I hate sin. I hate how it affects my relationship with others and with God. But even more, I hate it because of “why” it affects my relationship with God. It makes me different than Him when I want so much to be like Him. God is love. All He does is light and life. Sin hides in darkness and its fruit is death. A very important moment in my spiritual walk came when I realized that every sin I committed brought forth destruction. How could I continue doing things that hurt others? God wanted me to walk in love. It was no longer just about obtaining mercy. It was about becoming like Him. The problem was that I was not always aware of what my sinful habits were. And even when I realized it, I was not immediately able to change. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 6:24). The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord! I have written more about our victory over sin in previous articles. In this one, I want to discuss our need for discipline to help us obtain that victory.
The purpose of discipline is to help develop in us the fruit of the Spirit called self-control. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2Tim. 1:7). The Greek word translated as “a sound mind” means “discipline” and is often translated “self-control”. Developing this fruit is a process which occurs as we walk in the Spirit through the obedience of faith. Until it becomes self-control, our Father trains us with His discipline, that we may partake of His holiness (Heb. 12:10). We must submit to this discipline even though it is not pleasant. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:11).
I have made it my goal to respond quickly to God’s discipline because the longer I resist, the more unpleasant it becomes. If I fail to recognize His rebuke in my spirit, it then comes through others or circumstances. I prefer to discern it in my spirit, but that is not always the case. I also want to receive it when it comes through people because Scripture says: “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you; give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” (Prov. 9:8b,9). I must hear and take heed to what is good. If I do not receive correction as quickly as I should, please forgive me and be patient with me. When we speak a word from God to others, He continues to speak even after we stop. God may also continue His discipline by withdrawing from me and allowing me to bear the wages of my sins. As much as I try to resist the devil in those situations, nothing works until I submit to God in humility and repentance (Jas. 4:6-10).
Now if I persist in my error, for the sake of those whom I am hurting, you should involve others to help convince me of what is right. This process, which we call church discipline, is explained in Matthew Chapter 18. It is a practice that has too often been applied incorrectly because of our lack of spiritual maturity. As the Church continues to mature in these last days, we must learn to apply this as God wants us to. Otherwise, it will be as Paul said, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1Cor. 5:6). If you read chapter five in the first epistle to the Corinthians, you will see that the Church is required, is such situations, to judge. Oh, how difficult it is to understand this whole subject of judging others and ourselves! The key principle is authority. As individuals, we are not to judge the servant of another, but Jesus has delegated some of this to the Church (Matt. 18:17-19).
If we are to understand church discipline, we must know its nature and purpose. Jesus warns against causing any of His children to sin. When that happens, they become like lost sheep who are so precious to Him that we should leave the hundred to find the one that is lost. It is in this context that Jesus instructs us on how to address a sinning brother. There are two goals involved here. First, we are trying to save the one that is lost. But we are also trying to protect the rest of the flock. It is balancing these two goals that makes church discipline difficult. It requires balance because the one who offends is also one who is lost. Jesus included both topics in the same discourse because we must see both sides concurrently.
Let us apply this to my situation. If after coming before the leaders of the church, I am still choosing to walk in error, then for the sake of the flock, I should be removed from the congregation. There is time for working with someone in error, and there is a time for judgment. When Jesus described the sinner as a slave to sin, He said: “a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” Jesus gave the woman Jezebel time to repent before casting her unto a sick bed (Rev. 2:20-22). I pray that nothing like that would ever occur to me, but if it did, I would rather suffer the destruction of the body then cause others to fall away from my Lord. Such a drastic measure is what the Lord meant when He said if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off (Matt. 18:8). But, before you do that, let me ask for one more thing. Turn away from me for only a time, while you pray that God would grant me the gift of repentance (2Tim. 2:25,26). Now if God answers your prayer and I come to my senses, please do not be like the older brother who could not receive again his repentant brother (Lu. 15:32). There is a time to judge and a time to be merciful.
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” (Jas. 5:19,20).
Highway in the Wilderness 