John MacArthur- the Process of Church Discipline

Extract from a very helpful document by John MacArthur on Church Discipline.

The Process of Discipline
In Matthew 18:15-17, Jesus sets forth the fourstep process of church discipline: (1) tell him his
sin alone; (2) take some witnesses; (3) tell the church; and (4) treat him as an outsider.
Step One (Matt. 18:15). The process of church discipline begins on an individual level. Jesus
said, “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private” (v. 15a). Here, an individual
believer is to go to a sinning brother privatelyand confront him in a spirit of humility and
gentleness. This confrontation involves clearly exposing his sin so that he is aware of it and calling him to repentance. If the sinning brother repent in response to the private confrontation,
that brother is forgiven and restored (v. 15b).

Step Two (Matt. 18:16). If the sinning brother refuses to listen to the one who has rebuked
him privately, the next step in the discipline process is to take one or two more believers
along to confront him again (v. 16a). The purpose of taking other believers is so that “by the
mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (v. 16b). In other words, the
witnesses are present not only to confirm that the sin was committed but, in addition, to confirm
that the sinning brother was properly rebuked and that he has or has not repented.

The presence of additional witnesses is as much a protection for the one being approached as it
is for the one approaching. After all, a biased person could erroneously say, “Well, I tried to
confront him, but he’s impenitent.” It would be presumptuous to think that one person
could make that ultimate determination, especially if he was the one who had been sinned
against. The witnesses need to confirm whether there is a heart of repentance or one of indifference or rejection. Such a report provides the basis for further action because the situation has been verified beyond the report of one individual.

At this point, it should be hoped that the one or two who are brought along to confront the
sinner will not have to become public witnesses against him before the rest of the church.
Ideally, their added rebuke will be sufficient to induce a change of heart in the offending
brother that the initial rebuke did not cause. If this change of heart does occur, that brother is
forgiven and restored, and the matter is dropped.

Step Three (Matt. 18:17a). If the sinning brother refuses to listen and respond to the
confrontation of the witnesses after a period of time, those witnesses are then to tell it to the
church (v. 17a). This is most appropriately done by bringing the matter to the attention of
the elders, who in turn oversee its communication to the assembly as a whole.

How long should the witnesses continue to call the person to repentance before telling the
church? The elders at Grace Community Church avoid carrying out the third or fourth
stage of church discipline until they are absolutely certain that the erring believer has
truly sinned, or is continuing to sin, and that he has refused to repent when appropriately
confronted. The elders will routinely send a letter by registered mail warning the individual
that the third (or fourth) step of discipline will be taken if they have not received word of
repentance by a specific date. When this date has passed, the person’s sin and refusal to
repent are made known publicly, either before the entire assembly during a Communion service
or through a fellowship group in which the person is known.

It has been the custom at Grace Community Church, upon enacting this third step, to clearly
indicate to the congregation that they are to pursue the person aggressively and plead with
him to repent before the fourth step becomes necessary. That crucial and potent procedure
often draws the sinner to repentance and obedience. If repentance does take place, the
sinning believer is forgiven and restored.

Step Four (Matt. 18:17b). The fourth and final step in the process of church discipline is
ostracism. If a sinning believer refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be ostracized from
the fellowship. Jesus said, “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer” (v. 17b). The
term “Gentile” was primarily used of non-Jews who held to their traditional paganism and had
no part in the covenant, worship, or social life of the Jews. On the other hand, a “tax-gatherer”
was an outcast from the Jews by choice, having become a traitor to his own people. Jesus’ use
of these terms doesn’t mean that the church is to treat these people badly. It simply means
that when a professing believer refuses to repent, the church is to treat him as if he were
outside of the fellowship. They are not to let him associate and participate in the blessings
and benefits of the Christian assembly.

When a man in the Corinthian church refused to forsake an incestuous relationship with his
stepmother, the apostle Paul commanded that the man be removed from their midst (1 Cor.
5:13). The believers there were not even to share a meal with him (1 Cor. 5:11), for dining
with someone was symbolic of a hospitable and cordial fellowship. The one who is persistently
unrepentant is to be totally ostracized from the fellowship of the church and treated like an
outcast, not a brother.

As far as the welfare of the church is concerned, the purpose of putting the brother out is toprotect the purity of the fellowship (1 Cor. 5:6), to warn the assembly of the seriousness of sin (1Tim. 5:20), and to give a testimony of righteousness to a watching world. But as far as the welfare of the brother himself is concerned, the purpose of the ostracism is not to punish but to awaken, and it must therefore be done in humble love and never in a spirit of self-righteous superiority (2 Thess. 3:15).

When a church has done everything it can to bring a sinning member back to purity of life
but is unsuccessful, that individual is to be left to his sin and his shame. If he is truly a
Christian, God will not cast him away, but He may allow him to sink still deeper before he
becomes desperate enough to turn from his sin. The command not to have fellowship or even
social contact with the unrepentant brother does not exclude all contact. When there is an
opportunity to admonish him and try to call him back, the opportunity should be taken. In
fact, such opportunities should be sought. But the contact should be for the purpose of
admonishment and restoration and no other.