has provided for believers to see their need for repentance, but it is also the means by which God protects the church.

In this section Paul talks about how a little leaven leavens the whole lump? And that they need to cleanse out the old leaven so that they be a new lump, which is unleavened. The he comments on how the old leaven is malice and evil, while the new unleavened bread is sincerity and truth. Here is Paul using an illustration from the Old Testament where the Israelites were commanded punish those who had committed serious sins, by death. He actually quotes Deuteronomy in verse 13 here when he says, “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Though the kind of purging is very different now, as we are not saying the church needs to enforce capital punishment for this, the reason for it is the same. The reason that they did this in Israel and the reason that the church is to remove those who refuse to repent is because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Leaven is what makes bread rise and it does not take a lot of it to make a whole loaf of bread rise. It just takes a little. And so the same is with the church here. If someone is living in unrepentant sin and the church refuses to remove them, then there will be an effect on the whole church. 

Rather than ignoring the issue and not doing what we have been commanded to do, we are to address it. We are to remove them, walk as the people God called us to be. He saved us to be a holy people. A people marked by repentance and striving to be more like Christ. Paul says that is what we ought to celebrate. Christ was sacrificed on our behalf for this very purpose. How could we then pretend as if we are not a holy people and allow a little leaven to leaven the whole? We should be marked with sincerity and truth, unleavened, not malice and evil, which is leavened. We are to celebrate holiness and not tolerate this kind of unrepentant sin.

And in doing this, God is using it to protect the church. He is using us and the judgment abilities to purge out those who are going to harm the church. These people, when removed, will either be true believers who return and are restored. Or, they will never repent and show themselves to be unbelievers. In the first case, the person has been protected from their sinful path. In the second, the church has been protected from the effects of unaddressed sin.

Alright, let’s look at this last section. There can be very practical questions that arrive from this section, and I want to help us make sense of it. I mentioned this in the very first sermon on 1 Corinthians, but this is not the first letter Paul has written to this church. Paul refers to a previous letter to this church that we simply do not have. But, we get a clue as to what might have been said in it here in verse 9. He says, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.” It seems as if Paul had written to them telling them to distance themselves from sexual immoral people in this first letter, but the church took it in the wrong way. How do we know this? Look at verse 10.

He says, by do not associate with sexually immoral people I did not mean that you shouldn’t associate with the sexually immoral of the world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since you would need to go out of the world. In other words, he is saying it’s impossible to do that, so I am not asking you to do this. If you are going to live in the world, you are going to be around people who do all of these things. It is part of living here and interacting with humans.

If that isn’t what Paul is saying, then what is he saying? He is saying not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer, or he says, “bears the name brother”, if they are guilty of sexual immorality, greed, or are an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler. He says not to even eat with such a one. Put simply, this is what he is saying. When you discipline someone from the church, like this man, and they are removed, there needs to be a change in the relationship. The fact that they have been removed and are living in unrepentant sin needs to be felt. If you are hanging out with all the time and acting as if nothing is wrong, then they aren’t going to experience the purpose of church discipline.

It isn’t that you can’t literally talk with them or eat with them, but every time you do there has to be their need for repentance mentioned. You can’t ignore it, it has to be a point every time you see them. And this is unique to those who are in this position, who have professed faith and are now living in sin. Paul makes the distinction between this person and everyone else because that is not how we treat unbelievers. We aren’t called to judge them by a standard in which they do not claim, God judges them, and so not every conversation with an unbeliever has to be about them repenting. But for the one who does claim to know Christ, but doesn’t live like it, it can’t be ignored.

Let’s summarize all of this and make a point of application. Paul writes to this church about this man, but his main issue is the lack of response from the church. They are not doing what God has commanded them to do in these situations. So first of all, let’s commit ourselves to praying that this may never be the case, but if it has to be, we do it in faith.

Second, let’s trust God’s Word and His Ways despite how things might seem, or even how we might have seen them done poorly. We aren’t in the business of kicking people out of the church impulsively. We aren’t practicing church discipline with big smiles. No, none of this. If it ever comes to this, and we all should pray that it never will, but if it does, we do it with broken hearts. We do it mournfully, in the proper way, and with the hope of restoration. We do it because we trust God and we trust what He says. 

The Corinthians Church thought they had a better way, and I’m sure a lot other churches have thought the same. But that is not us. In joining this church we have committed to one another to this very thing. We have entrusted ourselves to one another, to be watchful of one another. To love one another, pray for one another, and if the time comes, to go to one another to address sin. If you hear all of this and you think, “gosh, I never want to be disciplined by the church, that sounds so hard.” That is a good thing. It’s supposed to have that affect. We all love one another so dearly and are committed to walking together, and so the idea of discipline is a helpful guard for us to pursue holiness and avoid sin.

One of the reason God instituted the practice of the Lord’s Supper for the church is so that we can visibly proclaim to one another in this room that we are committed to Christ and to one another. It is why we eat and drink together together. Because we are not doing this alone.