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Discipline

Biblical insights and helps to carefully in care confront sin, bad behaviors and what your church can do to better discipline its people.

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19

Church Discipline is not punishment; rather it is showing the reconciliation that Jesus gives us when we sin and fall off His path.
 
Thus we need to train our people right, confront sin and errors in love and restore when one repents as Christ restored us. The leadership and ministers of any given church are called not only to administer the sacraments or conduct teaching and the ministries thereof, but also to care for the people He gives us. In so doing, this also means to confront sin and deal with it in a biblical and healthy manner. This includes church discipline, so we can help people be shown the reconciliation that Jesus gives, and so to be conformed to the precepts and character of Christ and stay away from sin. And when we venture into sin, we have accountability and people here who care to bring us back on the right track and thus experience the power, love and liberation we have in Christ.

The Christian is the real radical of our generation, for he stands against the monolithic, modern concept of truth as relative. But too often, instead of being the radical, standing against the shifting sands of relativism, he subsides into merely maintaining the status quo. If it is true that evil is evil, that God hates it to the point of the cross, and that there is a moral law fixed in what God is in Himself, then Christians should be the first into the field against what is wrong. ... Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who is There

When should a Christian Judge?

We are called to judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13; Galatians 6:1; 1 John 4:1). We are to be discerning, and not allow immorality and false teachings to emerge from our lives, the Church, or allow such things to attack the Church from the outside. It is just as the U.S. military is commissioned to protect citizens from enemies, both foreign and domestic! The Lord also condemns judging in the spirit of self-righteousness and condemnation, without mercy or love (Luke 6:36-37; James 2:13).

So, what should we do? The right way to help someone with "faults" is to go to them privately with constructive criticism in love, and offer gentle, humble analysis and help that would lift them up (Matthew 10: 12-15; Acts 13:42-46; 2 Timothy 2:24-26). If we remain silent when people do dumb things, they will keep doing them and hurt the Church. It is the same with the teaching of false doctrine or when someone behaves wrongly; we have to act, but act in the parameters of the Fruits of the Spirit. We are not to allow reproach, that is, false impressions, to come upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, causing Him to be misrepresented. Remember the need for prayer and the need for love!

When we fully recognize our dependence on Christ, and fully feel the love and acceptance we have from Him, our spiritual walk will increase. When our walk increases, the flow of love and care will proceed from us in a powerful and focused way, because then we will see that we already have all that we could ever want or need. All that we are, and all that we could ever be, is found in Christ. Just remember, this just does not accidentally happen; you have to work at it!

May God help keep us all from such judging, and enable us to be more useful in helping others with their problems.

Remember we do not deserve His love and grace, yet it is given to us anyway.

These Bible study resources are insights into God's Word to see what He desires and requires on how to lead churches when relationships are not going right:

What is Sin?

Sin

Sin is missing the mark that our Lord has for us. Sin is a violation against God and His people.

Recognizing Sin

What are the actions that we think we can hide from God?

What is sin and what does it do? We live in a world corrupted by sin, so everything is degraded from what it was meant to do. Man, the land, animals, plants, the air, everything is touched. Thus, the consequences of that fallen nature impact everything.

 
How does our Lord call us to deal with the sin in others? With truthfulness and love!
 
 
Hypocrisy and judgmental attitudes cause some of the biggest problems in the Church, and spill over to others outside her walls whose concept of a Church is ...
 
God calls us to deal with wrong behaviors and teachings
 
 
Repentance is both a "summons" to seek Him first and a "summery" of the Gospel's impact and "regeneration" upon us so we make a life change in Christ.
 
 
Confession is the event of responding to the Gospel's message, then acknowledging our faith publicly.
 
 
Should you Judge, if so why and when and when not?
 
 
Most Christians have not yet discovered who they are in Christ. They elevate their desires, goals, and aspirations over anyone else's, even the Lord's.
 
 
Christ came to give us peace. However, we often turn it into strife.
 
 
It is why society needs law and order, why churches need discipline and how much we have been saved by our Lord...
 
 
Why? Because; words can get us in so much trouble, and serve both for the good of the Kingdom and the determent of the Church...
 
 
Fruit produces motives stemming from our spiritual maturity in Christ. If we are seeking His wisdom, we are being righteous and measuring twice...
 
 
If you are a person who is up to no good and you do not want to be found out, you can attack those who are good with false allegations, gossip, and slander.
 
 
Jesus shows the ultimate care as He seeks us out to offer salvation that we do not deserve and continues to seek us when we wander from Him!
 
 
We are called to get our minds lined up with God—His Way, His precepts, and His plan.
 
 
The result is respect, cooperation, unity, community, and the power of His Fruit at work.
 
 
The authentic knowledge of Christ that is revealed to us is the foundation of our faith.
 
 
Take heed, God will destroy those who are wicked; but take comfort, for He also will rescue those who are in Him.
 
 
False teachers, in their lust for new nuances that are not true or seeking what is a lie over and against what is clearly revealed in Scripture as truth are foolish and harmful to others.
 
Principle Scriptural Passages on Church Discipline: Prov. 28:13; Matt. 5:23-24; 18:1-18; 1 Cor. 4:6; 5:1-13; 5:6-8; 2 Cor. 2:6; Gal. 6:1-2; Eph. 4:15; 1 Thess. 5:14-15; 2 Thess. 3:6-15; 1 Tim. 5:1-2; 2 Tim. 2:24-25; 4:2; Heb. 12:6-11; 1 Pet. 1:16; 2:11-18; 3:8-16; 4:1-19; 1 John 1:9

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17

For a step by step procedure on how to implement Church Discipline see our Conflict Solving channel

More helps on our Problem Solving and Accountability channels. To help people recover from any sin see our recovery channel.

See the full Bible studies on these passage on our sister site, www.intothyword.org

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