Giving of material blessings is part of our worship as we acknowledge that God provides for us in abundance so we can give things away to bless others. We can’t view this as a way to “obtain the gift of God with money” (Acts 8:20) or we’ll be subject to correction as Simon the Sorcerer was. You can’t buy God’s blessing. However, God does bless us as we give to others. It gives us a chance to be like our Father by giving to others.
You need to participate joyfully and not under compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:7) for this Means of Grace to provide the benefits in your life that you would like. God gives joyfully and without compulsion and so should we. God also sends His rain on the just and unjust and a portion of our giving can be to people who don’t necessarily deserve it. I still remember a non-Christian who told me that he wouldn’t give blood because the might give it to a crook or some other undeserving person. I think he was just scared to give blood but I’m glad God doesn’t only give to the deserving since there are none righteous and no one deserves salvation. It is good to give when others don’t know that you gave. We have lots of chances to be generous to family, friends, and strangers. It is an attitude adjustment that we are continually challenged with. Our sin nature will drift us toward selfishness and the Holy Spirit will graciously change us so that we are more like our Father.
This week, in addition to your giving this morning in the worship service, give something to someone else and, if possible, do it in a way that they will be unable to figure out who gave the gift. Do this to worship God who gave to you when you didn’t know Him.
Church Discipline
I guess I’d just as soon dodge this topic because I’ve rarely seen Church Discipline work as a Means of Grace. However, it promotes holiness and therefore, by definition, it is a Means of Grace. Pascal really hit the nail on the head when he said, “Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness (Blaise Pascal; 1623-1662). This difference between piety and goodness becomes intertwined with any discussion of church discipline and typically the piety part starts to poison the process.
What is supposed to happen is that when the church stands up for righteousness and calls sin as sin then the sinner in their midst, in response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, experiences “godly grief” that leads to salvation without regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). I’ve only rarely been in a position in which I’d guess that things were done rightly with regard to discipline. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes and that is good and I don’t know about it. However, no “good” comes of church discipline unless the Holy Spirit is moving in the lives of both the folks called on to stand for righteousness. When the motive is piety (in the sense used by Pascal) then only friction and trouble result. The problem is in both those who believe themselves to be pious and those who are sinning (and probably consider themselves pious as well).
God makes it clear that we are simply participating with the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 5:4 and 4:19–20; Matthew 16:19 and 18:18–20). It isn’t an option for us to consider but this is something we are called to as a church. It would be best if we didn’t think of it as something we dread and avoid with all the energy we can muster.
We have found it much more comfortable to focus on not being judged (Matthew 7:1) that we have forgotten what the verse means because justifying sin is more comfortable than confronting it. This is not an irrelevant topic for Baptists. We’ve (a few hundred years ago) known how to deal with these Scriptures. At one time what the Bible said about right and wrong was used for biblical correction, encouragement, rebuke, and even excommunication or dis-fellowshiping. We tend to argue about church style and avoid sin and doctrine. That is not typical on a historic basis for our denomination. We are currently in a culture that tends to allow each individual to interpret biblical commands as they see fit and minimizes or eliminates any corporate confessions of faith (Like the London Baptist Confession in 1689).
Now we don’t like conflict but discipline has positive connotations too. For example, discipline and discipleship are joined. We have our memory scriptures as a discipline to train our minds. Bible study and prayer are disciplines.
It is the negative forms of discipline that we don’t care for and that require some confrontation with sin. They include warning, rebuke, admonition, and disfellowshiping someone in response to sin. Both the positive disciplines and negative disciplines are Means of Grace in the way they affect the Church and individuals within the Church. The objective of the Holy Spirit is always for the good of the Church and never to create a piety that festers into self righteousness. We also never are in the position of condemning a person’s soul (Jesus’ point when He said, “Judge not”).
Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I won’t be scared because of His rod (of correction) and staff (of direction). God will correct me. He will discipline me. He will use the church most of the time (I hope since I’d prefer that to direct confrontation with Him). All of God’s correction is redemptive in nature.
Not only is the individual redeemed but the fellowship is to be purified. If I am ever convicted of a crime (like murder or theft or even willfully lying on my tax return) then I am hoping that you as a fellowship will take away my membership. Even if I am innocent I will be disappointed in you as a fellowship if you don’t remove me from membership. It is a purity issue for the local Church. After I make restitution and show evidence of repentance for a suitable period of time (years I expect) then I’d hope that you might reconsider my membership.
