Church Matters: Disciple

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 ESV

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 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. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 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. 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. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."

A community that takes discipline seriously will do more for your spiritual growth than any interesting sermon will.

This message will not be popular with the culture around us.

How it is the mark of a gospel centered church

Paul is not surprised that this man is in a relationship with his step-mom. This was so beyond the pale even the pagans didn't tolerate it. Corinth is known for wild behavior, but even this is something they didn't tolerate.

Paul is appalled by how the church is acting in this situation. The church in Corinth had a gospel with grace that had no bound in behavior. It doesn't challenge or call people to live differently. This gospel does not call us to hate sin and cheapens grace.

The motivation of church discipline

We are God's holy people.

"Cleansing the old leaven" means instead of using yeast they used spoiled dough to make their bread rise. Why get rid of all the leaven? Because this can cause effects to the entire batch of dough. A little sin can cause contamination to the whole of the dough. We are not cleansing to become pure. God calls us pure, therefore cleanse yourselves of find. We are holy, so act accordingly.

We are God's family.

The LORD disciplines those he loves. All good discipline comes from love. We also need to be willing to cause some pain in the cause of loving them. We discipline those within the family, not non-believers. "Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? Our lifestyle is to match the faith we profess.

We are God's ambassadors.

Whether we like it or not, we represent God on earth. Non-believers look to the church for a glimpse of God. What appeal do we have for the glory of Christ to those who don't know Him? To act otherwise is to dirty the image of God to unbelievers.

The method of church discipline
Kicking people out and handing people over to Satan is not the first step of church discipline. This is the last resort.

How you go: gently and humbly

Galatians 6:1 ESV
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

This should happen informally and privately on a regular basis, especially within community groups.

Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
"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.  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.  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.

The process looks like this:

One-on-one (informal)
Bring one or two along (informal)
Tell it to the church (formal)
Treat them as unbeliever (formal)

To get from informal to formal discipline,  judgement comes from an unrepentant heart, as a characteristic. Not just fighting greed, but just straight greedy. There is not  any attempt to fight sin. There is no fruit that is found in those who have the Spirit. No evidence of life-saving faith. Then we are called to treat them as unbelievers; one in need of the gospel. The reason to push him out of the church is to show him or her that they have strayed from the path of Christ. We are not to be mean to them. We are to call them to repentance, just like any unbeliever. To follow the one LORD and Savior.