The heart of church discipline is restoration.
As we noted in Part 1, God compares himself to a shepherd and promises to seek the lost, heal the broken, judge between his sheep (Ezekiel 34:10–22). Despite thwarting God's authority as Shepherd and harming other sheep around them (Ezekiel 34:17–22), God earnestly seeks out sheep who've strayed from his flock and desires to restore them to his care (Ezekiel 34:11, 22).
We see the culmination of this promise to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) in Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11–16) and will leave the ninety-nine sheep to bring one lost sheep back into his care (Luke 15:1–7).
We also noted in Part 1 that God appoints leaders over his people and expects them to shepherd his people as he does and under his authority (Ezekiel 34:1–10; 1 Peter 5:2–4). To shepherd the people of God well, leaders need to "judge" between sheep—or in New Testament wording, practice church discipline. Therefore, we want to highlight the New Testament purpose, pattern, and practice of church discipline. For those churches that embrace the purpose, follow the pattern, and implement the practice of church discipline, they will do their bodies good.
Church Discipline: Purposeful and Merciful
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul exhorts the church in Corinth to expel the wicked man (5:12) who had been sleeping with his father's wife (5:1). In this passage, Paul writes, "So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of the Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh…" (5:4,5).
Paul also, in writing to Timothy, alludes to two people he handed over to Satan. Paul shared that he handed Hymenaeus and Alexander ...
from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/2RLG0pp
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