A positive corollary to redemption of the individual is the protection or restoration of the corporate witness of the church in the community after being soiled by a publicly known sin committed by a church member.
Hebrews 12:5-8
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“ My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is
treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
God encourages us to take discipline seriously and remember that God’s motivation is love. That encouragement would apply to both the positive and negative aspects of discipline and we should certainly be humble and cautious when God has us in the role of either recipient or administrator of discipline.
Hebrews 12:9-11
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Lack of discipline within a family is not love. This Scripture actually states that discipline is a means of Grace since it is in our lives so that we can share God’s holiness and since it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Hebrews 12:12-16
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
Therefore is a key word for understanding the flow and context of Scripture. In this case it joins discipline as a Means of Grace to hope and actions to purify our life. Peace and holiness are goals for the Body of Christ and we are to guard against bitterness towards others and against immorality and unholy behavior. Discipline is supposed to be the foundation for these works of Grace in our lives.
Matt 18:15-17I’ve seen this Scripture applied once in a fellowship where I was. The Pastorate had a case of sexual immorality that progressed to the point at which the person was asked to stand up and the congregation was told they were living in sin and that they were to break off fellowship with the person. This was an act of love since this person was in a very dangerous position. It was certainly a mild correction compared to the correction that God would eventually bring in the life of a Christian or the judgment waiting someone who dies without Christ.
If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 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.
Of course the “piety” versus “good” issue will raise it’s head if we are not submitted to the Holy Spirit. If we remember that our righteousness is as filthy rags then we will consider our own hearts and keep them with diligence. I think we easily forget when we are being used to correct someone that the temptation to our heart is less likely to be to the sin we are correcting than to the sin of pride and self righteousness. When I or my brother were sinning against our father (and on the rare occasion we were not in cahoots) all I could really do was tell my brother what I knew was right (and he did too) and remove myself from his presence if he was going to continue. I could try to stop him by force but then we’d generally both end up subject to discipline from my father.
If you love a brother in Christ you’ll break fellowship if they are in unrepentant sin. You must not give the impression that sin is OK or you’ll be making crooked paths for your feet and that which is weak will be damaged. A whole fellowship can be subject to discipline if they neglect to identify sin.
1 Corinthians 5:1-2We need to see the sin as a corporate problem and not just a personal failing. Lack of dealing with sin is a cause for mourning not pride.
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.
1 Corinthians 5:3-8Paul was in a position with regard to purity and goodness (not just a self righteousness) that he could state that they needed to act on his behalf to deliver the person for discipline for the sinners good. We also covered the Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace and you can see how it is polluted by ignoring sin.
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.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13This makes it pretty clear where we are supposed to see purity. Rather than seek purity and holiness in the unsaved we are supposed to seek in it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Church (Duh!). Even someone who is neglects the Gospel to the extent that they do not accept Biblical teaching is to be treated as a wayward brother and we are to separate from a person like that (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15). Our diligence is supposed to have a positive impact on such a person. We are also supposed to be cautious with divisive individuals (Titus 3:10-11).
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.”
So what is church discipline? You can divide it into the aspects that are designed to develop and create a strong church (teaching, preaching, and organization) and aspects that are designed to correct sinfulness (correction).
So on the one hand we try to prepare hearts proactively by preaching and teaching the word, modeling and mentoring the Christian life, and being responsible about who joins the church.
On the other hand we correct behavior reactively when sin is present within the Body of Christ by exercising judgment for behavior that is unacceptable for a member of the Body according to Scripture. We warn someone about sin, we hope to correct wrong attitudes, we may be called on to rebuke a sinning person, and we may have to dis-fellowship or treat another person as if they were not part of the Body of Christ if they persist in sin. That would include removal from membership roles.
In the midst of the reactive process, motives that satisfy our flesh can’t be driving the process. We must only be motivated by a sincere concern for the one who is in sin, for the purity of the Body of Christ, and for our own hearts so that we keep them with diligence before, during, and after the issue of sin in the church has been handled.
We really must deal with these things so that members know what it means to be a Christian living a life rightly as a member of the local church as well as providing a faithful representation of what it means to be a Christian to the world around us.
The reasons for not practicing corrective church discipline are sins of the flesh in the Body of Christ. We take the easy route and we can be more popular if we ignore sin and please people. Of course that process is only effective for a while and then blows up in our face … by the Grace of God.
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