Church Discipline

1 Corinthians 5 is a passage about a member of the body of Christ living in unrepentant sin. This man had “suffered shipwreck in regard to [his] faith.” (1 Timothy 1:19) Though he knew God’s word said that what he was doing was wrong, he nevertheless refused to listen. His sin was too lovely.

Sadly such a spiritual travesty is all too common in the body of Christ (one is too common). It was in Paul’s day where we read of

• Demas.
• Alexander the coppersmith.
• Hymenaeus.
• Judas.

So what are we to do when a brother or sister chooses this path? The good news is that it is not up for discussion. We do not need to speculate! God has given us very specific guidelines for what ought to be done. The foundation upon which the teaching and instruction of church discipline is founded gives us an important pastoral tool.